The continued rise in the price of silage film due to increased raw material and currency costs, means that to apply six layers of film will now cost about £2.60/bale. This equates to 27% of the total cost of producing the bale, and has been a major contributor to the 51% rise in baled silage cost over the past six years.
An analysis of baling costs by the Profitable Farming Company shows that this latest rise means that for those producing a large number of bales, this is becoming a very expensive means of conserving forage.
"The original attraction of round bale silage was that it was a cheap, easy and more weather reliant means of conserving grass compared to hay," explains Richard Snell of the Profitable Farming Company. "However with modern high capacity machinery and the development of automatic preservative systems such as Baler’s Choice, that allow hay to be safely baled at up to 30%, hay has become a far more cost effective alternative."
With a 750mm roll of film now costing about £52 and only covering 20 bales if applying six layers, the total cost to produce a silage bale will be about £8.48/bale. If, on average, due to the higher moisture content of silage 13 bales are being produced per acre, this gives a total cost of £110.25/acre*.
"By comparison, hay will only cost about £66/acre* to produce, which is a considerable saving and will have a large impact on overall profitability, especially when you consider that with silage you are baling a high amount of water."
The true impact that the continued rise in film costs has had on overall cost is evident in a further analysis comparing current costs to the cost of silage and hay six years ago in 2003.
"As can be seen, whilst the cost of making hay has gone up 24% from £53.35 to £66.00 per acre over that period, the rise for silage from £72.70 to £110.25 per acre is more than double at 51% and this is largely down to the massive hike in the cost of film over that period," explains Richard Snell. "For livestock farmers looking to maintain forage quality, but at the same time cut cost, this has to be a serious consideration."
