Tips For Good Silage Management
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.
With few exceptions, all crops
grown in the U.S. can be
harvested, conserved, and fed as
silage. Since the eady 19505, there
has been a steady increase in both
the total quantity of forage pro
duced and the percentage of it
conserved as silage.
Reasons for the popularity of
silage include:
• It is much less weather depen
dent than haymaking.
• It is more suitable than hay for
large-scale livestock production.
• It is adaptable to a wider
range of crops such as com, sorg
hum, and winter cereals.
• It allows the harvesting of
maximum nutrients per acre.
When made by suitable tech
niques, silage should be well
preserved and lose a minimum of
nutrients. These have been the
goals since silage-making was
introduced here in the 1870 s.
Our knowledge of the bioche
mistry and microbiology of silage
fermentation has increased tre
mendously in the second half of
the 20th century. Silage is a pro
duct of anaerobic fermentation. It
involves the conversion of water
soluble carbohydrates to lactic
acid, which drops the pH to a level
sufficient to inhibit any further
biological activity (change) in the
ensiled material when maintained
under anaerobic conditions.
In most circumstances, good
silage is achieved by encouraging
the dominance of lactic acid bac
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teria and discouraging the activi
ties of plant enzymes, Clostridia,
coliform bacteria, and yeasts. In
the initial stages of ensiling, plant
respiratory enzymes oxidize solu
ble carbohydrates, resulting in
heat production and decreased
amount of sugars available for
fermentation.
Plant proteases hydrolyze pro
teins to amino acids and peptides.
Soluble nitrogen can increase
from 20% of the total nitrogen in
pre-ensiled com to over 50%
within 24 hours post-ensiling. Sil
ages containing high amounts of
soluble nitrogen usually do not
support optimum animal
production.
The Clostridia, coliforms, and
yeasts compete with lactic acid
bacteria for fermentable carbohy
drates, and many of their end pro
ducts have no preservative action.
Clostridia are responsible for sec
ondary fermentation which can
convert lactic acid to butyric acid
and degrade amino acids to
amines and ammonia. Clostridial
silages have high nutrient losses,
high soluble nitrogen content, low
digestibility, and low intake by
livestock. Yeasts are linked to aer
obic deterioration of silage, parti
cularly during the feedout period.
It is likely that no other ingre
dient in beef and dairy cattle
rations today is as variable in qual
ity as silage. Making consistent,
high quality silage requires atten
tion to details and sound
management.
SPECIAL BULK OR BAGGED SALE PRICES
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Nine of the key factors that
affect silage quality are additives,
feedout, storage structure, crop,
weather, maturity, moisture, chop
length and filling, packing, and
sealing. Because many of these
factors are interrelated, it is diffi
cult to present their significance
individually. The silage maker
must understand the importance of
each.
Crop. Grow the crop(s) that
offers the greatest economic
advantage and produces the most
nutrients per acre. With few
exceptions, a satisfactory silage
can be made from any crop.
The ideal crop should have
adequate fermentable carbohy
drates, a low buffering capacity, a
physical structure suitable for
compacting (to exclude oxygen),
and a harvest period of several
days.
Maturity. For “hay crop” silage
(i.e., alfalfa, clover, orchard grass,
hybrid Sudan or sorghum-sudan
grasses), harvesting at the opti
mum stage of maturity is often a
compromise between increasing
yield (quantity) and decreasing
quality as the crop matures. For
“grain-containing” silages (corn,
sorghum, winter cereals) optimum
yield and quality normally occur
at about the same stage of maturi
ty. The following harvesting
guidelines are most common:
• Alfalfa- late bud to 1/10
bloom.
• Perennial grasses- before
heads emerge.
es
4.25
4.25
4.25
3.75
10.00
INC.,
• Summer annuals
heads emerge.
• Com- fully dented kernels
• Sorghum- soft-dough kernels,
• Wheat, barley, oats, triticale,
rye- boot (maximum protein con
tent);- soft-dough kernels (maxi
mum TDN yield).
Moisture. This is probably the
most important factor affecting
silage quality. Ensiling a crop too
wet can result in seepage, undesir
able clostridial activity and butyr
ic acid, high fermentation and
storage losses, and reduced silage
intake and performance by lives
tock. Ensiling a crop too dry cre
ates problems in eliminating air
(poor compaction), achieving suf
ficient fermentation to lower the
pH for preservation, and prevent
ing spoilage from aerobic
deterioration.
Chop Length. Common sense
and attention to details are impor
tant. Sharp cutter knives, shear bar
Farm Calendar
(Continued from Page A 10)
Northumberland Co. Spring
Awards banquet, Sunbury
Social Club, Sunbury, 6:30
■■33BES3BBBH
Satnrdax, Max IX
Armed I (trees l)a\
Mid-Atlantic Herding Stock Dog
Club herding clinic,
McVeytown.
Bedford Co. Sheep and Wool Field
Day, Bedford Fairgrounds,
liedfordjH^jm^Mjjm^^
In 5 years Kverneland
has brought a new dimension
into forage production!
SNawrap Till • lha Idaal ona-man
machina for cualom wrapping. Computar
controilad from cab, 30’ Kvarnaland
pra'Otratchar, Kvarnaland Applicuttar,
and hydr. fall dampar for |«ntla bala
dlocharga.
Simple solutions are \ery often the best -
and least expensive' Theiefcne, it is not a
surprise that Kveineland in 5 tears has
achieved the Win Id leadership with the
Silawrap System
Because the Silavvrap System offers
• Minimal investments in fixed
constructions
• Forage production fai less depending
on weather
• High feed v alue
• Harv estmg and storing with minimum
loss
One-man opeiated silage production
Great flexibility in harvest and storage
Highly reliable technology in method and
machines
The experience behind more than
10 000 Silawraps
NORCAN FARM
EQUIPMENT CORP.
6055 Corporate Drive,
East Syracuse, NY 13057
Phone (315) 463*5276
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 4, 1991-A35
and knives closely adjusted, and
the use of a recutter screen are all
daily management decisions dur
ing silage harvest.
How fine (or coarse) should sil
age be chopped? Theoretically,
1/4 to I/2-inch length is recom
mended, but fineness varies with
the crop, power (fuel) require
ment, tonnage per hour, etc. Short
chopping permits greater compac
tion of the crop in the silo versus
long chopping. This means there
is less oxygen for the plant respi
ration and aerobic bacteria phases,
less heat production in the ensiled
material, and a higher nutritive
value in silage.
before
Filling. Packing, Sealing The
crop should be harvested and the
ing value of the stored produce.
Silage additives are receiving
wide-spread acceptance in the
U.S. as management tools that are
essential for silage making.
Monday, May 20
Clearfield Co. estate planning.
Multiservice Center, 7
Christmas Tree pest management
workshop and tour, McCurdy
Tree Farm, Dillsburg, 9:30
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Lancaster Co. Home Horticulture
Seminar, Simple Garden Che
mistry, Farm and Home Center,
7:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
Milk Producers Voluntary Ag
Association annual meeting,
Baron’s Inn, Greene, N.Y.,
noon-4 p.m.
* <*!;__*
Sllawrpp 755* • stationary (or 3-polnt)
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The dom.naling position ol bilawtap in
moi e than 20 leading agt icultut al nations
in the woild death confiims the
K\ ei neland philosophy - -always to be a
nouble-shooter foi demanding farmeis-
For more details on how \ou too can
benefit fiom bilawiap - and users
leferences - please eontaU us toda>
Video.tapes atailable
Kverneland
f whole tanning moans business
“• <0 '"7