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Silage around the world

They say it’s a small world. Well with advances in technology, particularly that relating to communication and travel, it’s only getting smaller. Today, it’s never been easier for the world’s farmers to share ideas, expertise and farming practices. So what lessons can we learn from our international counterparts when it comes to making good quality, nutritious silage?

When it comes to producing good quality, nutritious silage small things can make a big difference. This is especially true of mistakes. A cut corner here or a slight oversight there can ultimately result in silage that’s unusable due to insufficient dry matter content or worse, that’s dangerous to herd health because of mould growth and the likely presence of mycotoxins or Listeria.

'Make hay while the sun shines'. We've all heard the saying but for many farmers and agricultural contractors this statement has become just as applicable when times are hard. Compared with baled silage, relying on hay as a winter feed can seem like a lower cost option. But is it actually a cheaper alternative? Or is it more a case of false economy?

bpi.agri, manufacturer of high quality silage films, was announced as the winner of the 2010 Marketing Excellence Award for Manufacturing at a glittering Awards Ceremony in the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on Tuesday night. The Award was made for the business’ campaign to promote the benefits of Visqueen Clingseal, a flexible, low permeability agricultural film which can significantly reduce top and shoulder waste in the silage clamp.

British Polythene Industries (BPI) plc has shown its support for the important work of the RNLI. The business - which ranks not only as Europe’s largest manufacturer of polythene films bags and sacks but also as Europe’s largest waste polythene recycler - has donated a Plaswood bench to the charity’s new Exmouth lifeboat station.

Greenock based British Polythene Industries, Europe’s largest recycler of polythene film, was announced last night (30 Sept) as the winner of the Best Green Large Company category at the 2010 Scottish Green Awards ceremony.

bpi.agri is set to augment its track record of providing high quality wide width films for agricultural applications with the imminent unveiling of a new production line in Ardeer, Ayrshire. The state-of-the-art wide width line, installed as part of a £7 million investment project at the site, is believed to be one of the widest and most advanced anywhere in the world.

Demonstrating the strength of its continued commitment to British agriculture, leading manufacturer of Polybale balewrap and Visqueen silage sheeting bpi.agri has become a commercial sponsor of the Federation of Welsh Grassland Societies.

bpi.agri has launched a new website dedicated to its Polybale® brand of balewrapping film. www.polybale.com offers in-depth information on this highly popular product, which is already a preferred choice for farmers and agricultural contractors across Europe and beyond.

SEPTEMBER 17^th 2009 – Industry experts in UK and Ireland have teamed up to develop a new “Silage Advisory Centre” designed to help farmers respond to the challenges of modern agriculture and support decision-making in silage production, forage and grassland management.

With the UK’s farming industry now fully embracing the concept of recycling its plastic scrap, a major recycler is urging farmers and agricultural contractors to consider the bigger picture in order to prevent their eco-conscious efforts going to waste.

bpi.agri, the British-based, world leading manufacturer of silage balewrap and clamp sheets, has spent £10 million enhancing its Leominster factory. The move will significantly increase the manufacturer’s production capacity for products like Silotite®, Visqueen Poliwrap® and Polybale® . It will also enable the business to produce a whole new range of next generation agricultural films.

The UK’s leading manufacturer of agricultural films, bpi.agri, is stepping up its on-going activities to help farmers operate as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible when it comes to agricultural films. The company, which produces such well known bale wraps as Silotite, Visqueen Poliwrap and Polybale, has recently issued a number of top tips which provide expert advice on how to prepare your waste polythene for recycling - quickly, easily and cost effectively.

As has been well documented previously the correct storage of silage bales is vital to preserve and retain the quality and nutritional value of the feed inside. Handling and storing bales properly avoids damage caused by birds and rodents or even grass stubble. However there is another potential hazard to baled silage, which has until now been overlooked, and that is the damage which can be caused by wireworms.

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New Silage Advisory Centre to Support Farmers’ Decision-Making

The Silage Advisory Centre will provide farmers with down to earth, practical advice and tools to maximise their forage and grassland management systems using baled silage effectively, and act as a vital source of information for farmers weighing up the pros and cons of different silage systems, processes and materials.

Activities are to include:

• running of demonstration farms to test different approaches to silage making and fodder management;

• production of case studies to share best practice with farmers;

• silage advisory seminars tailored to agricultural merchants’ nutrition representatives, independent advisors and forage contractors;

• silage advisory forums for farmers;

• a website – www.silageadvice.com - to provide a range of practical information and tools, case studies, research studies and reports at the click of a mouse.

Early contributors include The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University, stretch film manufacturer BPI, agricultural company Dow AgroSciences, resin producer Dow Europe, seed company Germinal Holdings/British Seed Houses, and agricultural retailer Mole Valley Farmers. But Dow Europe, founder of the service, expects the list of partner to grow rapidly as the Advisory Centre develops and attracts more interest from the wide variety of organisations and people involved in bale silage production and animal nutrition.

“Our recent market report into the silage market in the UK and Ireland demonstrates that farmers and contractors are coming under increased pressure from higher input and production costs, which is reducing potential profit margins,” said Norbert Schulze, Silage Marketing Manager for Dow Europe. “At the same time, the amount of silage made continues to rise, demonstrating that farmers have come to rely on it as a fodder management system, but would appreciate opportunities to make it work even harder for them.”

“We believe that baled silage provides dairy farmers with the opportunity to maximise the utilisation of grazed grass whilst at the same time providing optimal nutritional requirements to different types of stock on farm,” added David Craig, Managing Director of the Centre. “There is a need to take an holistic approach to fodder management, and we think that by bringing together the expertise of a wide variety of people and organisations involved in silage production, farm management and nutrition into this Advisory Centre we can offer a relevant and valuable service to farmers and contractors.”

One of the first organisations to sign up to the new service is The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), which runs research projects into effective land use, including different methods of silage production.

“There is certainly room to improve the ability of farmers to produce safe and nutritional feedstuff at a reasonable profit through sharing the latest research and innovation with them, but keeping up to date with new developments isn’t easy for hard-pressed, busy farmers,” said Dr Dave Davies, Agricultural Outreach Manager at IBERS. “I believe the Silage Advisory Centre will be an important step in supporting the industry with independent insights and tools that could further improve forage management on farm.”

One of the first developments from the Silage Advisory Centre will be a series of advice sheets on the use of red clover silage as an alternative forage option which offers nutritional benefits and cost savings over grass silage. The advice sheets are based on recent independent trials run at Aberystwyth University, and will contain detailed comparative analyses into cost and performance as well as practical tips on harvesting and feeding such a crop effectively.

“There are many different aspects to baled silage production and management, whether it be making choices about what crop to ensile and when to ensile it, or working out the most cost-effective and efficient methods of storing it,” said John Lancaster, Commercial Director at bpi.agri, leading stretch film manufacturer and another key member of the Silage Advisory Centre. “We’re involved with this new organisation because we believe it’s a great way of getting information that can make such decision-making easier and really make a difference straight to the people that need it most.”

Silage around the world

The seven sins of silage

Hay versus baled silage

Visqueen Clingseal - Top award for a top sheet

bpi shows support for RNLI

BPI honoured with Scottish Green Award

bpi.agri invests in new technology - and new possibilities

bpi.agri backs Federation of Welsh Grasslands

New site for tried and tested balewrap

New Silage Advisory Centre to Support Farmers’ Decision-Making

Farmers urged not to let recycling efforts go to waste

bpi.agri spends £10 million on factory

Advice that's not to be wasted

Protecting your baled silage from Wireworms

New Silage Advisory Centre to Support Farmers’ Decision-Making