Cereal Silage - a review of its use in the South Island

Abstract

A sample of growers and users of cereal silage in the South Island of New Zealand were surveyed in 2005 to quantify results and perceptions. Most users perceived they had positive animal responses with 92% reporting that stock performance improved when cereal silage was used as a supplement to grazed pasture. Feedback from growers indicated that cereal silage had potential as a high yielding crop but growers estimates of crop yield varied widely. The majority of growers and users were getting results that met or exceeded their expectations. Keywords: cereal silage, whole-crop, green-chop, survey, yields, quality, South Island, performance