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XtraBlatt issue 01-2017

  • Text
  • Krone
  • Forage
  • Silage
  • Machinery
  • Agricultural
  • Maize
  • Cows
  • Farmer
  • Farmers
  • Menschen

MENSCHEN TITLE RUBRIK

MENSCHEN TITLE RUBRIK THEME Comprehensive feed and feeding tests are among the tasks conducted at the research centre. XtraBlatt: …whereby, according to your initial statements, there still lies much improvement potential. Gerighausen: Yes indeed. To this potential belongs, I reckon, the fact that many farmers still don’t think enough about feed quality, never mind optimal rationing. The first, and very important, step hereby is determining time of harvest. With grass silage, this is naturally even more important than with maize. However, I remember in this connection the 2016 harvest where serious lack of rain meant dry matter content of the maize plants rocketed upwards by quasi 1 – 2% daily, even in August. In these conditions, a very large amount of maize was chopped far too late, even though some contractors had warned their customers early-on about the problem. XtraBlatt: Keyword problems: in silage consolidation. Does this apply to long-chop too? Gerighausen: Before I go onto this, I would like to mention two other harvest aspects: timely quality control and also chop length. The theme quality control applies not only to the time of cutting but also the processing of the feed during the harvesting. Now, during cereal combining every farmer immediately gets down on the stubble and starts counting grain loss before the combine has got 10 metres into the crop. And with forage maize? Throughout the year I see often enough silage with masses of whole maize grains in it: grains not cracked, barely digestible, a complete waste of money! Waiting until the silage is in the clamp before controlling efficacy of the production process is too late. Nothing can be changed by that time. Certainly, the silage harvester operator has to pay attention. But, above all, the farmer should get down to this, and control quality of the procedure immediately, out in the field. But getting back to chop length above 14 mm: there can be a lot of sense in this where a feed ration is to contain a large amount of maize, i.e. 70% or more. However, in dairy cow feeding, or for cattle in general, maize is mainly the energy supplier. Further ration components such as grass and/or straw are then responsible for structure and crude fibre. However, depending on the year, it can make sense to vary the chop length with maize. On completion of the first two grass cuts and the straw harvest, the farmer knows the respective qualities involved and can then manoeuvre a little during the maize harvest. This could well be the case in 2017 because, in some parts of Germany for instance, low temperatures and lack of precipitation meant the harvest in the important first grass cut was notably smaller than normal, although content quality was very good. XtraBlatt: So this means that OptiMaize apparently begins, not with the maize harvest, but instead already with the grass silage… Gerighausen: Correct! And chopping longer is not per se the silver bullet for cattle feeding. Incidentally, I’d like to go a step further here. By measuring nutrient content directly at the harvester, the so-called NIRS sampling allows quality parameters, for instance with grass, to be determined directly during harvest and not later via sampling after the fermenting process has been completed in the clamp. This early knowledge of feed quality means farmers are in a position to consider buying-in necessary extra ration constituents (e.g. beet pulp) earlier in the year and not first of all in autumn. This enables substantial cost reductions to be achieved. Not for nothing is the merchant’s credo: “Profit lies in the purchase”. XtraBlatt: Important fine-tuning in feed production therefore comes from time of cutting, length of chop and punctual quality controls. Then there’s the theme of silage consolidation in the clamp. Gerighausen: Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten! Correct compacting of long-chop maize is, in itself, no problem – as long as certain parameters are observed. For me, these include the distribution of longer-chop forage in thinner layers across the clamp and, right from the start, ensuring the clamp is broad enough so that, if possible, two consolidating tractors have room to operate. This approach enables good forage consolidation, even with longer-chop. When this cannot be achieved – whatever the reason – I think it makes good sense if longer-chop layers are lower down in the clamp and the upper layers are shorter-chop. The shorter material is more easily compacted to help seal off the clamp. Where this approach can’t be followed, a taste-neutral additive such as potassium sorbate helps secure aerobic stability during fermentation. XtraBlatt: How important is rolling technique and vehicle weight? Gerighausen: Both aspects are certainly important. But forget the motto: “the heavier, the better”. A limit has to be put on extent of contact surface pressure. Over-ballasting doesn’t help and that’s why I personally am impressed in this context by system tractors with crab steering, especially for compacting silage in clamps without side walls. Here, if the driver steers too close to the edge with standard tractor or wheeled loader, the angle of the vehicle changes and the clamp tends to become increasingly wider. This is impractical because length, breadth and height INFO Riswick research centre in Kleve “Haus Riswick” is one of two agriculture research and educational centres run by the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture. Among the roles of these institutions are: • Offering further education through practical courses in livestock husbandry for students and those already involved in farming • Further education courses and seminars for farmers, teachers and advisers • Husbandry trials with ruminants, researching construction and equipment developments for buildings and milking • Grazing and forage production trials • Feeding and feed conservation trials • Testing feed for energy content. Additionally carried out within the Riswick College of Agriculture facilities in Kleve, where organic production is a focal point, is work on cattle and pig husbandry as well as grain production/ livestock feeding. Also held at the Kleve Vocational School are training and further education courses for mechanics of agricultural and construction machinery as well as for specialist staff in agricultural service industries and courses for certification of masters within the latter sector. seldom end up in a desirable ratio. When feeding from the clamp, silage removal leaves a clamp face that leads to increased feed loss. But this is a separate subject for itself. XtraBlatt: Many thanks Mr Gerighausen! 10 11