Homemade silage fills feed gaps

摘要

Feeding livestock can account for up to half a dairy enterprise's operating costs and impact significantly on profitability but beef, sheep and dairy producers making the move to silage can save thousands of dollars annually by producing and storing silage on-farm. During 2003-2004, Australian farmers made more than three million tonnes of silage, an increase of one million tonnes over the previous five years. On average, 774t of hay or silage per farm is conserved, according to Kondinin Group's 2005 National Agricultural Survey, representing more than 77,000 dollar worth of feed if valued at 100 dollar/t. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland together produce more than 75 per cent of all silage made in Australia (see Table 1).