Farm Table says:
This guide was produced by New Zealand’s Forage Trading Development Group in 2007 and outlines the best practice principles that should be used when maize forage (fresh maize prior to ensiling) is sold on a dry matter basis.
It looks at the grower, contractor and buyer considerations, including:
- Weighing;
- Stack sampling (including techniques for coring/sampling, methodology and handling);
- Truck sampling;
- Sample sizes and ways to reduce the number of samples required;
- Dry matter testing and calculations.
It’s important for each party involved in trading maize forage to understand the methodology used to calculate dry matter of the forage (as the basis for price) due to the size of the transactions, and this guide provides the best practice ways to ensure the dry matter is calculated accurately.
