Corn silage: cultivation, harvesting and storage technology

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Probably many readers have heard of silage. Most people even know that corn silage is a valuable feed, rich in nutrients, proteins and vitamins, making it a good choice for feeding cows, rabbits, piglets, chickens and many other animals and birds. That is why it will be very useful to tell more about the procedure for obtaining silage - from growing corn to harvesting.

Silage benefits

Before talking about harvesting silage for feed, it is worth briefly describing what advantages it has. They are quite numerous.

To start with, silage contains a large amount of amino acids and vitamin C. It also contains organic fats and carbohydrates - easily digestible and therefore especially valuable. Corn is rich in starch, which contributes to rapid weight gain. In addition, a large amount of glucose significantly increases the milk yield of cows.

When mixed with other feeds such as hay, silage improves their digestibility. This further increases the reduction in feed consumption, providing a considerablesavings.

Finally, wet food improves digestion in herbivores. With constant feeding of hay alone, cows may well have problems with stool. Regular use of silage solves this problem.

Corn technology

It would seem that it doesn't matter what this crop is grown for - in order to get high-quality corn cobs, or for making silage. However, there are differences in cultivation technology and they are quite noticeable. At least in the fact that in the first case the goal is only grain, and the content of nutrients and moisture in the stems and leaves is unimportant. And in the second case, just the grain is not important at all. But high-quality nutritious green mass is the main goal. Therefore, choose the right growing conditions so as not to be disappointed in the result.

For example, sowing corn for silage starts when the soil warms up to +8…+12 degrees Celsius. The optimal depth is 8 centimeters. The density of crops depends on the fertility of the soil, its moisture content and the variety of corn. If the conditions are unfavorable, then the sown area is increased by 10% of the planned one in order to compensate for possible losses.

The use of herbicides and pesticides in the field of corn, which will be used for making silage, is recommended to be reduced to a minimum. After all, all the green mass will go to feed - an abundance of poisons will lead to the fact that animals that consume feed will receive a serious blow to he alth. Yes, and meat, milk obtained from cows and other animals represent a potentialdanger.

Corn harvesting

In our time, most often used for harvesting corn headers - special devices installed on the combine. The special structure allows you to cut the stems at the very base, which reduces losses in the green mass. The headers also carefully crush the stems and leaves, turning them into an almost homogeneous mass.

However, there are also agrotechnical requirements for harvesting corn for silage. It is very important to choose the most suitable time for this in order to get really good quality food.

Experts recommend harvesting corn for silage when it reaches milky waxy boldness. It takes about 40-50 days from sowing to harvesting, depending on the abundance of sun and heat in the area. At the same time, the average moisture content of the mass (stems, leaves, cobs) reaches 60-70%. This indicator is considered optimal, since with it the fermentation process is most active, ensuring the production of good silage. If you skip this moment, then the quality of the silage is reduced, as the amount of moisture decreases. But you should not rush either - in this case, the amount of raw materials for preparing silage is reduced. In addition, the cob contains a large amount of sugar, which leads to the appearance of a large number of harmful bacteria that reduce the quality of the feed.

If early frosts hit in the fall, then you need to act quickly. Corn must be removed from the field no later than four days after frost. Yes, it is possible that the amount of raw materials will be significantly less thanplanned by the owner. But if this is not done, then the stems will begin to rot from the roots, the leaves will turn yellow and begin to dry. As a result, not even a little can be saved.

Recycling of raw materials

As mentioned above, modern headers allow you to immediately harvest the green corn mass, simultaneously grinding it and pouring the finished raw material into the back of a truck moving parallel to the combine. However, not every household has such equipment, so it is often necessary to look for other processing options.

Relatively inexpensive and effective can be a conventional walk-behind tractor with a special function of chopping branches and foliage. For a private economy, such a device will be quite enough.

The question remains - what is the optimal size of the finished fraction. Most agricultural workers believe that it is best to choose a size around 10-20 millimeters. This ensures compact stacking and good fermentation.

