New Silage Advisory Centre to Support Farmers’ Decision-Making
Sep 2009

Industry experts in UK and Ireland have teamed up to develop a new “Silage Advisory Centre” designed to help farmers respond to the challenges of modern agriculture and support decision-making in silage production, forage and grassland management.

The Silage Advisory Centre will provide farmers with down to earth, practical advice and tools to maximise their forage and grassland management systems using baled silage effectively, and act as a vital source of information for farmers weighing up the pros and cons of different silage systems, processes and materials.

Activities are to include:

• running of demonstration farms to test different approaches to silage making and fodder management;
• production of case studies to share best practice with farmers;
• silage advisory seminars tailored to agricultural merchants’ nutrition representatives, independent advisors and forage contractors;
• silage advisory forums for farmers;
• a website – www.silageadvice.com - to provide a range of practical information and tools, case studies, research studies and reports at the click of a mouse.

Early contributors include The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University, stretch film manufacturer BPI, agricultural company Dow AgroSciences, resin producer Dow Europe, seed company Germinal Holdings/British Seed Houses, and agricultural retailer Mole Valley Farmers. But Dow Europe, founder of the service, expects the list of partner to grow rapidly as the Advisory Centre develops and attracts more interest from the wide variety of organisations and people involved in bale silage production and animal nutrition.

“Our recent market report into the silage market in the UK and Ireland demonstrates that farmers and contractors are coming under increased pressure from higher input and production costs, which is reducing potential profit margins,” said Norbert Schulze, Silage Marketing Manager for Dow Europe. “At the same time, the amount of silage made continues to rise, demonstrating that farmers have come to rely on it as a fodder management system, but would appreciate opportunities to make it work even harder for them.”

“We believe that baled silage provides dairy farmers with the opportunity to maximise the utilisation of grazed grass whilst at the same time providing optimal nutritional requirements to different types of stock on farm,” added David Craig, Managing Director of the Centre. “There is a need to take an holistic approach to fodder management, and we think that by bringing together the expertise of a wide variety of people and organisations involved in silage production, farm management and nutrition into this Advisory Centre we can offer a relevant and valuable service to farmers and contractors.”

One of the first organisations to sign up to the new service is The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), which runs research projects into effective land use, including different methods of silage production.

“There is certainly room to improve the ability of farmers to produce safe and nutritional feedstuff at a reasonable profit through sharing the latest research and innovation with them, but keeping up to date with new developments isn’t easy for hard-pressed, busy farmers,” said Dr Dave Davies, Agricultural Outreach Manager at IBERS. “I believe the Silage Advisory Centre will be an important step in supporting the industry with independent insights and tools that could further improve forage management on farm.”

One of the first developments from the Silage Advisory Centre will be a series of advice sheets on the use of red clover silage as an alternative forage option which offers nutritional benefits and cost savings over grass silage. The advice sheets are based on recent independent trials run at Aberystwyth University, and will contain detailed comparative analyses into cost and performance as well as practical tips on harvesting and feeding such a crop effectively.

“There are many different aspects to baled silage production and management, whether it be making choices about what crop to ensile and when to ensile it, or working out the most cost-effective and efficient methods of storing it,” said John Lancaster, Commercial Director at bpi.agri, leading stretch film manufacturer and another key member of the Silage Advisory Centre. “We’re involved with this new organisation because we believe it’s a great way of getting information that can make such decision-making easier and really make a difference straight to the people that need it most.”