MONTREAL, Quebec – Feb. 1, 2016 – PRLog — Losses during ensiling are known as silage shrink. Besides depleting dry matter (DM), silage shrink also reduces availability of the most digestible nutrients, thereby resulting not only in less, but in lower quality silage. The key to limiting silage shrink is good forage management from harvest to feedout. Farmers should focus on:
· Harvesting the crop when it reaches the right moisture level and stage of maturity (neither too early nor too late). This is crucial to producing good quality silage.
· Ensuring rapid fermentation. Using an inoculant to promote a fast pH drop can help stabilize forage and reduce the growth of yeast, the major cause of silage heating.
· Planning ahead for minimal aerobic spoilage losses by minimizing yeast levels in the silage.
· Packing to promote high silage DM density during the ensiling process (minimum of 15 to 16 pounds DM per cubic foot) helps drive out oxygen, the nemesis of high quality silage.
· Shaping (drive over piles) to no more than a 4-to-1 slope to boost good packing and operator safety, while ensuring water drains off the finished silage pile.
· Sealing bunker silos immediately after filling using a polyethylene tarp to further minimize DM losses. Tarps must be secured, preferably with 100% nylon, bias ply truck-tire sidewalls. Weighing them down and overlapping the edges by at least four feet will help prevent water from permeating the pile.
The good news is that by simply preventing just 10 percent additional losses, producers can save around $35,000 a year for a 500-cow dairy. And we have an excellent suggestion for where you can wisely spend a small part of that savings: Tire Sidewall Depot. President and CEO, Danny Nadler, has been successfully serving the dairy and beef industries since 1995 by filling the need for more efficient, safer, bunker silo coverage. Tire Sidewall Depot offers 100% nylon, bias ply truck-tire sidewalls and aircraft tire rings as user-friendly, cost effective, cleaner alternatives to heavy, burdensome whole tires used for this purpose. This system not only preserves the nutritional content of silage, but also protects the environment and farmers by eliminating exposure to such breeders of disease as rusting metal (prevalent with the use of radial sidewalls) and stagnant water (which can accumulate when working with whole tires).
With several strategically located facilities throughout North America, Tire Sidewall Depot delivers across the nation, providing exceptional, friendly and reliable service.