It’s Never Too Late - The Importance of Liming After Silage Cuts

There is little doubt that the near continuous stream of wet weather since last autumn has had a significant impact on the stocks of silage available to farmers this year. And with over 85% of Irish farms producing silage, and grass silage typically accounting for almost 25% of a cow’s annual intake, it is now more important than ever to ensure that the quality of produced silage remains high.

Recent testing has shown that the average pH of soils in Ireland is between 5.8 and 6.0, which is 0.3 to 0.5 below the recommended 6.3 for grassland. Calcium is also shown, most often, to be extremely deficient, with the soils simultaneously showing worryingly high values of Magnesium. As a result, any forage mineral analysis on the silage will likely indicate the presence of Iron and Aluminium, with both elements acting as antagonists to Copper - severely limiting its absorption by the livestock.

As we know, Copper is responsible for energy generation in all ruminant tissues, but without the generation of energy, basic biological functions such as growth, feed intake and body conditioning would simply not exist. Low pH soils also increase the potential for raised Molybdenum levels, as they tend to be anaerobic and compact, making them more readily taken up by the plant and thus acting as another antagonist to Copper.

So what can we do to address the shortfall?

Well, traditionally, all lime application would have to wait until the arrival of the spring season, with large bulk applications not really ever advisable mid-season on silage ground. However, with granulated lime, there is no such restriction. With high reactivity and impressive speeds of response, it makes abundant sense to apply G-Lime after silage cuts to address some of the deficiencies observed in the soil and to ensure more favourable conditions for the new season (or even mid-season) growth.

Any decision you make to delay lime application until the following year could have a significant impact on your overall returns. Not only will the quality of your silage suffer, but the cost to balance your silage feed with other minerals in an attempt to counter potentially toxic elements will have to increase, as will the cost to supplement the livestock’s diet with other sources of feed.

A regular liming programme involving small and frequent applications of granulated lime is one of the single most important changes you could make to your silage production. And at a mere 160kg per acre to achieve the same 0.3 pH increase as 2 tonnes of bulk lime (depending on your soil type), it is both economically prudent and surprisingly convenient to apply annual lime, with your own spreader, before or after the silage has been cut.

For more information, or to share your soil results with us in return for a free 5 year liming programme, please contact us HERE or call Jonny McKinney on 07841 341305.