Reducing losses from shrink takes exemplary silage management and requires focus on several different areas including harvest, packing, covering and feedout. Mike Larson, Floyd Bork and Kim Koehn share what has worked for their operations.

1. How do you prepare for harvesting corn silage – what steps are taken?
Larson Acres: Prior to harvest, all equipment is given a maintenance check, especially the kernel processor on the harvester. In addition, all debris is removed from the bunkers or pads. We put drain tile along bunker walls and cover the tile and wall with plastic.

We have a team meeting with the entire crew. We emphasize that safety is always the top priority, whether it is around the equipment, packing the bunkers or piles, traveling amongst other vehicles on the road or maneuvering with up to eight or nine other trucks and six packing tractors.

High Plains Dairy: I prepare for the upcoming year starting with a phone call to my chopper, bagger and packer in January to establish a price for their services.

In February, we have a farmer dinner/meeting with all of the farmers we contract with to show them our appreciation for the feed they have grown for us in the past year.

We put together a slideshow from pictures we have taken at the dairy and talk to them about our operation. I find that, while we are neighbors, they don’t always know what we are all about or how we operate.

I explain how many cows we are milking, how much milk we ship, etc. I share with them how many circles of feed I need to sustain the dairy and how important the farmer is to us.

In the meeting, we explain pricing even if there are no changes. We also include our nutritionist and silage chopper in the meeting.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: Equipment servicing is a large part of preparing for harvest. There is no time for breakdowns during harvest. Every piece of equipment is scheduled to be serviced at 200 hours of operation. If any piece of equipment is close prior to harvest, it is serviced.

The silage storage area is prepped, cleaned and made ready to put silage up. We put the new silage back-to-back with the last year’s silage so we have to make sure the face of the existing pile is ready.

The new silage is packed right against the existing pile so there is no spoilage in between.

Another step during harvest prep is to calibrate the scales. If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.

2. Do you work with a custom harvester?
Larson Acres: No. We have our own forage harvester and work with a trucking company.

High Plains Dairy: Yes. Our forage harvester is starting his second year with us. I believe we have finally found the right person who not only understands forage quality but can make it happen.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: Yes. Prior to starting harvest, we have meetings with our custom harvester and the truck drivers. It’s important that we communicate with the truck drivers that their job isn’t just to haul forage from the field to the stack, but it’s also their job to make sure we have a good-quality product for our cows.

3. What do you look at to determine when to start harvesting?
Larson Acres: For corn silage we look at total plant moisture. We like to start at about 70 percent moisture and have an average of 68 percent moisture throughout the harvest.

High Plains Dairy: My chopper will scout the fields and determine when the farmers we work with need to stop irrigation. He makes the chopping schedule and approves it with me.

I acquire the fields and, after that, my chopper takes over. It’s a service he provides because he wants to be able to make the call on when to chop each field. It gives him more opportunity to bring our operation the best silage possible while allowing me to focus on the dairy.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: We keep an eye on the milk line in the corn. We typically will start to chop when the milk line is just over half so we can finish harvest before the last field reaches three-quarters. We try to balance this with moisture levels.

4. What do you use to cover your silage piles? Why? When do you purchase your covering?
Larson Acres: We use oxygen barrier film plus a five-mil plastic to cover our silage piles. We have always used the plastic and started using the oxygen barrier film about three years ago. We have noticed less spoilage when we use both.

High Plains Dairy: I have used oxygen barrier film for five years. If we do not have any holes from animals, we will have no spoilage and can feed the whole pile.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: We use an oxygen barrier film and a five-mil plastic. We cover the piles with tires that touch all the way around. We start covering the day we start packing silage.

As soon as the silage is up to a certain height, the cover starts going on – this means less oxygen penetrates the silage.

Oxygen barrier film helps us in two ways: We don’t get any spoilage on the surface so we don’t waste feed, and nobody has to climb on top of the silage pile to pitch spoiled feed, keeping our workers safe.

We purchase our oxygen barrier film at the beginning of the year and buy enough for haylage and silage, so we don’t have to buy more or worry about running out.

5. What steps do you take to reduce shrink loss on your piles during storage and feedout?
Larson Acres: We try to do the best job we can on packing. We follow guidelines from the University of Wisconsin as much as possible. I also believe that using good-quality inoculants help. We have used a facer at feedout for many years and recently have switched to a silage rake.

High Plains Dairy: We use a defacer on our drive-over piles to help reduce shrink. We only take down enough silage that we can feed for six hours.

This ensures that the silage stays fresh and does not have time to heat up. We also use inoculants on all of our silages.

A big part of harvest is focusing on the packing – whether it’s in a bag or drive-over pile, I insist we get an excellent pack.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: When feeding, we only remove the cover and tires from the silage that can be fed in two days.

This prevents oxygen from getting to the silage before we are ready to face the stack and feed. We also make sure we have good packing density, which helps reduce shrink loss of feed from spoilage. A facer ensures we always have a nice smooth face.

6. What do you excel in when it comes to silage management? Where could you improve?
Larson Acres: I believe we do a decent job of harvesting a good-quality feed and getting it delivered and packed in the bunker in a timely matter, but there is room for improvement in the kernel processing. That technology seems to not have kept up with the rest of the forage harvester’s advancements.

High Plains Dairy: Covering the piles promptly with two layers of plastic, oxygen barrier film and five-mil plastic is done with our employees and also some temporary workers.

We cover the plastic with tires tied together with string. This ensures the tires won’t slide down with time or in a windstorm. Keeping coyotes, raccoons and pheasants off of our bags and piles has been the biggest challenge for us. The past year, we trapped many coyotes but still did not avert some damage to the piles.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: We do a really good job of packing which reduces shrink loss from spoiled feed. Completely and evenly covering the silage pile with tires is also something we do well.

We make sure the oxygen barrier film and the five-mil plastic overlap by five feet and tires are touching all the way around from the slab over the entire pile; we make sure no air gets into the silage.

7. Any other management advice that you feel contributes to the success of your silage management program?
Larson Acres: I believe everyone on our team realizes it’s the little things that matter. There is not a “silver bullet” approach to silage management.

High Plains Dairy: Finding the right people and creating a silage team that has the knowledge and skills to take forage from the field to our cows with minimal shrink is a huge challenge. It’s something you don’t necessarily accomplish, but rather something you work at.

Badger Creek/Quail Ridge: Next year’s harvest starts when this year’s harvest finishes. You have to look at each step in the process to get your fields ready, fertilize, select seeds, plant and irrigate. Think of it as a continuous cycle and opportunity for improvement. This will allow you to get everything out of your acreage that you can.  FG

PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT:University research and field trial results show that using an oxygen barrier film can cut shrink loss in the outer two to three feet by 50 percent or more. 

BOTTOM RIGHT: Shape drive-over piles using a three-to-one ratio. This means that for every vertical foot, there should be three feet of horizontal on the back, front, and each side. The pile should also be packed from back to front and side-to-side. Photos courtsey of FG staff.