Farmers are being encouraged to utilise pre-cut grass testing to understand the optimum time to cut grass for quality silage production. Bryan Buckley Regional Business Manager for Lallemand Animal Nutrition, says incremental improvements in silage quality make a considerable difference to feeding efficiency and production margins, yet many farmers are missing out on the opportunity […]
Category: Silage
Are Mycotoxins impacting performance on your herd?
This winter, we are again witnessing many issues caused by mycotoxins, with a notable surge in recent weeks as herds are introduced to a mix of winter forages. What are mycotoxins? Mycotoxins are natural substances produced by moulds and fungi. They are invisible, tasteless and toxic. More than 500 different mycotoxins have been identified […]
Maximise the value of slurry this winter
With fertiliser prices high for next season farmers across Europe are quite rightly looking to maximise the potential gained from their on-farm nutrients (slurry). Here in Northern Ireland United Feeds have partnered with Devenish and Gouldings to offer an innovative and widely researched product to market. Digest-it® is a microbial inoculant added to slurry that […]
Grassland decisions made now will affect dairy farming profitability for the next 12 months
Grassland management decisions taken over the next three months will determine the profitability of dairy farms throughout Northern Ireland well into 2022, according to United Feeds’ ruminant nutrition advisor Alan Boyd and company nutritionist Matt Bourne. “Swards have taken no hurt over the winter months, which should set farmers up well for the push to […]
SUSTAIN – Protected urea
SustaiN is protected urea Nitrogen fertiliser. Urea is treated with a stabiliser called Agrotain. Agrotain reduces volatilisation, ensuring the Nitrogen is available to fuel crop growth all season long. Sustain (Agrotain) has been independently trialled by AFBI on both grassland and tillage. The trial results show that SustaiN yields are consistently as good as CAN, […]
First cut 2020 – Silage season well underway
Alan Boyd discussing first cut as it’s being mowed at his Dad’s farm in Straid, Ballyclare.
Choosing the right fertiliser for your second cut silage
While the world copes with the current Coronavirus pandemic, farmers are getting on with producing our food in the most effective and efficient way they can. As we find ourselves in May, most farmers in Northern Ireland will harvest their first cut of silage for the 2020 season and thought will turn to growing second […]
Reduce waste to exploit the full value of silage
Forage waste continues to be a major factor reducing efficiency of forage use and leading to higher purchased feed costs on dairy farms. Bryan Buckley from Lallemand Animal Nutrition argues that the opportunity to reduce forage waste needs to be improved to help dairy production become more profitable. “Reducing forage waste is the quickest and […]
Silage 2020 – farmers gearing up for the season ahead
According to United Feeds’ nutritionist Jenny Hamilton, the start of the 2020 silage season is less than a fortnight away for some. Farmers in the east tend to get started that little bit earlier than their colleagues in other parts of Northern Ireland. However, in some parts of the west, it’s noticeable that grass swards […]
Effective grassland management is now a year-round commitment
By Alan Boyd – Ruminant Nutrition Adviser For the most part, autumn calving cows were dried off in good condition this year. This meant that milk producers had little trouble in making sure cows were holding at a body condition score of between 2.75 and 3.0 prior to calving. Post calving, however, a significant number […]
Silage fever advice
There are many important factors that need to come together in order to achieve the aim of making first class silage in Northern Ireland.
“SustaiN” – new name but same great fertiliser
SustaiN (formerly KAN) fertiliser offers farmers a method of reducing their on-farm emissions.