Teagasc Drystock advisor Joe Hand joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss how to maximise silage yield this year on your farm.

Firstly, Joe highlights a number of factors which influence silage yield such as soil P, K, and pH levels, soil compaction, reseeded swards and fertiliser applied to the crop

Joe advises that sub-optimal soil fertility is probably the core reason that target silage yields and digestibility are not achieved. Through experiments carried out on-farm with Walsh fellowship student Louise Pearse, Joe explained the findings.

He noted a difference in yield of 3.8 t vs 5t from following recommended fertiliser rates which is a difference of 1.2 tonne yield dry matter per hectare or a 30% increase yield.

A silage quality guide to complete for your farm developed by Joe & Louise is available here:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/beef/Silage-Quality-2021.pdf

For more episodes and information covered on the Beef Edge, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com