# Corn silage for the small producer



## Rock Farm (Jun 12, 2008)

I need some input from corn silage guys...I am getting frustrated in my region on trying to put up corn silage. I am too small to get into a 100 ft concrete bunk silo, have considered ag bags but the blower is a deal breaker, have seen some dairy guys just pack on the ground and put plastic and tires on....\

Is it practical for a smaller beef producer to store and feed silage? If so is just packing it on the ground and putting tires and plastic over it ok? and Finally, how long will it last overall if I keep the working edge fresh?


----------



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

A few guys I know rent baggers for silage.Maybe buy and rent out?


----------



## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

Most small guys rent a bagger around here. If you pile it on the ground, make sure you pack it real well to cut down on spoilage and make the pile size based on the amount you want to feed so that you can remove enough off the face each day to keep it fresh.


----------



## John Anderson (Apr 12, 2010)

good points made above. If you simply pile it on the ground be carefull not to scoop up the dirt when feeding. This can potentially cause lots of health issues in the cattle (dirt in not a required nutrient!)

Packing is critical. Losses in pile of feed have been as high at 40%. Pack, pack and pack some more.

sizing is very important. Be sure to size it so you are removing at least 6 inches off the ENTIRE face per day. Also in sizing and packing the sides need to be at no more than a 3:1 slope so that you can pack them properly ( you need to be able to drive over the entire pile)

Covering... Air is the enemy. The plastic need to be sealed tight around all edges (dirt can work well, as long as you keep it ouf of the feed) On the pile itself tires need to be touching. This keeps the plastic held down preventing air from filtering through the top and rotting/spoiling the feed.

If you fail to do one of these properly, you probably have lost all the savings you had planned on. In this case the renting of a bagger might be the way to go.

Good luck


----------



## Erock813 (Jun 3, 2008)

The Bag is the way to go!!!! Weve have 2 uprights and a pit and we do bags also..feed is so much better coming out of a bag,then a silo,and last is pit. Since your a small producer you dont want to lose 10% or even 5% of your feed.I dont lose 1%percent of the feed in a bag.We have used headgates to feed right out of the bag. If you want input on how to build one,give me a shout.


----------



## JD2020 (Apr 14, 2010)

How many head do you run? I am looking into silage myself for a small herd.

JD


----------



## nosliw (Feb 8, 2010)

I've seen guys around here make bunkers out of roll hay.

I have no idea how well it works.

I would like to get into a small silage gig as well. Especially with trying to renovate fields no-tilling corn. It would be nice to combine it and keep the corn for our own feed use, but getting a combine on my place is out of the question.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

We always used to rent a bagger. Feeding out of a bag is faster than out of our silo's, but when the weather was nasty, I preferred the silo's. I also hated dealing with all that freaking plastic when feeding out of a bag.


----------



## chief-fan (Aug 27, 2009)

I help a neighbor every year make corn silage. Usually try for 350 to 400 - 3 T loads. Pit is made using large round bales laid out with the eye towards the pit, then another where the main ones butt together for added support. Pit is packed with a JD 4020 with duals and a large push blade. We usually end up about 3-4 feet above the bale in the center of the pit. Entire top is rounded for runoff. Feeding is from the end with ground hay mixed in. Usually have about a 6" crust over the entire top of the silage. Don't mess with any plastic, tires or any of that stuff. Several smaller operators use the same basic method and get along fine. This type of silage storage works very well in SW Iowa. Key is good packing Use a heavy tractor and pack, pack and pack some more from start to finish. Don't use a dozer as you don't get enough compaction.


----------



## John Anderson (Apr 12, 2010)

chief-fan said:


> I help a neighbor every year make corn silage. Usually try for 350 to 400 - 3 T loads. Pit is made using large round bales laid out with the eye towards the pit, then another where the main ones butt together for added support. Pit is packed with a JD 4020 with duals and a large push blade. We usually end up about 3-4 feet above the bale in the center of the pit. Entire top is rounded for runoff. Feeding is from the end with ground hay mixed in. Usually have about a 6" crust over the entire top of the silage. Don't mess with any plastic, tires or any of that stuff. Several smaller operators use the same basic method and get along fine. This type of silage storage works very well in SW Iowa. Key is good packing Use a heavy tractor and pack, pack and pack some more from start to finish. Don't use a dozer as you don't get enough compaction.


Sorry Chief-Fan, but I have to TOTALLY disagree with you on the "no cover" approach. If you were to weigh all the feed going into the pile then weigh everything coming out, you would see a HUGE loss in total feed. I remember seeing a trial conducted by Keith Bolsen from K State were they left a 3 foot tall packed pile of CS uncovered. At 90 days there was what you call the "crust", their trial was 7 inches (they referred to it as 'slime') More importantly is that the pile was missing 14 inches. This is feed loss due to break down caused by aerobic organisms and decay. There are way to many on-farm trials and reports that show coving a pile of feed pays for itself many times over. They also did a second study and found that 50% of the dry matter in the top 4 feet was "lost" in an unsealed bunker
I hope you do not feed the crust/slime to the cattle, as this type of feed (while maybe only a small %) can destroy the rumen. Maybe the cattle wont become sick, but you can be assured that they become MUCH less efficient.

Everyone makes their own decision, i tend to make mine based on sound science and proven, repeatable results from sound management practices.

For the small producer, bags would tend to the direction I would lean.


----------



## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

i grow for a big yard here and they put up about 70 to 75000 tons each season and pit works and get it covered after it is getting full, pack it good and evenly.plastic cover and used tires to hold it down .


----------



## enos (Dec 6, 2009)

Small time cow feeder here too. I built a bunker with heavy, wrapped, silage round bales. Two walls the width of the plastic sheets and PACK PACK PACK. Then I put 6 inches of sawdust on top of the plastic to hold it down. Seals completely, sweep it off, maybe 5 percent waste. Yes on a good gravel well drained base, most important.


----------



## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

Round baling it does sound very interesting. You must be getting it out of the field pretty quickly enos. How long have you been doing that?

Also have you had problems with the stalks sticking out of the plastic?


----------



## enos (Dec 6, 2009)

UpNorth said:


> Round baling it does sound very interesting. You must be getting it out of the field pretty quickly enos. How long have you been doing that?
> 
> Also have you had problems with the stalks sticking out of the plastic?


Upnorth, I round bale and wrap grass for silage and use them for the walls. Chop the corn and pack it between the bales just like a pit. Tried round baling wet corn silage and damm near killed the baler. 4x5 bale would be around 2500 pounds. Plus the cows wasted most of it. Better off chopping it with corn.


----------



## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

I see, for some reason it sounded like you were round-baling the corn silage on a regular basis.

It seems making some sort of small bunker or bag are the best options here.


----------



## thebonepile (Sep 18, 2009)

how small of scale are we talking?

After watching my grocer just grab a roll of stretch wrap and start walking around a few boxes until they were sealed... it got me thinking...take a bundle os small squares ....like 12 or 15 or small round bale size.....and just wrap them up......


----------



## bullet81 (Jun 7, 2010)

hey bone pile, you have good point on the seran wrap, we have been doing it in california for two years now. Out here we make huge piles, BIG!!!!! It is not unusal to see a 20 to 30 thousand ton piles. Around here pile size is based on how fast they feed the face off. The proper way to cover silage is first to put the seran wrap, then the traditional heavier plastic, then the tires. Bags are great but with the amounts of silage we put in a year it would take up way to much room. Plus with that much silage in bags i would have to have a full time employee picking up plastic!


----------

