Peter Van Warmerdam of Van Warmerdam Dairy farms 800 acres in central California with his brothers, Leo and Benny. This operation puts up more than 12,000 tons of corn silage each year to feed its 1,100 cows.

Over the last several years, Van Warmerdam says they have made some significant changes to their silage management program.

“When corn prices went up, we started to realize the value of feed and just how much feed we were losing through poor silage management,” he says. “We pay much closer attention to details now. It’s also exciting to try and do a better job and see how much silage you can save.”

The crop flow at Van Warmerdam Dairy is continuous. Crops are harvested based on plant maturity. “Our focus is to make the highest-quality forages possible; it’s no longer purely about tonnage,” says Van Warmerdam.

When the farm decided to make changes to its silage management program, Van Warmerdam says there were several factors that came into play.

These factors included improved communication, changing the size and shape of the silage piles and covering the silage with an oxygen-barrier film.

“We have several parties involved in the harvest process, and it’s very important to keep the lines of communication open,” he says, explaining that communication has always been important, but it’s even more important now that they’ve changed their silage management. “You don’t want harvest to be delayed because of miscommunication.”

Van Warmerdam works with two different harvesting companies to put up his silage. He starts communicating with them about two weeks prior to harvest to begin locking in dates for chopping.

Van Warmerdam says that working with two different companies offers him the opportunity to have access to a forage harvester when the crop is ready versus when the harvesting company is available.

“We stay in close contact with the forage harvesters as the potential harvest date approaches,” he says. “The more advance notice the silage contractor has and the better you communicate, the higher the likelihood that they will be there when you want them to be.”

It’s been a slow evolution in improving silage management, but the dairy is making progress.

“Our five-year goal is to stop using silage bags and have all feed stored in drive-over piles and properly managed bunkers,” he says, explaining that each year they pour cement to increase the size of the concrete pad available to store silage. Currently, silage is stored in a combination of concrete bunkers, drive-over piles and silage bags.

The ability to reduce the amount of feed lost to spoilage and improve feed quality is what Van Warmerdam says first drew him to drive-over piles.

Since adapting this strategy, he says he’s seen significant benefits, including the amount of feed saved, but they haven’t come without their challenges.

When harvest is under way, Van Warmerdam says he is constantly meeting with pack tractor drivers while they are packing.

“It’s a new ball game for these guys with drive-over piles.

Most custom harvesting operations are accustomed to putting as much feed in one pile as possible.

These new drive-over piles are smaller with flatter surfaces,” he says.

“I might talk to the pack tractor drivers three or four times per day if I see something I don’t like. Three years ago, I never would have done that.”

Van Warmerdam says the more he learns about silage, the less hesitant he is to talk to the pack tractor drivers and make sure the forage is being packed the way he wants. “Silage contractors are paid per ton chopped, not by quality feed output.

You need to make sure you’re getting what you want.” He also believes that not clearly communicating with the contractor and pack tractor drivers could create a whole host of issues for the dairy, including but not limited to safety and herd health.

It’s been a learning curve for the dairy too. “If you look at our silage piles today, they are significantly different than a few years ago.

But as we started to realize the economics of forage delivery rate and silage density, we’ve made changes.

The heights of our piles have come down at least 3 to 5 feet,” he says.

Packing density has always been important, but it is crucial with the new style of piles.

Van Warmerdam says he will limit the number of trucks delivering forage to the pile if he’s not getting the compaction he wants. The goal is to always run two pack tractors.

“Our silage contractor had to purchase some new equipment to meet our requirements,” notes Van Warmerdam. “Make sure your contractor has the equipment needed to put up the best silage possible.”

Other factors Van Warmerdam monitors during harvest include dry matter, corn kernel processing and particle size.

Van Warmerdam Dairy made the move to cover their silage with an oxygen-barrier film three years ago. “We used to see 3 to 5 inches of spoilage before making the switch,” he says. “Now we don’t have any visible spoilage.”

He estimates that since switching, they have saved 15 to 20 percent of what they were losing.

Silage is covered with the oxygen-barrier film and then a black-on-white polyethylene plastic over that. The plastics are ordered two weeks ahead of harvest, and covering is done by a private company.

“We try to have the covering company come as close to finish time as possible,” he says – but again, communication is crucial to making sure that happens. PD

Pierce is a media relations manager with Filament Marketing in Madison, Wisconsin.

PHOTO 1:Packing density has always been important, but it is crucial with drive-over piles. Van Warmerdam Dairy will limit the number of trucks delivering forage to the pile if they are not getting the compaction they want. The goal is to always run two pack tractors.

PHOTO 2:Silage piles at Van Warmerdam Dairy are significantly different than a few years ago. As the operation started to realize the economics of forage delivery rate and silage density, they have made changes. The heights of the piles have come down at least 3 to 5 feet. The dairy continues to make improvement. Photos courtesy of Megan Pierce.

Cropping profile

• 200 acres of ryegrass
• 400 acres of oats/forage mix
• 200 acres of alfalfa
• 100 acres of brown midrib corn for corn silage
• 500 acres of conventional corn for corn silage