Cumbria: From field to feed barrier - Silage strategies for dairy success

Join us at Moorhouse Hall Farm for a practical, farmer-led workshop with Dave Davis, focusing on how getting silage-making right can help you better prepare for the season ahead.

Home grown forage is the cornerstone of dairy cow nutrition. Great quality silage costs the same to produce as poor quality silage, but the impact on cow nutrition, health, milk production and the farms overall cost of production per litre is huge. When so much is at stake, quality grass, harvesting practices and clamp management are critical. The focus for this event is for you as a farmer, to review and discuss your silage making practice and what steps you can take to ensure excellent quality silage and reduce wastage.

Our hosts, the Bailey family at Moorhouse Hall Farm, consistently produce first class silage with minimal wastage.
Our speaker, Dave Davies, is an internationally recognised expert with both farming and scientific research experience. In this workshop, Dave will highlight the most important practices and ingredients in getting it right and minimising wastage. We'll examine silage samples, look at quality across the clamp and discuss best practice and non-negotiables to minimising wastage from the field to the feed passage.

We hope you can join us at AHDB SDF Moorhouse Hall Farm with Silage expert Dave Davies for a practical, science based, farmer-led workshop on best practices, top tips and decision making to make the most of your 2026 crop.

In this workshop, we will look at:

• Right crop, right time to meet your needs
• Clamp preparation and ensiling practices
• The science of good fermentation
• Insight into how small, low-cost decisions can deliver big financial returns

You'll leave with clear, practical actions you can apply straight away to help turn your silage into a profit driver, not a hidden cost.

Light lunch and refreshments will be included, please include any dietary requirements on booking.

Speaker profile

Dr Dave Davies (BSc PhD) is the son of a dairy farmer, he graduated from Aberystwyth University and then conducted a PhD at Manchester Uni linked with the Grassland Research Institute at Hurley. From there he spent 20 Years at IGER/IBERS in Aberystwyth, where prior to leaving was head of forage and feed conservation/preservation and was lead of the Agricultural Outreach team for the whole institute. In 2010 he left academia and established Silage Solutions.

Dave is a world renowned silage scientists and practionary and has been lucky enough to travel widely across Europe and beyond educating farmers but equally importantly learning from farmers. He still conducts research projects. His over 35 years experience have resulted in a broad spectrum of knowledge gained from both his science and agricultural backgrounds. He is no more at home when in front of a silage clamp discussing anything and everything about silage.