But if you work with cows, it makes sense to choose a larger size - cows like the ability to chew food, not swallow it. For rabbits, you can choose a smaller fraction so that they can comfortably chew on food. The smallest, practically dust, is suitable for various birds - from geese and chickens to turkeys and guinea fowls.

Ensiling

Now go directly to the process of cooking corn silage. This is a really important and responsible stage.

In fact, the most important thing here is simply to ensure the absence of oxygenin total with a high density of the entire mass - otherwise it will not be possible to start the fermentation process. Therefore, for this purpose, different methods of ensiling are used - we will talk about them in more detail in a little more detail.

Storage in trenches

The simplest option, proven over decades, that allows you to harvest a really huge amount of silage - trench.

It was actively used in the USSR, where almost every collective farm had a trench silo, as well as in many other countries with developed agriculture. The trench is a huge pit up to hundreds of meters long, tens of meters wide and three to six meters deep. Shredded corn is put into a pit, after which it is rammed with the help of tractors - heavy machines weighing several tens of tons drive through the green mass, mixing it thoroughly, squeezing out the first juice, which will start the fermentation process faster.

After tamping, the corn is simply covered with earth - a layer from 50 centimeters to a meter - and re-tamped to reliably block the access of oxygen to the green mass and moisture evaporation. After that, the trench is left to "ripen". The fermentation process is accompanied by the release of heat, and a thick layer of earth provides good thermal insulation. Thanks to this, even when the temperature outside drops significantly below zero, the finished or almost finished silo does not freeze and can be used.

Application of silo sleeves

Today, huge volumes of corn silage - thousands and tensthousand tons - no one really needs them. Small farms need much less feed. Therefore, quite often ordinary sleeves are used instead of trenches. They are a thick polyethylene bag with a volume of hundreds of cubic meters.

With the help of special devices, raw materials for silage fit into them. Dense material excludes not only wetting of greenery from rain or snow, but also the penetration of air inside. Therefore, you can leave the sleeves in the open air - the fermentation process will actively go on, turning chopped greens into high-quality food for almost any herbivore.

It should be remembered that you need to lay corn in a layer of at least a meter. Otherwise, butyric acid will be released, and the fermentation process will not start. As a result, the raw material will be hopelessly spoiled - all that remains is to use it as compost.

Terms of fermentation

Under normal fermentation conditions and without the use of special reagents, fermentation takes at least 3 weeks. However, experts recommend not opening the sleeves (or trenches) unless absolutely necessary after this time. The fact is that if you start collecting silage after 21 days, then the remaining feed will begin to deteriorate quite actively upon contact with oxygen. If you leave the food for a few more months, then later its shelf life will increase significantly.

If you work with sleeves, it's easy to seecharacteristic gas bubble appearing in their upper part. Judging by it, we can say with confidence that the fermentation process is proceeding successfully, while carbon monoxide is released, which provides a significant service life for the silage. In no case should it be removed by punching the film. If he leaves, then the fermentation process will be disturbed - the process of decay will begin. After all, it is carbon monoxide that does not allow various microorganisms to multiply, leading to decay of organic matter. Therefore, in this case, despite the unpleasant smell, it is a faithful assistant in preserving valuable feed.

Correct usage

When removing corn silage from a trench or sleeve, it is very important to remember one simple rule - you need to remove it in an even layer, starting from the top. You should not first choose one corner to the ground, and then continue to work. This will cause the entire volume to be in contact with open air. As a result, in a matter of days (weeks at best), all feed will be spoiled.

Use

Maize silage is highly nutritious for most herbivores and almost all birds.

For example, if you feed cows with silage, then about 70 percent of the total mass of feed can be allocated to its share. Also, the diet should include hay, straw, cake, bran and other additives, but she will receive most of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals from silage.

Conclusion

This concludes our article. Now youknow more about such a valuable agricultural tool as corn silage. High-quality raw materials are relatively easy to harvest and can be a good choice for many farm owners.