SILAGE

Cutting silage is a bit of a chore. It takes quite a bit of machinery and a whole lot of time.  And the dates you can cut silage are restricted by environmental subsidies, so cutting can’t take place until late August.

Feeding silage to livestock is vastly better than importing dried feed from the mainland.  It’s healthier for the fields (and animals) to make use of local grass: the nutrients lost to the cut grass are pumped back into the soil through animal dung.   Dry feed is energy-demanding in its production as well as in its transport, which does not sit well with an environmental conscience.  But, most importantly of all, imported dry feed is very expensive.  And on a farm like ours, every penny counts.

In my decade-long experience of living on Coll, August has always been a rainy month.  (Unlike January, February, May, June and July…. for those who glibly quip ‘isn’t it always rainy in the Hebrides?’….)   This means that, come mid August, Alex and our neighbour, Rob, begin a merry dance of juggling weather forecasts, other farm chores, off-island activities and, of course, dysfunctional machinery.

We have entered into an excellent arrangement with our neighbours where Alex and Rob work together to cut silage on both farms (our farm is significantly smaller – but we don’t have to shell out a fortune on farm machinery… so it’s a happy collaboration.)

The grass was cut on Monday morning and left to wilt.  It rained in the meantime – which is not good.  Wet silage is heavy, causing slumped, misshapen bales which are difficult to move without damaging the wrapping.  Listeria and clostridium thrive in wet, warm oxygen-free conditions, so silage bales are prone to these bacteria (indeed, the fermentation process relies on other bacteria).  Listeria may poison the livestock when they are at their most vulnerable – during winter months. The wetter the silage the greater the risk.   Water also reduces the fermentation process which is essential in preserving nutrients. Whichever way you look at it, wet silage should be avoided.

There has been practically no wind these last few days, and while that meant the children enjoyed racing around outside, it meant that the silage was not drying as quick as we’d like (and the wind turbines were going slow, too!).  At 2pm today, Rob and Alex took a view that it was as dry as it was going to get, and they began the laborious process of baling and wrapping.

By 10.30pm, Alex had the whole lot baled and stacked neatly for winter.  Even 24 hours of sitting in a field would see these heavy bales slump and distort in shape – meaning the wrapping would be more likely to rip.  And ripped wrapping means the silage is exposed to oxygen and cannot ferment properly.

It is a huge relief to have the whole job done and ready for winter feeding at last.