Silawrap Making Quality Silage

Arguably, the world's most respected silage baling film, Silawrap comes with a 12-month guarantee against UV degradation, features high UV stabilization and provides an airtight and weatherproof shield, when used according to instructions.

Silawrap is available in black, green and white. It is wound onto the now familiar environmentally friendly cardboard cores.

 

 

Purchasing silage wrap is a big decision.

When purchasing silage wrap you should consider the following questions.

Will this product work well during the wrapping process?

Is it strong enough to withstand handling from the field to the stack?

Is it tacky enough to give a good seal between the layers?

How narrow is the film when stretched? Will the silage quality be good? 

Has the manufacturer got long term experience in producing wrap?

Is the product a brand produced by different manufacturers with variable quality?

The price differential between the most expensive and cheapest film is no more than 2 to 3 pounds or euro depending on your market. This equates to 6 to 10 pence or cents per bale. Silawrap is a quality brand and is worth the extra investment.

If there is more information you require, or need to know where your nearest supplier is just contact us by email or telephone.

 

Features of Silawrap include:

• Tried and proven nationally and internationally, for more than 15 years
• High tack plus high puncture and tear resistance
• Guaranteed to withstand the harshest climates
• Made to International Quality Standards for extreme conditions
• More bales per roll. Greater wrapping efficiency
• Provides an airtight and weatherproof shield
• 12 month guarantee against UV degradation

To protect, preserve and enhance your crop

More Layers Are Better...
It has been universally proven that wrapping your forage with a minimum of 6 layers will dramatically improve your feed quality ultimately reducing feed waste, saving money and improving milk and beef yields. With a minimum of 6 layers applied, not only do you achieve higher feed values, but also the extra layers can compensate for missed overlap in the wrap cycle, leaving at least enough film to give adequate protection to the bale.

Improve Your Profit, Wrap Bales With 6 Layers.

In 2008 silage research and development team proved that wrapping with 6 layers of Silawrap made good financial sense.  Daily live weight gains and milk production increased from silage wrapped with 6 layers. This equates to 24 turns of a wrapper as opposed to 16 turns.  By investing €1.50 (£1.35), an extra 45 litres of milk or 3.8 Kg beef was produced per bale. 
Trials were cut and wilted for 48 hours in early June.  It was turned once with a woofler.  Drying conditions were poor. The grass was ensiled at 34% DM, 4.9% WSC (Sugars) and a low buffering capacity.  Four and six layers of Silawrap were applied to 2 groups, within 2 hours of baling. A row of bales were placed around the trial bales to protect them from the weather.

210 days after ensiling, a vacuum of 200 KPA was created in the bales.  It took over 5 minutes for the vacuum to fall to 150 KPA for the bales wrapped with 6 layers.  38 seconds were required for the bales wrapped with 4 layers.  The bales wrapped with 6 layers had a superior seal thus keeping air out and nutrients in.  Silage samples were taken and sent to Hillsborough Silage Laboratory in Co Down, Northern Ireland.  The results are listed below.

	4 Layers	6 Layers
DM %	30.6	32.3
ME (MJ/Kg DM)	10.8	10.9
DMD (% DM)	68	69
DM consumed per cow per day. Kg	11.2	11.7
Daily milk production	18 Litres	20 Litres
Extra milk produced/ bale		45 Litres
Daily live weight gain. 300 Kg steer	950 g	990 g
Extra beef produced/ bale		3.82Kg

Dairy cows were fed 4kg concentrate per day.  Beef cattle, were fed 1.5 kg concentrate per day.  Bale weight 750 Kg.  1.7% DM = 12.75 Kg.  Six Kg dry matter consumed per steer per day.

12 Tips For Reducing Mould.

1. All bale handlers should be wire brushed and sanded to remove rust prior to handling bales,
2. Hay bobs should not be used to turn grass. They leave the grass in uneven lumps, thus making an uneven bale with air pockets.
3. Ensure the wrapper is set up properly. The aim is to apply the film to the centre of the bale. In other words have the distance from the top of the film to the top of the bale similar to the distance from the bottom of the film to the bottom of the bale.
4. Grass should be baled within 48 hrs of cutting.
5. Ensure there is a minimum of 4 layers on the entire bale.
6. Use a Quality film
7. Bales must be brought to the storage point as soon as possible after wrapping. This must be done prior to sun up the morning after wrapping to reduce bird damage.
8. Nets or other methods of scaring birds should be used.
9. Bales should be fenced from livestock.
10. Rat bate should be laid near the livestock proof fencing away from the bales.
11. Great care should be taken when storing bales on concrete, plastic is easily damaged on this sandpaper-like surface.
12. Take care not to place bales too close to hedges or ditches.