Somerset farmer produces milk from high quality silage leys

    Boost milk from home-grown forage with high yielding short-term leys

    West Somerset mixed dairy, arable and pig farmer Terry Miller aims to produce as much milk from forage as possible from his 220 cows, and is currently achieving 2,876 litres out of a total annual yield of 9,159 litres per cow. The farm covers 364 hectares (900 acres) overlooking the Bristol Channel.

    The pedigree Holstein Friesian milking cows are housed for the first 200 days of lactation and fed a 50:50 mix of maize and high quality grass silage. The diet is fed as a total mixed ration (TMR) with soya, oilseed rape, home-grown wheat and sugar beet nuts, and the cows eat 40kg fresh weight.

    Terry Miller is pleased with his high quality westerwolds grass silage

    “We take five cuts of Tornado, a westerwolds and Italian ryegrass short term cutting ley – grown in rotation with winter wheat or winter barley,” explains Mr. Miller.

    “This mix really suits our ground which is in the rain-shadow of the Quantock Hills, so can dry up in summer. Tornado seems to keep going. Everyone can get big cuts for their first cut, but we get three or four additional big cuts of high quality forage throughout the season.”

    Silage analysis results for second year Tornado westerwold/Italian ryegrass crop in 2015

    First cut silage

    Second cut silage

    Fourth cut silage

    Dry Matter%

    33.9

    32.6

    24.8

    Crude Protein %

    16.6

    11.1

    13.5

    D Value %

    75.5

    72.9

    72.2

    Metabolisable Energy (ME) MJ/kg

    12.1

    11.7

    11.6

    Terry and his two sons Paul and Simon changed their silage making machinery seven years ago, and now pick up the wilted mown grass with a Strautmann forage wagon rather than a forage harvester. The system is slower, but suits the three-man family labour unit, and the longer chop of the grass is better for rumen health.

    “We aim to get the first cut in the third week of April, well before the grass has headed, and then come back again at six-week intervals. It is amazing how quickly it grows back.”

    The farm is in an NVZ and fertiliser applications are kept to a maximum dressing 75kg/ha after each cut, apart from 50kg/ha after fifth cut.

    Sowing
    Cereal stubble is min-tilled after harvest and a flush of weeds allowed to come through, before being sprayed off with herbicide. The Tornado is drilled at 35kg/ha (14kg/acre) with a Tive six-metre air drill after the desiccated stubble has been min-cultivated with a Väderstad TopDown cultivator.

    “The grass comes up incredibly quickly, within ten days,” says Mr. Miller. “It shows very aggressive growth at all stages of its life. It provides a valuable two-year break in the rotation, as well as producing top quality food for the cows.”

    This article first appeared in COW MANAGEMENT March 2016