Review your silage clamp now for improved forage production

Let's review your silage clamps

By analysing your clamps and silage now may give you some real improvement opportunities for next year. Answer the questions honestly. Many of the answers can be found by looking closely at your silage clamps.

How does your clamp look?

• How tidy is the clamp? Is the face untidy allowing air to get?
• Correcting an untidy face will make a large difference to reducing air ingress and surface wastage.
• If waste is deeper in the clamp it may be sign of poor fermentation.
• Inadequate consolidation is likely due to, filling of clamp too quick and not compacting in thin layers with adequate rolling.
• Darker, black layers can be a sign that excess nitrogen was present in the grass when harvested.

Temperature

• How cool is it?
• Heating of a clamp is a sign of aerobic spoilage caused when yeast and mould feed on the silage in the presence of air.
• Improved clamp consolidation and sealing will prevent heating.

Smell

• Is it sweet or unpleasant?
• Unpleasant smells can be a sign of poor fermentation caused by undesirable micro-organisms.
• If this is the case feed value will have been lost.

Feel

• Slimy silage could be excess nitrogen present when harvested.
• Low sugars and poor fermentation allowing undesirable microbes to work.
• Check how leafy or fibrous it is.
• Excessively fibrous silage may be grass cut too late and contain excess stem material.

Moisture

• How wet or dry is the silage?
• Is it wetter or drier than expected? Review wilting techniques. 
• Wet silage can be a sign that fermentation was slow and inefficient.

For more information

For more information on clamp management, silage sampling or our range of additives please speak to your local ForFarmers Forage Specialist or send us an online enquiry here