Bale silage for horses – a growing market in Germany

By Dr. Wolfgang Sommer
Fodder Consultant and Horse Expert of the Agricultural Chamber Northrhine-Westfalia, Münster

Despite economic stagnation, the interest in horse keeping in Germany is sound. At present there are about 1 million horses of varying breeds. New stables are under construction nationwide, and horse riding is a popular activity.

In the course of this expansion, traditional agricultural horse keeping has diminished, while private horse keeping has increased. At the same time, some traditional rural expertise about feeding has been lost. Some knowledge, on the other hand, has been updated by new developments and insights.

In dairy farming, the numerous advantages of grass silage production have been known and used for decades, whereas in horse keeping, bale silage has only shown an increase in the past few years. There are increasing numbers of entrepreneurs who produce particularly handy small-scale bales for horse keepers.

In comparison to hay, risks and labour during harvest are lower and there is less work involved during the feeding process. Hay making always involves weather risks for days on end, as could be seen for example in 2004. Harvesting is disproportionately more time-consuming than baling, particularly as bale silage is mostly produced by private contractors. Hay will quite commonly be made wet prior to feeding to reduce the risks from dust allergies. Respiratory tract illnesses in horses can be considerably reduced with high-quality bale silage. So for horses with a higher allergic predisposition, bale silage is the first choice in roughage.

Horses like bale silage and it has the necessary structural properties for fodder supply. Silage — as well as hay — therefore serves as saturation and occupational feed. As grass for bale silage is normally cut earlier than grass for hay production, bale silage contains more energy than hay based on dry matter content. In balanced rations, this allows a greater reduction in the expensive feed concentrates compared to hay. Another advantage of bale silage is the higher concentration of vitamins (β-carotene, vitamin E) contained in freshly cut grass, which can be preserved still further by through tight sealing.

Despite several advantages, non-observance of basic rules of bale production brings certain feeding risks. It is always important to harvest clean crops and to ensure that the fodder is produced in a way that is fit for storage.

As it is normally cut earlier, bale silage contains more protein than hay. In some instances, however, hay may be richer in protein. Existing differences in protein content of both roughages should not be overestimated from a nutrition-physiology point of view.

The occasional production of fodder with a quality so poor it cannot be used is linked to undesirable germ loads (yeasts, moulds) of bale silage. These high germ loads, however, result from mistakes and carelessness in production technology and are not related to the system of bale silage production itself. In order to produce optimum silage, the following basic rules should be observed:

  • Cut on time in spring, avoid grass becoming too old and woody,
  • Do not cut too deep (7 – 10 cm) to avoid contamination with soil,
  • Do not pre-dry too long (45 – max. 60 % dry matter), usually 1 – 2 days,
  • Compress as much and as evenly as possible (> 220 kg dry matter / cubic metre)
  • Wrap thoroughly (6 – 8 layers),
  • Transport and store bales properly.

In conclusion, there are many factors in favour of using bale silage for horse feeding. As many horses in Germany are kept in small units, the use of bale silage is highly feasible. This type of roughage production and supply will therefore continue to grow significantly in importance.

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