Silage Insights

October 2004

Welcome to our inaugural issue of Silage Insights, your resource for practical advice, trends, research, and industry news on bale silage. We developed this informative newsletter to enlighten Dow’s business partners as well as other members of the bale silage supply chain – from film converters and distributors to contractors and farmers’ agricultural merchants, machinery manufacturers and dealers, as well as consultants, advisers and journalists and those involved in agricultural research and education.

We hope you find our newsletter informative and thought provoking, and that you will join Dow in the continuous process of improving the ability of farmers to produce safe and healthy food at a reasonable price.

Checklist aimed to improve handling and storage techniques

In time for this season’s first cut, Dow produced a practical guide to getting the most bale wrap. Aimed at end-users of bale silage as well as contractors, the guide looks at factors such as film type and width, the number of layers of wrap used, plus storage and handling techniques.

Read full article

Lab trials flag differences in film performance

Laboratory trials carried out on silage stretch wrap films have flagged a series of differences that could hold the key to improving baled silage quality. The tests, carried out by Dow’s Antonio Manrique found significant variations between different films in terms of oxygen permeability, tear resistance, and ‘neck-in’ tendency, all of which have a direct impact on silage quality and spoilage.

Read full article

Survey shows change in attitude toward big bale silage

A new survey carried out by Dow has shown an increase in the number of layers of film used to wrap silage bales – and the growing use of coloured (mainly white or green) films.

The survey of more than 200 farmers and contractors, conducted through Farm Contractor magazine, found that over a third of those wrapping bales now use six layers of film on at least some of their silage bales. In total, the percentage of bales wrapped with six or eight layers rose three per cent between the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Read full article

Bales win through in the 'Bale versus Clamp' debate

The first full comparison of the costs of baling versus clamping – jointly developed by The Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) and Dow – has given a significant boost to baling, showing cost benefits of up to £13.86 per tonne of fresh silage fed over clamping the same crop.

Read full article

If you are visiting K 2004 – 20-27 October 04, Düsseldorf, Germany – don’t forget to visit the Dow stand.

Read full article

Volac has launched a new green film this season – Top Wrap Eco-Green. Work Dow commissioned at CEDAR has shown that using a lighter-coloured wrap can reduce the heat inside the bales, reducing spoilage and the risk of the seal between layers of film breaking as the film expands and contracts in the heat. Light green film is also available from other producers of silage film.

A new method of preserving whole maize grain, rather than the footage crop, has been developed by Maizeurop in southern France. The crop is harvested at 26-36% moisture then transferred to airtight bags or silos so that the grain become inert, uses up available oxygen, then is preserved in the carbon dioxide respired by the grain.

Read more industry articles.