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AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTOR WE SEE YOU THROUGH FROM START TO FINISH
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HAY - the key points to ponder Hay is the oldest form of conserved feed. But you need to be careful before you part with your money, especially if you are buying when there is a shortage, advises www.lifestyleblock.co.nz
Good things about hay All livestock like hay – they’ll even eat a large part of poor quality hay. It’s good for their digestive systems because of its high fibre content. Because of this fibre it can help prevent bloat. It is easy to transport and feed out. It’s easy to buy and sell. It’s easy to make in small quantities. It’s usually easy to make in summer. Conventional small bales are easy to weigh.
Poor things about hay It’s very variable in quality depending on the original crop. You lose about 80% of the original nutrients in the crop. It’s quality is very dependent on the weather. It needs to be protected from rain. It can be full of poor grasses and weeds. It can be a source of moulds (animal and human health risk). It can burn.
Key points about hay making Select a paddock with a good crop in it. This means a good 70%
ryegrass and 30% clover mixture. Make sure there are no major weeds in it like ragwort, thistles and docks. Do something about removing these weeds early on and long before cutting. Cut at the 15-20% seed head stage and no later, to get the best balance between quantity and quality. There should still be a lot of green leaf in the crop. Pasture is usually cut at 75-85% moisture and is baled at 16-25% moisture. Don’t leave it till it is “dead on its feet”, when all the feed value will be gone. After cutting have it “conditioned” to spread it out and speed even drying. Be wary of patches of green grass that have not been exposed to the sun because of poor turning. They will mould and rot in the bales. Bale as soon as it is evenly dry and put into storage. If you think it’s “on the green side” leave some ventilation gaps between bales in the shed or stack. Check it for excess heating after putting in the shed or stack.
Bale sizes Small conventional bales are best for small farmers, as they are easy to handle and feed out. They generally weigh about 25kg. You may have to face the prospect of a contractor offering either
large round bales or large square bales that can be either 10-bale equivalent or 12-bale equivalent. This is a very variable definition. Big bales are now becoming the norm as they reduce costs of baling and string. Contractors will easily put these in your shed with their equipment but you will have the problem of feeding them out. The big squares will be easier as you will be able to cut the strings and pull off sections of bale, but there is no way you will be able to do this with a round bale as these will have to be unwound. Avoid round bales where possible, as they are hard to stack in the shed and can roll on top of people.
Points when buying hay Open a bale and see what’s inside. Good hay is a nice green colour and sweet smelling. Check for ryegrass seed heads and clover with leaves still on it. Watch out for dead Yorkshire Fog and Browntop – grasses with poor feed value. Avoid hay with docks, thistles and ragwort. Dead ragwort can still poison stock. Avoid mouldy dusty hay with a musty smell. Weigh a few bales if they are conventional sizes. Check the age of the hay. If it’s old (and the bales light and strings loose), the quality will usually have deteriorated. Source: www.lifestyleblock.co.nz
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Benefits of silage inoculants & how to evaluate them
In the 1980s a large number of silage inoculant products entered the market, creating a demand for reliable information on how to evaluate their efficacy. In Europe, different approval schemes were established. The UKASTA scheme in the UK and the German DLG approval scheme independently performed efficacy testing and published results. The manufacturer had to declare active ingredients and prove effects based on scientific trials for different categories. For silage inoculants these effects are mainly improved fermentation, improved animal performance and improved aerobic stability:
A good innoculant will have a lot of research behind it
Improved fermentation with homofermentative inoculants has been demonstrated in Europe and the US in a large number of studies. However, 40% of US studies found inoculants had no effect and in German studies, they were not effective in 39% of difficult-; 12% of medium-; and 7% of easily fermentable crops. A large number of trials resulted in increased aerobic stability when
heterofermentative L. buchneri treated silage was compared with untreated silage. However, the German DLG approval scheme reported that between 22-48% trials in grass silage and between 56-74% trials with maize or earlage silage did not achieve an improvement of two days improved aerobic stability. Silage inoculants have also demonstrated benefits in animal performance. However, a US study found only about half of all tested products can claim such effects based on scientific data. The use of silage inoculants can be very profitable depending on their specific effects, but these must be proven. Combination effects e.g. improved silage quality as well as improved animal performance will bring the highest returns. The silage inoculant cost and value of milk or meat have an important impact on profitability. Using additives to prevent feed from deteriorating e.g. significantly reducing heating after opening is economical depending on the magnitude of improvement. New Zealand research on silage inoculants is limited. One peer reviewed study showed variable efficacy of silage inoculants on fermentation parameters in pasture silage; and improved aerobic stability in maize silage. An overview of silage inoculant products in the New Zealand market in the 2015/16 season shows 17 products were advertised by seven companies. Of these, 16 contain different species of lactic acid bacteria and the remaining one claims a technology without live bacteria. Although there is scientific evidence that silage inoculants can improve silage quality, improve animal performance and keep silage cool, they do not
always work. The type of bacteria present, the presence of live organisms at harvest, application techniques and the type of forage they are added too will determine product efficacy.
