Silage Insights - Bale Silage Production
Cutting forage costs and getting the best out of round bales

By Dr Martin Yeates

With concentrate prices set to stay high this winter, coupled with difficult economic times generally, it has never been more important to recognise the role that forages can play in keeping production costs under control. In this article, Dr. Martin Yeates - an independent dairy specialist - discusses the recent 'Forage Costings Report', which compares the full cost of producing a range of forage crops.

"Matching the crops you grow to the needs of the livestock, whilst acknowledging the limitations of your farm, is really important. However, it is also vital to know you are growing cost-effective crops, especially in the current tough economic climate.

Kingshay's Forage Costings Report, which was supported by Advanta, calculates the comparative costs of producing a tonne each of different forages, considering all cost implications such as labour and machinery, wastage, establishment and growing, along with harvesting and storage.
The report's conclusion is that grazed forages - such as grass and grazed kale - are the best value, costing about £70 (88€) per tonne, compared with around £110 (139€) per tonne for silages like maize.  Concentrates are even more expensive, with a typical parlour cake costing upwards of £200 (252€) per tonne on a dry matter (DM) basis. However, home-grown forages are the most cost-effective feeds. 
The graph below illustrates these findings.

Source: Forage Costings Report

Yield, in particular, has a massive impact on the cost of production - as yield decreases, the cost per tonne increases.  Therefore, producing a good yield of top quality forage is the key to reducing feed costs. Farmers should be wary of alternative forages which promise high quality, but often result in sparse crops.

In the case of home grown forages, the stage after the forage is harvested also has a big impact on cost. The report indicates that whilst baling silage is technically more expensive than clamping - by about £6 (7.60€) per tonne - the attraction of the apparent savings of clamping should be put in context. The higher cost of round baling are largely linked to the baling, wrapping and transporting costs of big bales being higher than foraging and clamping the silage, however, this needs to be put against the flexibility and convenience of round bales which is harder to put a figure on.

Round baling is a remarkably flexible tool for grassland management.  It is especially useful for taking small acreages of excess grass out of the grazing cycle, thereby keeping top quality grass in front of the cows. Having round bales available also works well for buffering in the spring or, if the bales are from low potash index fields, then they can also be used for transition cows.

Again, the key to reducing costs with round bales is to ensure a high yield - this is achieved from minimising waste. It is important to make sure that the bales are properly wrapped - don't forget that the cost of the wrap is tiny compared with the cost of getting a crop to the point of baling. Once wrapped, it is also important that the bales are stacked carefully to maintain quality, therefore the risk of damage such as puncture marks need to be minimised.

Ultimately, home-grown forages are a good solution provided that the necessary investment is made throughout the process - from the choice of forage, to the way the silage is wrapped - to ensure that yield is maximised and cost minimised.

Dr. Martin Yeates is Technical Manager at Kingshay Farming Trust, independent dairy specialists providing practical support to dairy farmers throughout the UK.

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