Early December is when we get contractors in to make high quality Silage. Silage is pickled pasture which is created when the grass is ensiled (covered so no air can get in) the sugars in the grass are then converted into lactic acid by bacteria and this allows it to be preserved for long periods of time.
Quality pasture silage is a good source of energy/ protein and fibre for our ladies, either in winter time when the grass has slowed or it's not growing ( grass needs a minimum of 12'C to grow) or again in summer in more drought conditions when you are lacking the water to grow grass.
The minimum values for high quality silage is 10MJME/kg DM (dry matter) & 16% crude protein. Our contractors cut the grass on the morning of a sunny day to ensure optimal sugars are present and a rapid wilting occurs to speed the fermentation process. They then stack up the 'Silage Bun' which sits ontop of the ground, compact the grass with tractors and we then seal the bun to prevent air getting in with large rolls of silage wrap and tyres to add weight.
This is later fed out to our ladies in Winter so they keep weight on and we make sure all their nutritional requirements are being met. The smell of fermented silage is a rather strong sweet smell that the cows love and call out excitedly when the tractor and feed out wagon brings it it to them in their paddock.
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