UK and Ireland

Three to four cuts

In the UK, grassland farmers seek to take three to four cuts of silage; the first in May, the second in late June or July, the third in August and the fourth, when it occurs, in September; in Ireland, even a third cut is rare.

Clamp is popular, but bale silage increasing

Two methods are commonly used, clamp and bale. Clamping is typically found on large farms, where substantial quantities from the heavier first-cuts can be ensiled relatively quickly and more cheaply than when using bales.

Baling is generally the only option for smaller farms where the construction of a clamp would not be economically feasible. Some farmers make no clamp silage and bale all of it. Generally, this occurs on smaller beef and sheep farms rather than on dairy farms.

Wrapped bales account for 25 – 30% of all grass silage systems and are proving more popular each year.

Contracting activities well developed

The hub of the silage making operation in the UK and Ireland is the agricultural contractor: 50 – 60% of all silage making in the UK is done by contractors, and up to 70 – 80% in Ireland. There is a mix of full-time contractors and part-time contractors who also farm, in which case silage making is often the main contracting activity. Contractors charge on a per-acre basis when working a clamp system but often switch to a per-bale charge for baling and wrapping.

Move towards six layers

Four-layer wrap is standard for silage with a dry matter content of between 25% – 30%, the norm in both UK and Ireland. However, there is a slow but detectable move in recent years towards wrapping with more layers, and six layers are becoming more common.

There is a measurable improvement in quality if six and eight layers are applied. The difference is reported to be greater where the dry matter content is higher, for example with the production of silage and haylage using a crop of more than 40% dry matter. In fact, haylage for horses is often baled with at least eight layers of film.

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