UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.)-Nothing says
“country” like a stately barn
flanked by a majestic silo. That
visual image may slowly become
a thing of the past, as more
farmers opt for different types of
storage silos, said an agricul
tural engineer in Penn State’s
College of Agricultural Sciences.
“Every farm is different, and
every farmer has personal pref
erences for certain types of stor
age facilities, but nowadays
many farms have stopped using
tower silos in favor of other stor
age systems,” said Dennis Buck
master, associate professor of
agricultural engineering.
In Pennsylvania, silos typi
cally are used to store livestock
forage to feed the animals over
the entire year. The forage is
usually corn silage or hay crop
(grass or alfalfa) silage. Buck
master said that as farms
expand and herd sizes increase,
many producers are opting to
use different silage systems to
lower costs or increase effi
ciency.
Buckmaster says each silo
system has advantages.
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Changing Silo Styles May Eventually Alter Rural Skyline
•Top-unloading tower silo:
Most of these silos are used in
conjunction with a conveyor
system to prepare and deliver
mixed livestock feed. One
person can operate the entire
system, but it can be time
consuming for large herds (200
cows or more).
•Bottom-unloading tower
silo; Unloading and feeding is
automated as well. Bottom un
loading silos have the least
amount of storage loss of any
silo, but they also are the most
expensive to build, according to
Buckmaster. “Tower silos take
up less space, but that is proba
bly oversold as an advantage,”
Buckmaster said.
•Bunker Silo: Also called ho
rizontal silos, these typically are
constructed as 8- to 20-foot
trenches surrounded on three
sides with earthen or concrete
walls. The stored feed is covered
by plastic. “A bunker silo is low
cost and can be filled rapidly
and fed out rapidly,” Buckmas
ter said. “This is more efficient
for farms that have a large herd
and use drive-through barns to
feed.”
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•Stack or Pile: This is nothing
more than piling feed on a con
crete slab and covering it with
plastic. Piling feed is more a
short-term option.
•Silo Bags: These long, heavy
plastic tubes resemble immense
sausages and can be stored
wherever the farmer wants to
put them. They have low storage
loss, if farmers manage the feed
properly and make sure the bags
do not develop holes.
•Plastic-wrapped Round
Bales: These individual storage
bales, which look like giant
marshmallows, can be very effi
cient for smaller operations.
“The same equipment is used to
make both the individual round
bales for silage, and for harvest
ing the forage crop as dry hay,”
Buckmaster said. “There’s no
need to invest in equipment to
operate or unload other silo
types.”
Buckmaster says bunker
silos-with low cost of construc
tion and faster feeding for large
numbers of animals-are the
most popular choice for most
farmers these days. “There
aren’t as many safety issues with
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PRECISION PERFORMANCE
Lancaster Faming, Saturday, February 26, 2000-07
bunker silos,” Buckmaster said.
“There is little threat from gases
or dust, and if it catches on fire
there is no structure to col
lapse.”
Buckmaster said people with
nostalgia for old barns and silos
needn’t worry about losing their
bucolic rural views-yet. “For
now, you’ll still see tall silos, but
Lancaster Farmland Trust
Approves Preservation
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.)-The Lancaster Farmland
Trust Board of Trustees ap
proved the preservation of two
county farms at their February
meeting; a 14-acre farm in
Brecknock Township and a 73-
acre farm in Martic Township.
Both have fine soils are close to
other preserved farms.
Dr. John Schwartz, chairman
of the board of trustees, com
mented, “The donation of these
easements represents a substan
tial contribution on the part of
both farm owners. We are for-
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many of the older, smaller silos
less than 60 feet tall may be
empty,” he said. “Most will
remain standing for years to
come. Silos have a very long
life-the three tower silos on my
family’s farm have been up for
more than 30 years, and they’re
still going strong.”
tunate that these generous farm
ers are willing to do their part to
ensure the future of farming in
Lancaster County.”
Some of the world’s richest
and most productive farmland
exists in Lancaster County. Un
fortunately, the county contin
ues to lose between 1,000 and
2,000 acres a year to nonagricul
tural uses.
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