Silage Production Part 1

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Silage ProductionPart 1
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• One of the main reasons for producing forage
  crops is to produce feed for ruminant animals

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• Some of the feed is available through grazing,
  and this provides a way to provide forages to
  animals at a low cost

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• However, major portions of the forages produced
  in the U.S. and abroad are stored as conserved
  forages, which include hay and silages.

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• Both hay and silage production are important
  components in forage livestock systems, and both
  have particular advantages and disadvantages.

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• One of the main advantages of making silage is
  that unlike hay production, field drying is
  essentially eliminated
• In addition, raking and baling are not required

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• When conditions are not favorable for making hay,
  silage making can provide a sensible and
  profitable alternative crop.

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What is silage?

• Chopped, fresh plant material that has been
  preserved by a process of fermentation (ensiling)
  in which organic acids are formed, particularly
  lactic acid.

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• The resulting acidity prevents unfavorable
  microbes from developing on the material and
  causing it to spoil.

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• Silage is sometimes classified in three ways by
  moisture content
• Haylage - 40-60 moisture
• Wilted Silage - 60-75 moisture
• Direct cut - 75-90 moisture

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• Advantages of producing silage instead of hay
  would include
• more nutrients are preserved
• shorter drying time
• flexibility in harvesting (rain damage not as
  critical

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• Potential disadvantages would include
• Not easily transportable like hay bales
• May need to invest in special storage structures
  such as upright silos

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• Potential disadvantages would include
• If improperly stored, losses will be high 

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• Silage may be made from essentially any
  vegetative materials but it works best if the
  materials to be ensiled contain an abundance of
  sugars that are easily fermented

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• Good quality silage is commonly made from
  alfalfa, forage grasses, and small grains

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• Grain crops such as corn and sorghum make
  especially good silage because the grain provides
  sugars for rapid fermentation

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• Making corn silage is in one sense a relatively
  new practice. One of the earliest attempts to
  ensile corn was made in Germany in 1861. The
  first American silo was built in Maryland in
  1876.

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• Recent estimates suggest that approximately 10
  of the corn acreage in the U.S. is harvested for
  silage.
• The major region of silage production in the U.S.
  consists of the so called dairy states of
  Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan

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• A number of different structures are used to make
  and store silage. Silage is stored vertically in
  upright silos or tower silos.

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• Silos constructed horizontally either in or on
  the soil surface are known as trench silos or
  bunker silos.

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• A relatively new innovation known as silage bags
  or ag bags have been developed.
• This has become a popular approach since it does
  not require construction or maintenance of a
  typical upright or bunker silo.

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• Upright silos have been constructed of wood or
  reinforced concrete in the past. Newer silos
  tend to be built of concrete blocks or glass
  lined steel.

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• One of the reasons that silage has become an
  important option in conserved forages is because
  it's feeding can be virtually entirely
  mechanized.
• Upright silos can be equipped with silo unloaders.

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• Feed unloaded from the silo can then be
  transported by an augur directly to feed bunks
  for animal consumption

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End