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Lots of Tasty Silage
“The cows are wooping it down, they think its toffees,” says Michael Partington of the big bale silage he made from a field of No.23 Heavy Silage. “And the milk yield has gone up by about 2 litres per cow per day.”
Michael who runs the 5,800 litre Hulton herd of 130 pedigree Ayrshires on 220 acres of heavy soil near Bolton, Lancashire, in partnership with his mother Pat, broadcast the ley on 25th July 2001. “We put half a tonne 25-5-5 and one and a half tonne of seaweed fertiliser on the seven an a half acres and it got off to a really good start.”
The ley grew so well that Michael was able to take a cut of silage in October 2001. “We got 64 big bales off on 14th October, 77 on the 9th May, 81 on 25th June and 68 on 28th August, making a total of 290, that’s about 27 tonnes per acre. We would have taken a 4th cut in 2002, but didn’t get to it before the weather turned,” he explains.
Michael believes in reseeding on a regular basis. “You don’t get the production off old swards,” he explains. “I’m very pleased with the No.23 and will definitely use it again.”
