«Previous    Next»
To Seal Silage In Silo Seed Down The Top With Oats
Lots of folks have tried lots of ways to seal silage in the silo and in pits to reduce spoilage. I knew one farmer who would top his silage with lime. It sealed, but was hard to break through.
A simple way that I've tried that really worked well was to seed down the top with oats. When I worked for a farmer with upright silos, we would blow in oats on the top, and they would sprout and put out a network of tight roots. The heat in the silo would keep them growing, and we didn't have any spoilage.
Later when I had my own place and a bunker silo, I tried plastic with tires, but if kids weren't poking holes in the plastic, the rats were eating holes in it, and the top layer usually spoiled. Then I tried oats again. I hand cast them thicker than you would seed a field. At the time, I used a moveable gate to let my cows eat their way through the pit. The first thing the cows would reach for would be the layer of oat roots, and I didn't get spoilage either. (Elmer R. Bailey, 24791 Mouser Rd., New Holland, Penn. 43145, ph 740-495-5821)


  Click here to download page story appeared in.



  Click here to read entire issue




To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.
Order the Issue Containing This Story
2005 - Volume #29, Issue #2