Helping you get the most from Home-Grown Feed

Getting the most from all home-grown feeds, from silage crops to cereals and pulses, requires good management and effective preservatives and processing equipment. Our team have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the science of forage and combineable crops, and the company have sourced the most effective products, with proven performance, to enable farmers to get more from all the feed crops they grow.

The art of good silage

Silage is the base of most ruminant rations for various periods throughout the year and so plays an essential role in influencing livestock performance. Making silage of the highest possible quality consistently can be challenging, but having access to silage preservatives, silage clamp compaction-improving equipment and the most efficient silage clamp sealing films, can take a lot of the risk out of the equation.

The company therefore works to provide customers with the most effective ensiling agents for individual situations. Independent trialling and rigorous testing helps ensure we always offer the right product from our extensive range to help make the best of any conserved forage crop, from grass, maize and legumes to whole-crop and arable silages.

From top-quality silage inoculants and additives to ensure good fermentation to state-of-the-art silage preservatives which eradicate spoilage microorganisms, eliminating waste from fermentation losses and aerobic deterioration,  we work closely with our customers to help minimise losses in storage.

Best practice in clamp management can be achieved with the aid of innovative products that form an effective oxygen barrier, eliminating air pockets where mould can grow, and further protect clamps with eco-friendly alternatives to tyres for weighting down top sheets.

Why crimp?

One of the mainstays of home-grown livestock feed is crimped grain. At Kelvin Cave Ltd we have championed this process since the company’s inception and built our reputation on helping to refine the process by selling only the most productive and reliable preservative treatments and processing machinery available.

Crimping was developed in Finland to enable farmers to harvest, treat and store their own cereal and protein grains for use as animal feed when they are at their maximum nutritional value and digestibility. Grains can be harvested up to four weeks earlier than normal at moisture contents of 30 to 45%. They are then processed through a crimping machine which crushes them to expose the carbohydrate and/or protein, and a preservative is applied.

The processed feed is then ensiled and can be fed after just three weeks in airtight storage. Because grain is harvested earlier, before losses occur in the field, and is utilised more efficiently by livestock when crimped than when it is processed in more traditional ways, land use and animal health and performance are significantly improved.

The impact on the environment of livestock feed production is greatly reduced because there is less need to transport animal feed over long distances. Farmers can also protect themselves from the effects of fluctuating feed prices on the open market.

Meeting your need for better production

In order to provide customers integrated packages to meet all their feed processing requirements from a single source of supply, Kelvin Cave Ltd has brought together a range of processing machinery to match throughput capacities and usage demands from small farm operations to agricultural contractors.

Proven in service throughout the UK and mainland Europe over many years, our range of crimping,rolling, bruising and bagging machines offer affordability and reliability with guaranteed after-sales support and service.

At our own comprehensive on-site workshop facility we offer a full machine reconditioning service with repairs and upgrades that ensure performance is never compromised.

New machines can be modified or retrofitted with additional features such as on-board weighing systems prior to delivery. While for those customers taking their first steps in home-grown feed processing, we regularly have a number of affordable, fully refurbished pre-owned machines available for sale.

Together with other machinery such as the SilaPactor silage compactor, we are constantly expanding our machinery range to provide innovative and improved ways to maximise productivity.