Ensiling: preserving green forage as silage
Ensiling preserves chopped green forage, such as maize or grass, in an airtight silo. Lactic acid bacteria turn plant sugars into acids, lowering the pH and preventing spoilage. Well-made silage retains much of its dry matter and energy until feeding, providing a dependable forage supply through winter.
How much silage dry matter is left?
For example, 20 tonnes of fresh maize chopped at 30% dry matter contain 6 tonnes of dry matter. If storage and feed-out losses account for 5% of that dry matter, about 5.7 tonnes remain for the animals to eat.
How can you plan silage feeding?
Enter your silage analysis in HerdMobile and use the dry-matter percentage to plan the daily ration with your own forage, matching the calculation to what you have in the silo.
Questions from the farm
Why does silage need an airtight silo?
Keeping air out allows lactic acid bacteria to preserve the forage. Air lets moulds and other spoilage organisms grow and consume sugars, reducing the dry matter and energy available to your animals.
How do you calculate silage dry matter?
Multiply the fresh weight by the dry-matter percentage measured in a sample. Then allow for expected losses during storage and feeding to work out how much usable dry matter remains.
How HerdMobile helps
Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.
Track how much silage you have left for winter, and use its dry-matter percentage when planning how much forage your animals will need each day.