Look for the following when selecting silage inoculant products RESEARCH An effective silage inoculant will have independent, statistically analysed, and published data supporting its use. TYPE OF BACTERIA AND TARGETED EFFECTS Some bacteria strains have shown their effect in improving silage fermentation and sometimes animal performance. If improved aerobic stability is required, look for a product with L. buchneri. APPLICATION RATE The industry standard for application rates is a minimum of 100,000 colony forming units/gram (cfu/g) forage. A good product will have their guaranteed bacteria application rate printed on the label and the company can explain how they ensure viable bacteria are in the product at the time of use. SERVICE The product should be supplied by a company with competent service that will support customers to make the right decisions selecting a product and provide help when required. PRICE Price alone should not be the driving factor for choosing an inoculant. Remember: research and ensuring good product quality are most important. Source: A review of silage inoculants in the New Zealand market; Prepared by Dr. Jakob Kleinmans, September 2016, Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) www.far.org.nz
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www.age.co.nz Thursday, October 4, 2018
Maize contract protects sellers and buyers
How to keep your hay contractor happy Book in early and state clearly what you want the contractor to do, says Lois Mundell, a guest contributor at www.lifestyleblock.co.nz For example, do you want mowing and baling, or baling only, or the whole job done including putting it in your hayshed? Once in the system don’t try to jump the queue. Contractors know that all their customers want their hay in “yesterday” so they can go to the beach for Christmas. If the contractor is to do the whole job, trust his judgement about the readiness of the crop. But
Selling or buying maize silage this season? Make sure you have a contract. To safeguard the interests of both growers and the purchasers of maize silage, the Forage Trading Development Group (FTDG) have a standardised contract for maize silage. The contract is part of the on-going development of the Maize Forage Trading Code of Practice which was released in 2004. The contract covers o˜ key aspects of a sales and purchase agreement including purchase price, amount to be supplied and payment conditions as well as issues such as increases in fuel prices or inability to supply because of crop losses from ° oods or drought.
remember he isn’t God and can’t control the weather. Sometimes the sky opens up when you least expect it and the hay will get wet. That’s not the contractor’s fault.
once the hay has been cut, and learn to judge when it’s ready to bale. Don’t panic if rain threatens – there’s no point in baling hay that is not ready.
Use your biggest paddocks if possible and make sure that they are free of hidden junk. The baler is very allergic to snig chains, electric fence standards, abandoned wire, harrows, etc.
Make sure that you have arranged for the hay to be picked up. This is not part of the contractor’s job. He will organise it if asked to, but this needs to be by prior arrangement.
Growing maize silage is a major ÿ nancial commitment so growers need to be sure they have a buyer for it. Unsold crops can be carried through for grain, but silage growers should be aware there is limited capacity to dry and store maize grain. Growers don’t want to be caught out with crops they can’t sell.
Above all, be kind to the contractor’s wife/partner. She cops all the ° ack on the phone and only gets to the beach during the winter!
The Maize Forage Purchase Contract and the Good Practice Guide for the trading of maize silage can be downloaded from FAR’s website (www.far.org.nz) or contact the FAR o˜ ce 03 325 6353 for a copy.
Try to be around when the hay is due to be mown so that the gates are open, and the prize animals are safely conÿ ned.
Source: www.lifestyleblock.co.nz
Keep in touch with the contractor
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Maize Silage
a great food for cows, is also loved by spoilage bugs, such as yeasts and mould. The aim of the ensiling process is to get air out of the stack and keep it out until maize silage is ready to be fed.
lifting from the bottom of the stack face. Don’t ram bucket or silage forks into the face of the stack as this creates shatter and may allow air to penetrate the maize stack.
Source: DairyNZ
Storing maize silage
Face management Closing a stack down
Maize silage is a maize crop cut and ensiled in a stack or bunker. It is commonly used as a supplement to pasture in situations where cows would otherwise be underfed. Maize silage is a high quality forage supplement. However, it is particularly low in sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P), and can be used as an e˜ ective carrier to supplement cows with magnesium (Mg). see 1-60 Mineral supplementation for maize silage. Maize silage is a useful supplement for ÿ lling genuine feed deÿ cits, but needs to be well managed to reduce costs and wastage. New Zealand trials have found production responses to maize silage between 32 g MS/kgDm and 178 g MS/ kg DM. The highest response came from more days in milk created by feeding maize silage in a year a˜ ected by a dry summer. Analysis of more than 600 NZ dairy farms found on average, that supplements fed added only 50 g MS/kgDM to annual milksolids/ cow and 96 g MS/kgDM to annual milksolids/ha. With such variation in response possible, attention to detail is required to turn additional fed into additional proÿ t.
Why is maize ensiled? Maize silage is full of soluble carbohydrates which while being
SHORTY’S RAPT!
