Top tips on getting the most on a second cut silage crop

This begins with fertiliser applications, which are essential to provide a much-needed nutrient boost to crops following harvest. Edd Fanshawe, arable and connected services specialist at Kuhn Farm Machinery, says the fertiliser spreader is often the forgotten member of a grassland harvest.

Rhodri Jenkins

“While grass harvesting machinery is the focus for grassland farmers in the spring, a spreader that can apply fertiliser accurately will allow an even regrowth across the field and enable farmers to take a second cut when the crop is uniform and at its peak. A poorly set-up spreader that applies granules inaccurately will reduce grassland performance.”

Understanding the characteristics of different products is key to setting up a spreader to maximise accuracy. Natural nutrients will have a different spread pattern to artificially produced fertiliser and will react differently when leaving the disc.

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It is also worth ensuring that any technology available is used to increase accuracy, such as GPS guidance or automatic shut-off to avoid over-application.

Edd highlights another feature that farmers can use to save money. “Weigh cells are vital to ensure spreading accuracy, and adjustable application rate to either disc, ensuring that the correct rate is achieved. With the weighing happening on the discs rather than the hopper, the rate accuracy is increased and blockages are corrected straight away.”

Tedder in action

Farmers purchasing lower-quality fertiliser can also spread via a mounted boom spreader to apply granules at wider widths without wind or tramline size posing an issue. According to Edd, this will help generate even regrowth.

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“The Aero boom spreaders are becoming popular as farmers want more choice with fertiliser and the ability to spread when it is windy. A boom applicator allows fertiliser to be applied at the right time so crops can access it immediately and timings for second cuts are preserved.”

Grass machinery tweaks

Some ground conditions may have been wetter than hoped during harvest, which could cause compaction. Assessing the impact on the ground, and the machinery, is essential to avoid breakdowns later in the season.

Mower blades, tedder and rake tines, and baler and forager pickup reels will all have been subjected to potentially poor field conditions, which could impact future performance.

Rhodri Jenkins, grassland specialist at Kuhn, says taking time to check machinery thoroughly and fix broken parts should prevent unnecessary downtime. “Running machines with broken tines or blunt blades following first cut will reduce the quality of forage.”