Take a waste walk this spring

Take a waste walk this spring before re-filling clamps and make sure that however much home-grown forage you make this year, it’s going to be fully utilised. 

You can lose almost half of a 16t DM/ha maize crop just through poor management at every stage from harvest to feeding out.

With maize costing around £1,000/ha to grow and clamp, it’s important to reduce this waste to boost milk from forage and profitability. And it is possible to cut losses to below 20% and still have 13t of quality maize to feed. All it needs it a checklist and a critical eye, borrowing a technique from manufacturing known as LEAN management.

Start simply by checking out the amount of vermin damage to silage sheets, together with any punctures. How much aerobic spoilage can you see? Be honest about the amount of top and shoulder waste you can see and clamp cleanliness.