Hedges should be kept maintained around the field in order to both maximise the area in which you are harvesting and also helping to protect machinery from damage due to bushes. This is especially important around gateways or gaps where visibility is a must for safety.

Gateways exiting on to a public road should be given extra attention to ensure safe access both coming into and exiting the field. Trees with low hanging branches should also be properly maintained in order for the machinery to pass under them without any hindrance.

Silage ground should be rolled in the spring to ensure that any stones are buried to avoid potential damage to mowers and other silage equipment, while also helping to eliminate crop contamination. Special attention should be given to the areas around the headland and hedges where stones can be dislodged and pulled out into the field by animals. Another area to be given extra attention is around gap ways or feeding areas where the ground is often poached and uneven. Hidden hazards such as rocks or tree stumps should be clearly marked for machinery operators to identify them and avoid potential damage to the machinery.

Throughout the year, many foreign objects can make their way into the silage field such as fencing posts, animal feeders, rubbish, mineral buckets, etc.

Take time to go through your fields to identify anything that shouldn’t be there and, more importantly, remove and dispose of it properly. Foreign objects hidden in the long grass can eventually make their way into a machine and cause extensive damage; modern foragers have metal and stone detectors. Although this is a safety device, it is not an excuse to avoid checking your fields and removing anything that shouldn’t be there and could cause a problem.

Special care must be taken when fencing the silage ground as small off-cuts of wire and staples can cause the metal detector on a machine to go off constantly within metres of each other, which will slow the job down drastically. Old fencing wire must be collected and not left in the field where it could wrap around mowers, causing both damage and downtime.

Contractors invest huge amounts of money in purchasing and maintaining the most modern machinery to provide their customers with a top-class, efficient and reliable service. It is unfair to expect the contractor to carry out work in fields where their machines can potentially get damaged. With a little bit of care and consideration, your silage harvesting can be completed without any problems.

To read the full Grass Silage Focus Supplement click here