370: AHDB Dairy: Top tips for a silage waste walk

Take a waste walk around your silage clamps this winter and make sure that however much home-grown forage you have managed to make this year, it’s going to be fully utilised. You can lose half of a grass crop through the silage making process, and even maize crops are vulnerable – just through poor management at every stage from harvest to feeding out.  With maize now costing over £1,400/ha to grow and clamp – and first cut grass silage estimated at over £1,200/ha – it’s important to reduce any waste to boost milk from forage and profitability, particularly given current escalating costs.  But it is possible to cut losses to 20%. All it needs is a checklist, a critical eye and a will to act, borrowing a technique from manufacturing known as Lean management.  In this episode, Shirley Macmillan, AHDB Dairy Knowledge Exchange Manager, is joined by independent consultant and Lean practitioner Dr George Fisher to find out what’s involved in a silage waste walk and how to do it. Useful links Find out how Lean management can make your farm more efficient. Feedback We'd love to know what you think of our podcasts. If you'd like to give your feedback, please complete our short questionnaire, which will help us to improve the podcast on an ongoing basis, or email: [email protected].    This episode was produced and edited by Kate Herrick, Marcomms Executive (Dairy).