Sponsors, organisers, and members of the sampling team attended a function at Plaas Media’s offices in Centurion on 21 October 2020 for the special video presentation showcasing the competition and this year’s winners. During the presentation Simpson & Son Farming was crowned the 2020 Silage King.
Overview of the competition
This year’s competition exceeded all expectations, with a total of 84 entries consisting of 56 silage bunkers and 23 silo bags. A total of 63 maize entries, six feed sorghum entries and 14 oats entries were received.
This year also saw the introduction of a test category for silage bales, which yielded five entries comprising three maize bales, one feed sorghum bale and one lucerne bale. While this category will remain a test category for the foreseeable future until a protocol is in place, the organisers felt it fitting to recognise the highest-placed entry in the test category.
This year’s sampling team consisted of students from three universities who took samples under the guidance of Erna Mostert, assistant competition co-ordinator at AgSci Unlimited. The students were Matthew Kinghorn of the University of the Free State, Pieter Uys of Stellenbosch University, and Timothy Chilemba of the University of Pretoria. Labworld analysed the samples.
Prof Robin Meeske of the Outeniqua Research Farm checked and verified these results. Meeske, who is also the chairperson of the competition’s protocol committee, remarked during the presentation that the standard of this year’s entries was very high and a clear indication that silage quality is improving.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von Stockfarm.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von Stockfarm.
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