Three to four cuts
In the UK, grassland farmers seek to take three to four cuts of silage; the first in May, the second in late June or July, the third in August and the fourth, when it occurs, in September; in Ireland, even a third cut is rare.

Clamp is popular, but bale silage increasing
Silage production is undertaken on approximately 75,000 farms in U.K. It is probable that all dairy farms in the U.K. make some silage.

Some baled silage is made on 73% of all farms but the figure rises to 99%, 98% and 89% respectively on farms with dairy herds, combined dairy and beef enterprises and suckler herds. In fact, 53% of all farms making silage make only baled silage.

Baling is generally the only option for smaller farms where the construction of a clamp would not be economically feasible. Some farmers make no clamp silage and bale all of it. Generally, this occurs on smaller beef and sheep farms rather than on dairy farms.

Increasing contracting activities
An increasing percentage of baled silage is made by contractors rather than by farmers themselves. In the UK approximately 70% of baled silage is made by contractors compared to 50-60% recorded in 2002. In Ireland the percentage of baled silage made by contractors has increased from 70-80% to 90%.

There is a mix of full-time contractors and part-time contractors who also farm, in which case silage making is often the main contracting activity. Contractors charge on a per-acre basis when working a clamp system but often switch to a per-bale charge for baling and wrapping.

The introduction of combination baler/wrappers has helped to reduce production costs of baled silage by speeding the process and reducing the amount of labour and time required to complete the task.

Mix of stretch film colours
Dow's survey conducted in 2007 discovered a rising trend in the use of a mix of silage stretch film colours. Fewer respondents were using black film exclusively in 2006, with the figure dropping from 50% in 2005 to 34% in 2006, while the number of those using at least some green film increased from 43% in 2005 to 59% in 2006.

The survey suggests that farmers and contractors are starting to realise the benefits of using other colours of film, because of their ability to blend into the landscape and to potentially reduce the high temperatures generated inside black bales exposed to strong sunlight, leading to loss of nutritional value and spoilage in the conserved silage.

Standard 4 layers, moving to 6
The use of a minimum 6 layers is often recommended by experts and dairy advisors when silage dry matter (DM) content is high. However, in practice, UK and Irish farmers tend to use the standard 4 layers of wrap, mainly because of costs considerations.

Application of an additional 2 layers of film has become more popular in recent years as it has been shown to provide a more robust oxygen barrier resulting in less spoilage of bales by yeasts and moulds, as well as more stable and consistent silage at feed out.

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