With farmers heading into the start of the silage season, Murray Dairy has developed an eight-part series of videos to help local farm businesses best manage their silage.
Produced as a joint initiative of Murray Dairy and Lallemand Australia, the videos range from between one and four-and-a-half minutes in length and cover the fundamentals of site selection, sealing, measuring silage pile density, face management and nutrition, measuring and managing silage at harvest, harvest timing and chop length and kernel processing.
The first five videos are now available, with a further three planned to coincide with the 2021 corn harvest.
Murray Dairy regional extension officer Lisa Birrell said the videos were comprehensive.
“The first of the five initial videos introduces the series, highlighting an increase in conserved feeds and the need for practical tips to improve knowledge, skills and outcomes,” Ms Birrell said.
“Site Selection provides details on selecting a silage site that suits your current and future needs, which is critical for good drainage and access to deliver clean feed to animals.
“Sealing runs through methods of effectively sealing to maximise silage quality and quantity to ensure you don’t end up with compost instead.
“Measuring Corn Silage Pile Density demonstrates how to measure and assess the density of your silage stack, which is critical for effective fermentation.
“Face Management offers techniques to preserve the quality and nutritional value of different types of silage.
“We will release the final three videos in late summer next year, so we encourage farmers to keep an eye on our social media, YouTube channel.”
To view the first five videos visit: tinyurl.com/silage-videos