Horgen, Switzerland - May 29, 2007

Newly released findings from Dow’s 2007 UK survey into big bale trends show that baling silage remained the farming community’s overwhelming first choice over clamping during the 2006 season. Notably, a marked shift was seen towards baling silage for beef cattle, underlining the decline in the struggling dairy farming sector.

Dow’s survey showed that two thirds of respondents continued to bale a significant proportion (80-100%) of the grass they ensiled in the 2006 season, whilst only a negligible number of farmers and contractors clamped exclusively.

However, 80% of respondents said they were baling silage for beef cattle, which is almost double the number from the 2005 season. Mark Saurin, Silage Market Manager for Dow Europe, commented: “Given the difficulties dairy farming is experiencing at present, it makes sense that we are seeing a trend towards farmers rearing cattle for beef.”

Haylage popularity continues to rise

Haylage continued to rise in popularity during the 2006 season. In particular, the survey showed that its use in equine competition yards has almost doubled, indicating growing awareness amongst owners and riders of the proven benefits of haylage, in terms of helping equine respiratory problems and resulting performance improvements.

Mark Saurin said: “It is good to see that the benefits of haylage are increasingly becoming recognized by owners and trainers, as it brings so many benefits: its high fibre nutritional content provides a good source of energy, and it is also easy to store and handle. Furthermore, the low dust count of haylage means it is an indispensable feed, particularly when horses are in transit.”

UKfarmers still need more support to recycle waste

The 2007 Dow survey shows that just 1 out of 10 farmers now recycle their waste on site. This follows the introduction of UK waste disposal legislation a year ago, which requires agricultural waste to be disposed of, or recycled, in ways that protect the environment and human health.     

The majority of farmers (64%) said they were taking their waste for disposal to licensed sites in the 2006 season, showing a strong trend towards the outsourcing of waste disposal to external businesses.  Among the few farmers who were able to recycle on site, the majority felt that the new legislation resulted in them spending more time and more money.

Saurin added: ‘Waste management remains high on the agenda and continues to present many challenges to those working in agriculture. There is still a great deal to be done, but hopefully farmers and contractors can work with manufacturers and government agencies to make this transition period as smooth as possible.”                      

He concluded: “This survey has given Dow a key insight into the silage market, which is invaluable to our research and development. It is great to see that farmers and contractors are continuing to see the value in bailing silage. Its strong popularity reflects its many benefits: the high quality fodder that usually surpasses that of clamp silage, the flexibility brought to handling and feeding systems, and the economic advantages of limited capital investment and low levels of losses during production and storage.”

For practical tips and tools to get the most out of your silage, visit: http://www.dow.com/silage/about.htm

About the survey:

In this season’s survey responses increased phenomenally by 297%, for a total of 211 respondents. This year there was much greater input from farmers, with 54% categorising themselves as Farmer/Contractors (54%) and a quarter as agricultural contractors (25%).

Notes to editors:

DOWLEX™ polyethylene resins, designed and adapted for bale wrapping films, are made of low density linear polyethylene.

For more information on Dow and its activities in the silage market, please visit www.dowsilage.com or request specific information via the following e-mail address: dow@silage.com

 

®™^* Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow

For Editorial Information:

Tania Cook
Dow Europe GmbH
+41 44 728 2481

Rachel Ringstead
Porter Novelli
+44 (0)20 7853 2289
rachel.ringstead@porternovelli.co.uk