What was the TopFodder Silage project?
Topfodder Silage concluded in June 2006 and was a joint initiative of the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Dairy Australia.
It was a national project that improved the quality of silage produced on dairy farms. Quality silage is crucial because it is an important feed resource and pasture management tool for farmers. TopFodder Silage identified ways to reduce the loss of silage often experienced during harvest, storage and feed-out.
It also gave dairy farmers and advisers, silage contractors and argibusiness access to detailed information about silage in Australia.
What benefits did TopFodder Silage deliver?
Topfodder Silage enabled dairy farmers to implement a quality silage system that could achieve significant profitability and productivity gains by:
- Reducing supplementary feed costs
- Increasing returns
- Boosting milk and pasture production
- Reducing the wastage of silage through better storage and feed-out methods
- Improving pasture management
A good silage system not only boosts production levels, but has the capacity to save farmers thousands of dollars in additional feed.
What resources did TopFodder Silage offer?
TopFodder Silage gave farmers access to the following tools to improve the quality of their silage:
Copies of the "Successful Silage" Manual are now available from the NSW DPI bookshop. Telephone: 1880 028 374
TopFodder Testimonials
'Cut feed costs & maintained production with fewer cows'
Neil & Kay Widdicome
Colac, Western Victoria
“TopFodder clarified the need to store silage correctly and the benefits of getting all the small things done on time to maximise quality. It opened our eyes to silage losses due to poor sealing. I was covering stacks, not sealing them…. I lost about half a metre of silage on the top and sides.”
Challenge: Uncertain milk prices, rising feed prices and increasing land values.
TopFodder product: Short Course.
Changes made: Cut herd size from 220 to 170 cows, built a feedpad, renovated pastures, increased fertiliser inputs, changed grazing management and made more, better quality silage.
Results: Maintained milk production (1.7 m litres); cut feedout losses by 25%; estimated saving of $17,000/year through reduced feed losses.
'Silage improvements worth &7,000 a year'
John & Margaret Cockerell
Numurkah, northern Victoria
“I came away from the course convinced that I should be wilting and sealing as quickly as possible after mowing. It made me realise the importance of getting the timing right and evaluating to see how well the feed value of the silage compared with the cost of bought-in feeds .”
Challenge: Make more top-quality silage from pastures.
TopFodder product: Short Course.
Changes made: Invested in a tedder and twin rotary rake; spread mown forage with tedder within two hours of cutting to improve wilting; wrapped bales within 48 hours of cutting.
Results: Produced, more, silage of top quality (10-11MJ/kg DM); reduced losses. “If I can gain 0.5MJ/kg DM through improved silage making, this equates to 22,222 L more milk. At a price of 32 c/L, that’s worth $7,000 extra milk income."
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