LAST year’s late spring did nothing to bolster first cut silage crops in terms yield or protein, but it did provide a winner for Sandy Dalgleish and his wife Maggie, when their dairy unit at Balgownie, Culross, produced it best ever forage crop.

Such was the quality, management and utilisation of their silage produced from 120acres, that they not only qualified for the East of Scotland Grassland Society silage competition for the first time, but also came a close second in the dairy section.

“It certainly wasn’t the biggest crop we’ve ever had and it was a bit low in protein, but it is one of the best silages we’ve ever produced here,” said Sandy, who was delighted with his big win albeit a tad surprised.

“We’ve never entered anything like this before, so doing so well was a real surprise,” said Sandy who admitted the late spring probably helped the farm qualify as the grass was not as mature as it would normally be when cut.

The Dalgeish’s winning silage was cut the last week in May, as always, and being less mature, produced a 76.0% D Value with an ME of 12.2MJ/kg of DM. In contrast to previous years though, it was tedded for the first time, after it received a shower with the result being it produced a higher dry matter content at 32.9%, while protein and sugar contents levelled at 115g and 30g/kg of DM, respectively.

Urea was used for the first time too, with the crop receiving 120 units of the nitrogen fertiliser per acre mid-March followed by a 3cwt of a 0:20:20 compound the same week. No additive was used.

“We do most of the silage work ourselves which always makes a difference as we don’t have to rely on contractors who might be pushed for time and need to lift the crop early morning. Being able to harvest in our own time makes a huge difference,” said Sandy, who relies on assistance from Maggie who works on the farm along with full-time employees Robert Patterson and Robert Read.

“Depending on the weather we normally take our first cut between May 20 and May 31, and last year’s crop would have been harvested at the same time as usual for all it wasn’t as thick a crop. It did nevertheless receive a slight shower on the first night, but that didn’t seem to affect it when our son in law, Mark Roberts teddied it out for us the next day. Tedding definitely made it drier and it appears to be more palatable as a result,” he added pointing that Mark also sends over sheep to graze the fields during the winter months.

The other big difference at Balgownie in silage making is that the grassland fields are never rolled as Sandy believes they grow better without rolling. His father, William (89), up until recently, has neverthless always kept the moles at bay.

Normally, the aim is to mow crops from 11am onwards to capture as much of the sugars in the grass as possible, wilt the grass for 24 hours and have it the pit as quick as possible using the farm’s own JF forage harvester which is capable of handling 40-60-acres per day depending on the thickness of the crop. Special attention is paid to rolling the pit to reduce as much air as possible, and to sealing the pit with a double sided sheet weighed down with a green mesh sheet and tyres.

“We do spend a lot of time rolling and sealing the pit to reduce the amount of wastage,” said Sandy.

With the milk price so poor last year, the couple had not been pushing their cows to produce huge milk yields with the result that there was little if any difference in yields when the cows went on to the ration.

But then, the business has always based its farm policy on low input low output and being as self-sufficient as possible. As it is, milk yields from this unregistered Holstein cross Friesian type herd stand at 7500litres on a twice daily milking regime at 4.48%BF and 3.45%P, with a calving interval of less than 400 days.

With 180 acres of crop grown, all the cattle are bedded on straw, with 50 acres of winter wheat crimped and ensiled in an ag-bag, while 90acres of winter barley and 20 of spring are grown for feed, treated with propcorn and bruised.

Adding to the diet are 30 acres of beans to provide valuable protein, and peas which last year were grown as arable silage and 10 acres of fodder beet. A second and sometimes a third cut of silage is also taken for the low yielders and youngstock, and with the grass regularly reseeded as part of the cereal rotation, quality is always relatively good.

Cows are split between high and low yielders and fed a TMR with no concentrates used in or out of the parlour. The only feeds bought in are soya and minerals.

“We’ve not fed cake for 30 years now and prefer to be as self sufficient as possible,” said Sandy who relies on assistance from college adviser, James Buchanan to work out feed rations.

The cows also utilise grass as much as possible and most years are out from mid April through until the end of October, depending on the weather. They are nevertheless provided with a buffer silage and home mix feed at grass.

The farm, which comprises 330 acres and also rents a further 100 acres, is also reliant on home-grown feeds for the youngstock, to include all young bulls which are finished. Most years the top end of the herd is AI’d to a Holstein sire to produce home-bred replacements with the remainder bulled naturally with a beef bull, either a Limousin or Simmental.

Most of the Holstein/Friesian bulls produce O2 and O3 grades when finished within a 14-15-month barley beef system, with carcase weights of around 300kg. This compares to the beef bulls which finish on the same ration in 13-14-months with carcase weights of up to 365kg and R grades, with the Limousin bulls tending to finish the lightest.

Beef heifers on the other hand are sold as breeding heifers at 15-18months of age either through United Auctions, Stirling, Caledonian Marts Stirling, or privately.

While Maggie works full time on the farm, she also attends to the business’ holiday house, Bramble Brae, which since joining the global advertising company, AIR BNB, has attracted visitors from India, America, Kuwait and Australia, many of whom are keen to take up a view round the farm as advertised with the holiday. It’s proving a real selling point too as the holiday house is virtually fully booked all year. This year she also has plans to add chicken coup and a couple of free range hens in the garden, allowing visitors to collect their own eggs.

The biggest job at this time of year however is preparing the ground for next year’s feed rations and of course getting the fertiliser on for what hopefully will a good early spring, ensuring copious amounts of grass for this year’s silage crops.