To minimise losses: Consider stack location and prepare site in advance of harvest. Consider environmental implications, e.g. risk of runo˜ , distance to waterways, drains and other sensitive areas. Consider whether to use a bun (stack) or a bunker. Buns can be located around the farm and therefore more ˛ exible, whereas bunkers are initially more expensive but have higher compaction rate and therefore less wastage. Stack dimensions, the aim is to build a stack so that when being fed out, as little maize as possible is exposed to air. Consider quantity of maize, how many animals you are feeding and what inoculant you are using. Ideally it should take no more than three days to feed across the stack face, taking about half a metre each feed. Cover immediately after contractor has ÿ nished rolling the maize. Seal around the base of the stack with soil, sand or lime and place tyres to completely cover stack.
Feeding out maize silage When you start feeding maize open the stack at the opposite end of the prevailing wind to prevent air getting pushed under the cover. Use a front end loader to create a face. Once the face has been created, chip away from the top to the bottom of the stack, rather than
Use the front end loader to remove any loose material from the front of the stack, trim up the face using an old chainsaw and spray a saturated salt solution over the stack face, drop the silage cover back down the face, reseal the base with soil and place tyres against the covered face. Replenish bait stations and leave stack until you need to feed out again. When you roll back the cover to feed out again, remove any material that may have become mouldy.
Maize Forage Trading Code of Practice The ‘Maize Forage Trading Code of Practice’ has been designed to safeguard both the buyer and seller of maize. Standard protocols for weighing, sampling, and testing have been developed for trading on a dry weight basis (kg DM). If you are not trading, the sample protocols can be used for determining the total DM yield for feed budgeting purposes. As well as DM %, the samples can also be tested for feed quality and nutrient content. The complete code, good practice guide and the purchase contract are available from the Foundation of Arable Research. Source: www.dairynz.co.nz/feed/ supplements/maize-silage/
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The importance of pasture silage analysis Source: DairyNZ
Why analyse pasture silage? To assist your management! Analysis tells you about the quality of your silage. Knowing this is important for deciding whether to feed the silage to milking or dry cows. Analysis will allow you to value silage on its Metabolisable Energy (ME) content, as well as on Dry Matter (DM).
How to sample silage Take at least ÿ ve handfuls of silage from di° erent places and mix them together. Send a subsample of one litre (half a bread bag) for analysis. The sub-sample should be representative of all the silage in the stack or bale.
Sampling pasture being harvested for silage Silage will never be of higher quality than the pasture it is made from. The quality of the pasture when it is harvested will tell you what the potential for your silage is. Collect pasture from either cut swaths in the paddock, or as it arrives onto the stack. Try to get samples from all the paddocks being harvested.
Sampling silage in an unopened stack or bale Silage sampled from unopened stacks or bales will tell you the quality of the feed before it is fed out. It will also not have been spoiled through exposure to the air. A sharpened length of stainless steel pipe can be driven into the top of the stack, or the side of the bale. A piece of 25 mm milk line, 1.5 m long, is su˛ cient. Use a broom handle to force the silage out of the pipe. Throw away the silage from the surface of the stack or bale before taking a sub-sample to send away for analysis. Reseal the
HAY AND
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cover. Coring a stack or bale lets air in, and will result in some spoilage. Bales which have been cored should ideally be fed out within three days of sampling.
Sampling silage as it is being fed out This tells you the quality of the silage you are feeding out, without running the risk of causing spoilage in the unopened stack or bale. For silage being fed out in a wagon, collect a sample from the silage at the top of a freshly loaded wagon. For bales of silage, take a sample from the freshly unwrapped bales. Avoid silage which has been at the surface of the stack or bale, and silage which was on the face of the stack.
Packaging and storage of silage samples Silage starts to decay once exposed to the air. This decay process must be minimised while the sample is in transit to the lab, to get meaningful results from analysis. Put the silage into an airtight plastic bag, and remove all the air. If you can’t post the sample immediately, store it in a freezer. Post the silage in a plastic, selfsealing envelope, such as those available at Post O˛ ces, or those supplied by a local testing lab. Send by Fast-post, but avoid posting on a Friday.
Where can I get silage analysed? Silage analysis is available from a variety of commercial labs around New Zealand. There will be local labs which can provide a suitable service. Talk to your local Consulting O˛ cer, consultant, fertiliser rep or vet about the best lab for you to use.
The important things to have analysed The feed value of the silage You will need Dry Matter %, Crude protein %, DM digestibility, and an estimate of the ME concentration in the silage.
The success of the silage preservation You will need pH and Ammonia-N (% of total N). The amounts of lactic acid and butyric acid in the silage are useful as extra information, but certainly not vital.
What methods are used to analyse silage Silage analysis is carried out in two ways. Some laboratories conduct wet chemistry, which uses wellestablished chemical methods to work out the composition of feeds. NIR is a more indirect way to estimate the composition of a feed. It involves a machine which sends a beam of light through a sample of feed, and measures the light pattern which is produced out the other side of it. By calibrating the machine with known samples of feed, it can estimate the composition of unknown samples. All labs calculate the ME content of feeds, based on their composition. ME is a very expensive and di˛ cult thing to measure directly. NIR measurements will not be more accurate than wet chemistry. However, it is faster, and may be less expensive. The way you sample your silage is potentially a bigger source of error than the lab you use to analyse it. For more information on making the best silage visit www.dairynz.co.nz
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