Modern forages require modern management techniques to obtain the best from them, so farmers should focus their attention on producing crops which work well together, emphasises Simon Broddle of Nickerson Direct.

Adopting a holistic approach to forage management based on targeted herd performance would generate significant performance and financial benefits on most dairy farms as a result of achieving greater synergy between individual ration components.

Traditionally, farmers have often produced a mismatch of different forage products, including silage, grazed grass, maize and fodder crops, which is not an ideal starting point. Furthermore, usually only after these forages have been harvested and analysed do they sit down with their nutritionists to consider how to feed what’s available. The result is a disjointed approach with no real thread or logic linking it together, which leads to disappointing or sub-optimal results.

The starting point for a much more coherent strategy is to decide what you want to achieve in terms of herd performance. This will allow you to calculate your forage requirements and, in turn, develop a cropping plan based on forages which complement one another rather than being ‘antagonistic’, which is where two forages contribute to the same dietary requirement. Maize and high-quality grass provide good examples of this, while late-cut grass and wholecrop exemplify silages which offer high fibre and low ME.

Most modern dairy units have access to high ME silages but problems often arise because they are analysed individually. Feeding four different forages and three straights, for example, means that you’ve seven different analyses. If you add in the vagaries of ‘bucket chemistry’ in terms of approximating the weights/volumes that go into a TMR there’s considerable scope for error. I find it staggering that very few farms analyse the TMR itself, because that’s what is actually fed to the cows, not the individual ingredients

Quantifying the potential performance and profitability gains from a more joined-up approach to forage management is difficult, because every farm is individual and has a different approach. For example, many farmers believe that good weather is the most important factor in making good silage and traditionally they take a first cut in early May because ‘that’s the way it has always been done’. Their sole focus at that time is on getting the crop into the clamp, when in fact they should be considering what other forages they will be feeding with it. Weather is certainly a big factor, but it shouldn’t be the only consideration.

Cutting early certainly produces high-quality forages with high ME and D values, but the downsides are lower yields and a far higher cost-per-tonne. Early-cut material can also have negative connotations when fed with maize because both forages are similar in many respects, being high in ME and energy, with medium protein but relatively low levels of fibre. Having produced two high-quality individual ration components it is then necessary to slow the diet down by adding straw. Why incur extra expense producing high-quality forages only to dilute the diet’s energy density, when you could have left the grass growing for longer and benefited from higher yield and lower cost per tonne?

When cutting early it’s also important to remember that although re-growth is usually quicker, nitrogen levels can be high and transfer into the clamp, so caution is needed. The presence of sodium bicarbonate on a farm immediately highlights problems with low rumen pH, often caused by poorly-chopped silage and poor fibre, which lowers saliva production and creates other health issues. It’s a reactive way of dealing with a problem that needn’t be there in the first place.

Planning an overall forage strategy will allow a much more pro-active herd management strategy rather than being re-active and having to resort to ‘fire brigade’ tactics.

FORAGE CHOICE IS CRITICAL
Maize is currently creating great interest because of its potential to produce very high-quality forage. Where grass protein is around 80% rumen degradable, maize is perfectly suited to ruminant animals. Its starch quality means that it feeds the whole digestive system, from the rumen to hind gut, while its energy feeds the entire digestive system.

Producers and nutritionists sometimes talk about the fibre levels of maize as being ‘disappointing’, which is true. However, further investigation often highlights that their comments are based on experience with older varieties which die off earlier, the old leaves and broken stems triggering the decomposition process while still in the field and reducing silage quality.

It is also important to remember that while the microscopic fibre level of maize is lower than some legumes, a longer chop length will improve the silage’s physical characteristics. Newer varieties of maize such as LG Beethoven are bred to ‘stay greener’, which enables a much longer chop length, creates a more ‘open’ diet and improves intakes.

Fifteen years ago diet feeders simply ‘mixed’, but today they also chop, crush, mince and mill! Although perfectly good diets are to be found on many farms, they can be easily destroyed by modern feeder wagons. Once we’ve ‘grown’ the ingredients for our TMR and have the perfect crops in the clamp we need to make sure that we feed our ‘ladies’ a soufflé rather than a suet pudding!

Maize feeds well in almost any circumstances but using a higher-fibre grass, i.e. one which is cut slightly later, or perhaps an Italian ryegrass-based ley such as Nickersons' ‘Green Circle’, will improve intakes and ruminant function, as well as reducing the need for straw. Go one step further by using lucerne and you’ll have probably the most synergistic base diet that is possible under UK conditions.

Drymatter is a crucial, but often overlooked, consideration in the quest to produce high-quality forages. Twenty years ago maize was harvested when the crop had died off completely, which meant that it contained over 35% drymatter and was often used to ‘dry’ the diet. However, in modern cropping systems, especially where the latest ‘stay-green’ hybrid varieties are grown, maize is cut at around 30%. With modern grass silages often over 30% drymatter and wholecrop over 40%, maize is frequently the wettest forage on the farm.

Feeding maize to cows in summer is useful to help combat the highly degradable protein and low drymatter of grazed grass. However, the drymatter of maize silage fed in summer can be lower because it increases the acidity, and stability, of the clamp in warm weather.

Farmers sometimes mention that their cows don’t milk well after Christmas, which they put down to the animals ‘wanting to be outside’. In fact, it often has nothing to do with that but reflects the fact that the TMR which they are eating has not been reformulated to account for nutritional changes since the clamp was last analysed. Silage clamps constantly change in terms of acidity, energy and protein, yet farmers often base an entire season’s feeding decisions on a single analysis carried out just after harvest. It is critical to know exactly what you are feeding, so regular deep-core analysis, clamp monitoring and face analysis are essential.

Designing a cropping plan in which all forages complement each other is the logical way forward. The process should be ongoing and encompass every conceivable factor, from breed, calving pattern, system, housing and type of milk contract to assessment of swards, potential yields, harvest dates and subsequent cropping.

Every farm is different and although there’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution, in every case attention to detail is critical, at all stages. It takes just 24 hours or so to harvest most forage crops but the consequences of any mistakes or shortcuts will last 250 – 300 days, so it’s vital to get things right when it matters most!

Livestock farmers’ profitability or lack of it, now depends not on making improvements in one or two areas but fastidious attention to detail at every stage of the production process. Poor forages create a host of problems, so getting that aspect right will improve herd performance and make every other aspect of management much easier.

Simon Broddle, Forage Manager, Nickerson UK Ltd, can be contacted on 01858 432945 or 07850 811247, or email simon.broddle@nickerson.co.uk