Why complete grass testing?

Through grass testing, you can determine the quality of your grass in terms of its nutritional value to your livestock. It does this by analysing major and trace minerals in the grass to predict potential livestock deficiencies.

Before the silage-cutting season, it’s essential to have your grass analysed. The quality of your silage and, therefore, your livestock’s performance depends on the quality of your grass. 

Here are a couple of the issues that poor silage causes for your livestock:

1. Nutritional deficiencies: Poor-quality silage may not provide the necessary nutrients for the animals, leading to deficiencies in protein, energy, minerals, and vitamins.
2. Gastrointestinal problems: Poor silage can contain harmful bacteria, mould or mycotoxins, which can cause digestive upsets such as acidosis, diarrhoea, and even death.
3. Quality: Grass testing is a vital practice that enables livestock owners to evaluate the nutritional quality of their grass, thereby ensuring the optimal well-being and performance of their animals. This assessment involves the analysis of both major and trace minerals present in the grass, offering insights into potential deficiencies that could impact the health and vitality of livestock.
4. Poor-quality silage can have an unappealing smell and taste, discouraging animals from eating it, resulting in reduced feed intake and weight loss.
5. Reduced milk and meat production: Poor silage can lead to reduced animal growth and production, resulting in lower milk and meat yields.
6. Increased susceptibility to disease: Poor-quality silage can weaken the animals’ immune systems and make them more susceptible to infection.
7. Fertility issues: Poor-quality silage can cause fertility problems such as reduced pregnancy rates and herd productivity, ovulation and conception issues, hormonal imbalance and affect sperm quality. Mycotoxins can also cause damage to the reproductive tract.

When you understand the deficiencies of your grass, you and your agricultural advisor can make improved decisions on the needed supplementation for your animals and ensure that you don’t have these issues.

How is grass quality measured?

Dry matter digestibility is a crucial metric in livestock nutrition that measures the efficiency with which animals can extract nutrients from the food they consume. Dry matter digestibility rates of 70% and over are good.

Understand Target Silage Quality here!