News / Blog

March 23 2016

Baillie Haylage and Broadfeed

With members of our Broadfeed team able to reel off back-of the-bale Baillie info in perfectly punctuated prose by Wednesday last week, we thought it was about time to build on our knowledge and share it with you all…

Ironically the most dominant form of vegetation on the Planet, growing good grass for haylage is a science, especially given our ever-changing demands and persistence for high quality forage for our horses. Haylage production is an integrated system, bringing together numerous cultivation factors from preparation of the growth medium to the time of cutting. In order to push the boundaries in terms of haylage quality, it is imperative that excellence of all operations is maintained to prevent jeopardising the overall product.

Once cut earlier in the growing season when the grass was perhaps too lush for horses with lower sugar and energy requirements, haylage has been widely side-stepped by those with horses prone to laminitis, those at rest or with a reduced workload. Along with other haylage companies, Baillie have battled to banish this widely regarded view held by many in the horse world, proving to them that it won’t turn their lead rein pony loopy OR laminitic!

Operated as a family business from their 1,400 acre farm in Lincolnshire, Baillie’s agricultural operation- solely aimed at the Equestrian market- is a well-oiled machine, utilising the best in the business in terms of Agronomists and Equine advisors. We agreed that the introduction of Baillie High Fibre Haylage was the preferred method of sowing the seeds for the company at our Tunbridge Wells Superstore, and we are delighted that it has paid off!

The suitability of Baillie’s High Fibre Haylage for such diets is the culmination of two carefully considered sugar, protein and energy governing factors. The relationship between grass variety and cutting time is crucial to its’ suitability for those animals convalescing, at rest or prone to laminitis. The palatable Ryegrass which constitutes the High Fibre variety is left to mature before cutting, allowing the sugar content to tail-off whilst naturally increasing in fibre as the lignification process takes hold (hence the high Digestible Fibre value). Baillie’s High Fibre haylage has a typical sugar content of 4-7% of dry matter, whereas higher energy Ryegrass options typically contain 8-10%.

The very respectable 70-80% Dry Matter (DM) value across all of Baillie’s haylage varieties is great for you and your horse. A higher DM value ensures you are paying for more haylage and less water- an economical advantage which is good news for many horse owners, especially at this time of year! In terms of Equine benefits, your horses’ daily fibre intake is more likely to be met and perhaps more importantly the chances of secondary fermentation are much reduced, rendering the product a safer option than haylage with a lower value. Crucially, the primary fermentation process remains uninhibited, which is vital in preventing the development and spread of fungal spores.

Due to the success of Baillie High Fibre Haylage at our Royal Tunbridge Wells Superstore, we have recently welcomed two exciting new additions to our Baillie range! Baillie Dried Grass and Baillie Grass Pellets are now pride of place in our warehouse, and are available both in-store and online.

For more information on our Baillie range just give us a call (01892 532 619), message us on Facebook- or even visit us in-store…

We hope you are enjoying the first week of Spring!

All the best;

The Broadfeed Team

July 9 2015

MEADOW GRASS HAYLAGE NEW TO THE HANDY BALE RANGE

Nicola Baillie Blog, Uncategorized fussy eaters, haylage, horses, Laminitics, laminitis, Meadow grass haylage

Meadow grass haylage

now available in the Small ‘Handy’ bales

Meadow grass haylage from Baillie Haylage is lower energy, a very soft palatable haylage, ideal for older horses, fussy eaters and due to the low sugar suitable for Laminitics- Order yours now ! Or check for your local stockist on the stockists page

Meadow Grass Haylage from Baillie Haylage - medium to low energy — New Baillie ‘Handy’ bale Haylage now in Meadow grass

Meadow Grass Haylage - part of the range of Haylage including High Energy to Low Energy. Haylage for all horses and ponies — The complete range of Baillie Haylage ‘Handy’ bales

July 8 2015

NATURAL DRIED GRASS PRODUCTS

Nicola Baillie Uncategorized Baillie Grass, Grass Pellets, horse, its just grass, low sugar/ starch, natural diet, Natural Dried Grass, no additives, ponies

****** NEW PRODUCT*******
BAILLIE GRASS
NATURAL DRIED GRASS/
NATURAL DRIED GRASS PELLETS
Available at your local stockist of Baillie Haylage very soon.
A completely natural feed with no additives its just grass ! Flash dried straight from the field to lock in all the goodness.
Why not make feeding your horse or pony simple- the natural way, simply choose the energy level Baillie Haylage your horse or pony require, and if they need a little more oompfh! Feed the dried grass or pellets, no more starchy concentrate feeds which create digestive and behavioural problems – Healthy Feed for the Healthy Horse, a Natural Complete Diet.

June 30 2015

First Cut Finished, a trip to Royal Norfolk Show

Nicola Baillie Uncategorized Baillie, grass, haylage

The team at Baillie Haylage have finished our first cut of haylage, a very successful harvest. Waiting for the grass to grow to start second cut in a few weeks.

Robert, Nicola and Neil are setting off to set the stand up at the Royal Norfolk show 1st-2nd July, so please come and say hello, we have samples of all our haylage for you to take away, and it will be our first show to promote our new Natural Dried Grass Products. Which we are looking forward to telling you all about.

June 3 2015