Growing maize silage isn’t cheap. By the time you’ve planted, sprayed, irrigated (if needed) and harvested, many New Zealand farmers have invested thousands of dollars per hectare and months of work.
But here’s the hard truth: without the right harvest and silage management, up to 20% of that value can be lost before it ever reaches the feed pad.
Those losses aren’t just theoretical. They show up on farm as:
Less starch and metabolisable energy
Inconsistent silage quality
Higher reliance on other feed to fill the gap
The good news? Most of these losses are avoidable. They usually come down to three common mistakes made at harvest.
1. Harvesting too late
Once maize starts to die back, nutritional value drops quickly. Dry, over‑mature crops are harder to compact, trap more oxygen in the stack, and carry higher amounts of spoilage microbes into the silage.
The result is poor fermentation, heating and dry‑matter losses that chip away at the feed value you worked hard to grow.
Harvesting at the right time, in the right way, sets silage up for faster fermentation and better starch utilisation.
2. Skipping the silage additive
Silage doesn’t preserve itself.
Natural fermentation is unpredictable, especially in variable New Zealand conditions, where crop dry matter, sugar levels, and weather can change quickly. Without support, unwanted microbes can dominate, leading to heating, inefficiencies and feed‑out losses.
A proven silage inoculant like Ecocool helps drive a faster, more efficient fermentation, reducing losses in the stack and keeping silage stable when it’s opened.
3. Cutting too low
The bottom of the maize stem is low in feed value and high in spoilage risk. Cutting too low adds bulk, but not quality.
Raising the cutting height slightly can improve overall silage quality, reduce soil contamination, and help minimise heating and mould growth in the bunker.
The real return on getting it right
When you look at the full cost of growing maize, the value of protecting it becomes clear.
Cost to grow maize: several thousand dollars per hectare
Cost of Ecocool, a quality silage inoculant: a small fraction of that investment
Potential return: significant feed value preserved and less money spent replacing lost energy later
With so much invested in getting maize to the stack, why risk losing it at the final step?
Protect every tonne you’ve worked for
Nutrinza works alongside New Zealand farmers and growers to help get more value from every hectare of maize grown, not by growing more feed, but by protecting the quality and reducing the losses of what you already have.
Contact your local Technical Sales Representative or our HSR team for more information.
