Silage competition winners: Key success factors

The Santam Agriculture National Silage Competition once again delivered impressive results, maintaining its high standards and enthusiastic participation. This year’s judging spanned six key categories: nutrient composition, fermentation quality, aerobic stability, top-layer losses, compaction or density, and visual assessment.

- By Richardt Venter

Seasonal factors played a significant role in silage outcomes. Summer rainfall led to a particularly wet maize and sorghum harvest, which was clearly reflected in the data. In some instances, maize silage was harvested prematurely at just 25% dry matter (DM), resulting in underdeveloped starch levels. Conversely, some entries were harvested too late, with DM levels reaching 54%, exceeding the ideal harvesting stage.

Despite the challenging harvest season, overall silage quality was exceptionally good. This is because the wet conditions improved crop quality and supported effective silage production.

Excellence in silage management

What truly stood out among the top performers was the consistently high standard of their silage-making practices. Most achieved near-perfect scores for their techniques, which included:

• Precise chopping and processing of particles.

• Thorough kernel breakage in maize silage.

• Smell of the silage.

• Condition of bales (intact or not).