Forage Crops and Home Grown Forage

Maize is a high energy, high dry matter home-grown feed.

When included in diets will increase intakes and have a positive effect on overall yields and milk solids in the dairy herd but equally increased intakes improve daily live weight gain, kill out percentage and fat score in a beef production system.

Maize can be used in spring post-calving where cows have a high demand for energy, but equally as a buffer feed where there is a feed deficit situation (drought etc.)

A more consistent, cost-effective solution to a 2 or 3 cut grass silage system.

Sowing maize under cover with plastic generally costs 200€ an acre more to grow. Although it is essential in certain parts of the country, it is worth considering sowing without plastic.

Open Sow varieties are:

1. Cheaper to grow
2. New varieties are less risky to grow without plastic
3. Weed control is easier
4. More targeted use of fertiliser

So, if you have a good site and you are sowing in time, sow without plastic. Our team are available to talk you through your options

Fodder Beet can produce substantial yields of high-quality fodder and is an excellent supplement to grass silage.

Fodder beet is grown as a main root crop, which requires similar husbandry to sugar beet. The roots are very palatable to stock and have superb feed quality.

It is grown as a main root crop, which requires similar husbandry to sugar beet. Specialist harvesting equipment is required to lift the roots and storage is required unless they are strip grazed in situ.

Medium dry matter varieties tend to have a higher percentage of root above ground and can be lifted with a top lifter and therefore have a relatively low dirt tare. These highly palatable roots can be fed whole to stock.

Why Grow Fodder Beet?

• Huge yields

• Improved milk yields

• Ideal break crop for cereals

• Palatable and nutritious

• High energy feed

• Can be grazed in situ for outwintering systems

• Clamp and store over winter

Gahan Sugar Beet is a high dry matter sugar beet, suitable for lift and pit.

This is a next-generation sugar beet with high dry matter content and very high yields. This clean beet has proven very popular countrywide with both contractors & farmers, and it has also proven its ability to drive improvements in animal performance.

Gahan has very large tops, potentially protecting the crown when harvesting late.

Bolting resistance is excellent.

Mildew and rust resistance is also very good.

Gahan is also Rhizomania tolerant.

Wholecrop cereals are a versatile addition to beef or dairy diets. Cereals can produce a starch-rich forage crop that is also a good source of effective fibre, essential for good rumen function. Care must be taken to harvest at the optimum time for best results; however, the wide harvest window across the crops means this can be easily managed.

Why Grow Wholecrop?
• Flexible crop to grow and wholecrop can be produced from spring or winter crops
• Ideal year-round feed
• Low protein content means wholecrop cereal grains are an excellent and very palatable complementary feed with either grass or good quality grass silage
• Cost effective to produce
• Can be under-sown with grass seed as part of a reseeding plan
• Wholecrop cereals must be treated with a crop specific additive - Magniva Platinum Wholecrop

Multi-species swards are a sustainable source of high-quality forage.

Multi-species swards produce large quantities of highly digestible forage rich in minerals and high in protein for grazing livestock. Apart from a couple of small fertiliser applications in spring, multi-species swards are almost totally N self-sufficient.

Having a mixture of grass and multi species swards on the grazing platform will ensure a steady supply of the highest quality forage through spring, summer, and autumn, buffering against drought and reducing the cost of forage production.