Hay Silage Haylage

[Grassman]

Conservation
Grazing animals require forage all year round
Grass does not grow much (if at all) in the winter but yields extremely well in the spring
Therefore there is a requirement to conserve the excess spring grass as feed for the following winter
The traditional conserve method was the production of hay from maturing grass in mid summer
More recently ensiling young, fresh grass while its nutritional quality is peaking has become favourable
This is the method of storing grass by fermentation (pickling) rather than drying it out completely as with hay

Advantages of silage over hay
The grasses in silage are cut much younger and therfore have higher digestible nutrition value
There is less time from cut to storage so nutriant losses are significantly reduced
It is possible to take multiple cuts from a single field resulting in more yield per acre
Grasses have  now been bred to have higher soluble carbohydrate content aiding the fermentation process
Ensiling is less reliant on long spells of dry weather for drying

What is haylage?
Silage is unsuitable for feeding horses and hay can also be problematic but haylage is an excellent half way house
Haylage is usually produced later in the year from more mature grass as if making hay
Unlike hay it is not completely field dried, neither is it chopped short like silage
The grass is quickly wilted to around 60% dry matter then bagged or baled in airtight bags or plastic wrap
Some fermentation takes place to stabilise the enclosed environment preserving the grasses within
Very little or more often than not no additives are used to aid the fermentation process
This method retains more nutritional value than hay (up to 90% of fresh grass)
Well made haylage contains minimal dust particals and has higher nutritional value than hay but is not as rich or wet as silage