ADAS costings show that the dairy farmers with the highest margins per litre of milk sold are those who maximise yield from home grown forages. Forage quality obviously has an influence on cow performance but high intakes are the most important factor in determining yields.

Many physical and chemical factors can affect the nutritional value of silage and consequently intake.

The major deficiency of well fermented silage is that levels of residual sugars are normally very low (<10g/kg DM), this reduces the potential microbiological activity in the rumen. In addition the products of the silage fermentation affect palatability and can limit intake.

Restriction of the silage fermentation to a minimum, should overcome the nutritional limitations caused by the fermentation process, increasing intakes and the resulting animal performance.