Silage stocks are reportedly looking plentiful for most producers, according to the AHDB.

This comes after a good grass-growing summer across the UK on the whole.

This followed a mild winter and good weather in early spring, which meant growth rates started the season well.

This has seen increased numbers of farmers taking more cuts of silage, adding to silage volume.

Winter prospects

AHDB analyst Felicity Rusk said: “Grass silage quality, in particular, is looking very good and so winter feeding prospects are promising.

"The latest results from Trouw Nutrition show that although the silage is generally drier, energy and protein contents are good.

"This could lead to higher forage intake and a reduction in purchased feed costs.”

Dry matter content

“The good weather in early spring led to rapid grass growth, which resulted in more lignin and a higher dry matter content.

"To compensate for the higher dry matter content, we may see producers use rapidly fermentable energy and protein sources to rebalance the dietary ratio of carbohydrate and protein.”

Silage volumes are in stark contract to 12 months ago, when cattle feed costs were on average 13% higher between November 2018 and February 2019 than in the previous year, according to figures from Defra.