- The dry matter is the only part of your energy crop that has any energy value.
- Dry matter is made up of organic matter and ash. The organic matter is the digestible part and is where the losses come from.
- Dry matter losses are primarily in the form of carbon dioxide, which is lost to the atmosphere, and water, making your silage wetter as the percentage of water to dry matter increases.
- If you have 1,000 tonnes of a crop at 33% dry matter, this means you have 330 tonnes of dry matter and 670 tonnes of water
- Losses of 25% would mean a loss of 25% from the 330 tonnes of dry matter, i.e. 82.5 tonnes in 1,000 tonnes of silage.
- This is a loss of only 8.2% of the clamp as a whole making very little difference to the appearance of the clamp – yet, 25% of the value has gone.
- Dry matter losses can be split into two categories:
- Trials have shown that the average UK silage loses around 25% of its dry matter from field to feed-out.
A significant part of these losses is CO2 – so not only are you losing capacity to produce biogas you are damaging your carbon footprint.
“Green energy needs a green approach – stop leaking CO2 from your silage clamp, reducing biogas capacity and harming your carbon footprint.”