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Severe weather caused major disruption to both silage and grain harvests last autumn. While many farmers did manage to eventually salvage some of their spring cereals, others did not.
In the majority of instances where it was possible to harvest grain, yields were reduced and straw was left lying in fields as it was too wet for baling.
In Co Derry, brothers Robert and Tom Craig managed to cut 16 acres of spring barley, originally destined for combining in September, as wholecrop silage on 16 November.
The fodder will be used to provide additional winter forage for their 220-cow dairy herd.
Salvage
The spring barley was sprayed with glyphosate in mid-September with the aim of harvesting shortly afterwards.
However, prolonged spells of rain allied with difficult ground conditions prevented combining. In addition, the crop had lodged, straw was broken and there was significant grain loss, making combining a less viable option.
Rather than completely write off the crop, Robert made the decision to try and salvage it as wholecrop silage.
Ensiling was carried out through a local contractor, with the 16 acres yielding just over 100t in total. An additive was used to improve fermentation and proved to be a good investment.
The wholecrop silage was opened on 20 December and waste was limited to the top 6in of the pit and along the side walls.
Feed value
The silage was analysed shortly after opening the pit and feed value exceeded expectations. Feed value was 35% dry matter and 57% D-Value. The analysis also indicated energy is 9.25 Mj ME with protein of 9.69% and 24% starch.
Despite harvesting in November, the grains are not fully matured and can be easily broken when pressure is applied between finger and thumb.
While the late season wholecrop is not suited to feed to lactating cows, it is an ideal feed to target towards dry cows when mixed with grass silage and balanced with concentrates and minerals.
In contrast, wholecrop barley that was harvested in July was also analysed. It had a dry matter of 26% and D-Value of 71% and was being used in both dry cow and lactating cow diets prior to 20 December.
Stretching fodder
However, the 100t of late-season wholecrop barley has also proved invaluable as it is now being fed to dry cows, allowing Robert to cut the higher-quality forage from dry cow diets and target it towards cows in milk.
At current feed rates and with a compact calving pattern, Robert estimates that the late-season wholecrop will provide an additional three months of fodder for dry cows, which in turn stretches the higher-quality wholecrop for cows in milk by a similar period.
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