Do I Need a Silage Additive for Grass?

It's a question many British farmers ask every year when first cut approaches: "Do I need a silage additive for grass, or will it be fine without?"

At Forage Technology Limited, we believe farmers deserve honest, experience-led answers. Safeguard 6 was designed by our founder Colin Orr, a published scientist and leading dairy cow nutritionist, who has worked with silage additives for almost half a century. He's helped farms across the UK, and around the world, get the very best from their grass. So he knows his stuff.

UK Silage and Farming Has Changed

Today's grass is not the same as the grass we were clamping 20-30 years ago. UK farms now deal with:

Multi-cut systems
Younger, leafier grass
Higher slurry and nitrogen load
Higher potassium buffering
More variable weather
Warmer harvest periods

That means grass is harder to ferment cleanly. Spoilage risk is higher. Heating happens faster. Feed value can drop quicker than many expect. This affects your cow's health, performance, and milk yields, directly impacting your farm's profitability.

Colin often says:

"Grass today is higher quality, but it's also higher risk. If fermentation doesn't get ahead of the bad bugs, farmers lose feed, lose milk and lose money. As a farmer, my goal has always been to protect what farmers grow."

So... Do You Really Need a Grass Silage Additive?

If everything goes perfectly - sugars, dry matter, compaction, sealing, weather - then yes, you might "get away" without one. But let's be honest. Real British farming rarely gives us perfect conditions.

A grass silage additive helps biology work in your favour by:

Driving a fast pH drop
Reducing protein breakdown
Suppressing "bad" bacteria
Protecting feed value
Improving stability at feed-out

And that usually means:

Less waste
Better intakes
Steadier performance
Stronger return on investment

In truth, for most modern UK farms, the answer is usually yes, a silage additive for grass is one of the most cost-effective insurance policies you can use.

Which Silage Additive Should I Use for My Grass?

With so many grass silage additives out there, it can feel like guesswork choosing the right one. Big brands, long histories, shiny brochures... but what really matters on your farm?

For UK grass systems, Colin Orr believes the decision comes down to three simple questions:

1. Is it built for today's grass, or yesterday's science? Our grass has changed. Our cutting systems have changed. The pressures on farms have changed. Yet many additives still use bacteria first tested 20-40 years ago. Look for modern, EFSA-approved strains that are proven for today's British farming.

2. Does it protect beyond fermentation? Dropping pH is only half the job. The real challenge often comes at feed-out. Heating, waste, spoilage and lost performance cost money. A good additive protects from clamp fill right through to feeding.

3. Is it made for UK conditions, not just "global agriculture"? British farming has its own challenges: variable weather, high-value grass, frequent multi-cuts and financial pressure on every tonne. You need an additive designed for that reality, not one built for a different climate or system.

Why Safeguard 6 Was Built And Why It's Different

Safeguard 6 wasn't designed in a corporate boardroom.

It was created by Colin Orr, a British farmer, silage specialist, and the original developer behind Safeguard 5.

Every generation of Safeguard has been launched only when better biotechnology became available. Safeguard 6 uses Europe's leading, modern EFSA-approved bacterial strains, not organisms tested decades ago on totally different grass.

It works as a 3-stage biological cascade:

Rapid safety and fast pH drop
Strong, reliable fermentation
Feed-out stability and reduced heating

Plus, a targeted enzyme helps unlock fibre sugars, supporting:

Improved fibre use
Better clamp stability
More usable silage available
Research-supported benefits to milk performance and milk fat

And most importantly, Colin was determined that high performance shouldn't mean high price.

"Farmers are under enough financial pressure. Safeguard 6 is farmer-priced. It's premium biology, designed for modern farms, but affordable, so no one has to choose between quality and cost."

Safeguard 6 isn't just another additive. It's silage protection built by someone who understands British farming, because he's part of it.

Still, Good Clamp Management Comes First

As with any additive, correct clamp management practices are non-negotiable. They build the necessary foundations for your silage additive to do its work. Colin would be the first to say:

"An additive isn't magic. It's part of the system. But when you do the basics right - clean cutting, tight compaction, airtight sealing, sensible feed-out - the right additive makes good silage even better."

Additive + good management = silage that keeps cooler, feeds better, and works harder.

Built By People Who Care About British Farming

Safeguard has always been built by people who understand the industry, respect farming families, and genuinely care about the future of UK agriculture. Safeguard 6 carries that forward.

So, do you need a silage additive for grass? On today's British farms, under today's pressures, a modern grass silage additive like Safeguard 6 can protect your clamp, protect your feed, and protect your return.

Built for UK grass. Built for UK farmers. Built with decades of experience, and priced so farmers can actually use it.

Find your nearest distributor or order online today.