Our passion

At Kelvin Cave Ltd, our passion is preserving farm-grown feed and forage to the highest possible standard. That’s where our focus lies and that’s what we have done for over 40 years. As a result, we have developed a level of expertise unrivalled in the farming industry.
Our complete independence from any manufacturer has enabled us to seek out products from throughout Europe and find those we know will work in UK farming conditions. And we disregard those which don’t.

Our products

Whether a top-of-the-range silage preservative, an innovative, reusable silage cover, a handy gadget to ease the task of sheeting or a mighty, high-throughput crimping machine – we are proud to stand by our products and offer a complete solution to feed and forage preservation, from field-to-feedout.

Furthermore, once we’ve sourced new products and added them to our portfolio, we continually monitor their performance. Working with a cross-section of independent scientists and nutritionists, universities, advisory and industry bodies – as well, of course, as farmers and growers – we put our products and ideas to the test, ensuring they live up to expectations and consistently deliver exceptional performance.

Our research

The research with which we have been involved over many years is wide-ranging. Several trials have assessed the benefits of feeding crimped grain to livestock; one has evaluated the positive effects of crimping grain in blackgrass control; many have assessed how dry matter losses from conserved forage can be minimised; some have demonstrated solutions to forage conservation in difficult weather conditions and others have helped us develop methods of preservation for novel, high protein crops.

It is because of our experience in the preservation of protein crops that we now play a role in the major farming industry project, NCS (Nitrogen Efficient Plants for Climate Smart Arable Cropping Systems). As participants in this initiative – which is led by the PGRO (Processors and Growers Research Organisation) – we are part of a consortium which is working towards a four-fold increase in the UK’s acreage of legumes and aims to cut soya imports in half. Our particular role in this project is centred around developing best practice in the harvesting, preservation and storage of home-grown proteins in a variety of forms.

Our knowledge

As our knowledge and understanding develop – through this and other projects – we are able to fine-tune the advice we offer farmers and growers, always basing every recommendation on evidence and science. Over the years, this has allowed us to help each producer with whom we work to conserve more home-grown feed at its highest possible nutritional value, with the lowest possible dry matter loss, and in a manner which suits each individual’s circumstances and farm.

We are just as eager to find a home-grown feed solution as the grower or livestock farmer, and we are confident we can help producers lower their feed bill, reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their costs of production, whether the feed or forage they conserve is used in dairy, beef or sheep production or as feedstock for anaerobic digestion.

By reducing the need to use industrially processed concentrates, to import animal feeds or to use energy for drying grains, Kelvin Cave Ltd is playing a significant role in increasing the economic viability of livestock production, while improving provenance and cutting the food miles of meat and milk for human consumption – a trend that’s now widely embraced by consumers and society.

These targets have been at the heart of Kelvin Cave Ltd’s operation for many decades. But today they are goals within every modern producer’s sights.