Introducing a multi-cut silage system

Honeypot Farm had experienced a drop in yield towards the end of winter as the quality of the silage decreased. George used Lean to examine where silage fits within his current system and decided to introduce a multi-cut silage system to address the issue.

Following a recent webinar, Dr George Fisher, Independent grassland consultant, highlighted the importance of understanding your assets when making the decision to move to multi-cut.

Key to this is the quality if your soil. He recommended that soil should be tested once a year by lifting a small square with a spade and examining it for compaction, a good variety of particle size, a high worm count and a good root structure from the grass. Soil that is not heavily compacted should fall apart when dropped on the ground, while orange (iron) spots would suggest that the ground has become waterlogged.

Understanding the quality of your soil should also help you decide how, when and where to spread slurry to ensure optimum value. “One of the biggest impacts of improving soils and organic matter is it gives you more flexibility,” Dr Fisher explained.

Late maturing varieties of grasses were recommended for those considering multi-cut, with more information available via the AHDB recommended grass and clover lists. Dr Fisher also suggested that allowing a flock of sheep to temporarily graze silage fields can help set the fields up for a multi-cut system the following year, provided it is carefully managed and they are removed at the right time.

Waste in the silage process is harder to manage but simple solutions can have a big impact. Dr Fisher recommended conducting a waste walk in January. As a fermenting product, silage should also be tested several times over the winter period to identify changes in the nutrient make up and inform your feeding programme, with three tests recommended as the minimum necessary to ensure efficient use.

1. Review the assets to make sure the swards, soils and nutrient management programme is fit for purpose for a multi-cut system.
2. Make sure you have a good relationship with your contractor and that they will be able to cut every four to five weeks.
3. Ensure the benefits you get in improving forage quality through multi-cut are reflected by either reducing concentrate feed and maintaining milk yield during the silage feeding season, or by increasing milk yield due to the higher quality forage base.

1. Conduct a full review at the end of the growing season to assess cost benefit.
2. Conduct a waste walk of the silage clamps in January 2022.