Bunker Silo/Pile Density Study – Findings & Industry Applications

What We’ve Found… continued:
While dry matter losses translate easily into dollars, it is the cost
of additional storage needed with sub-optimal densities that really
drives up storage costs.
A haylage silo filling strategy that seems to work well… use a long
ramp to keep blade layer minimized. When stretching out the life of
silo; layering a subsequent cutting on top and in front of initial
cutting will compress the lower material even more. Useful when you
need to stretch the utilization of a silo while minimizing losses.
When corn silage (or haylage) is so far over the sidewalls that it looks
like a bread loaf, it’s time to consider more packing weight or even
better, a new silo! A lot of diesel and labor is spent on not a lot of
dry matter!