Tama Assist Making the Most of Your Silage Analysis
Cutting silage is only half the job. The other half is knowing what you’ve actually got in the clamp or in the bale, and that’s where silage analysis really pays off. When you understand the true quality of your forage, you can feed more accurately, protect cow health, and get more value from every acre you grow.
But there’s another link in the chain that’s often overlooked: How you bale and wrap affects the numbers you get back.
Poorly wrapped bales, inconsistent density, or damaged wrap will always show up later in the analysis and not always in your favour. That’s why doing things right from field to store is just as important as the analysis itself.
Silage rarely comes out the same from one year to the next. Weather, crop maturity, cutting date, wilting, contamination, baler setup, and wrap choice all change the end result.
Without analysis you’re guessing. With it, you can:
- Balance rations properly
- Stop overspending on unnecessary protein or energy
- Reduce health issues linked to poor forage
- Match the right silage to the right animals
- Track improvements year on year
And crucially, you can see how well your baling and wrapping process performed; because oxygen leaks, poor sealing, or soil contamination will show up clearly.
A lab report can look complicated, but most farmers really only need to follow a few core numbers:
- Energy (ME)
Shows how much usable energy cows get from each kilo. A higher ME means better feed value and fewer bought-in concentrates.
- Protein (CP)
Tells you how much building block is in the forage. Useful for deciding how much (or how little) extra protein to buy in.
- Fibre (NDF/ADF)
Affects rumen function and intake. Too much or too tough = cows can’t eat enough.
- Dry Matter (DM)
How wet or dry the silage is. Big influence on intakes and clamp stability.
- Fermentation Quality
Indicators like pH, ammonia and the balance of acids tell you how well the forage fermented. Problems here often point directly to field contamination, poor compaction, or air getting in through damaged wrap.
This is where your silage report becomes more than a feeding guide, it becomes a management tool.
Silage analysis often highlights issues such as:
- High ash (soil) → cut too low or poor rake setup
- Butyric fermentation → oxygen exposure or poor sealing
- High mould counts → wrap damage or poor handling
- Lower energy than expected → poor consolidation
A lot of these can be traced back to small things in the baling process:
- Bale shape and density
- Number of wraps
- Wrap quality and UV protection
- Handling in the field
- Storage choices
This is why choosing reliable wrap (and getting the baling right) matters more than many farmers realise.
Tama’s core approach has always been “designed by farmers, for farmers,” i.e. using our farming knowledge and skills to create the best products for our (and your) farm. And silage analysis results across Europe consistently show the difference that the right baling materials make.
- Consistent Bale Density
Tama netwrap and EZ Web help the baler form tight, uniform bales that exclude oxygen and preserve quality.
- Cleaner Bales
EZ Web, in particular, significantly reduces soil contamination; a big factor in fermentation quality.
- Fewer Failures in Storage
Stretchfilm and bale wrap with proper UV protection minimises tears and film degradation that can allow air into the bale.
- Easier Handling at Feedout
Clean removal helps prevent contamination at the very last stage; which also affects cow health and silage use.
Silage analysis isn’t a one-off. It’s a record you can learn from.
Combining the results with what you know about:
- your baling setup
- the weather
- wrapping method
- storage conditions
…gives you a clear roadmap for improving future cuts.
For example:
- High ash? Raise cutting height or tweak the rake.
- Poor fermentation? Look closely at bale density, wrap layers or film choice.
- Lower than expected energy? Earlier cutting or tighter wilt times may help.
Small improvements stack up fast, especially across a full season.
If you want help connecting what’s on the lab sheet to what happened in the field, the Tama Assist team is always happy to talk.
As farmers ourselves we can often pinpoint the issue straight away, whether it’s bale formation, wrap performance, or something in the process that’s holding your silage quality back.
Silage analysis is one of the cheapest ways to improve herd performance, feed efficiency, and forage management. But it really shines when you use it alongside reliable baling and wrapping practices.
Good silage starts in the field, and the numbers in your report will always reflect the choices made at cutting, baling, wrapping, and storage.