Analysis of first-cut silage samples from across NI suggests farmers will have to feed more concentrates this winter to achieve the same animal performance as last year.

Of the first-cut samples submitted to Fane Valley so far this summer, digestibility (D-value) has averaged 68.8%, down from 71.3% for the same period in 2021.

Average metabolisable energy (ME) is 11.0 MJ/kg to date in 2022, which compares to 11.4 MJ/kg last year, and dry matter has fallen from 31.8% to 26.9%.

According to Matthew Armstrong, Fane Valley’s technical support manager, the change in average silage quality year on year equates to a one litre drop in daily milk yield for a dairy cow.

“To make up for that one litre of milk, you will have to feed around another 0.5kg of meal per day. For forward stores on a beef farm, it would take between 0.35-0.5kg of extra concentrate to keep liveweight gain the same,” he said.

“Meal prices could come back, but in the short to medium term, there will be very little change so poorer quality silage will be costly.”