Dear Sir
Silage consists of forage, crop residues or agricultural and industrial by-products preserved that are by acids. These acids are either added or produced by natural fermentation.
The material may be chopped or conditioned, and additives may be included. It is then stored in the absence of air so that facultative anaerobic bacteria, naturally present on the forage, or added as inoculants, can rapidly convert soluble carbohydrates into acids.
The quality of the ensiled product depends on the feeding value of the material ensiled and on the fermentation products present, as well as on the types of acids and the amount of ammonia. The resulting pH of a well-ensiled product becomes so low that all life processes come to a halt and the material will be preserved so long as it remains in airtight storage.
There are four main roles played by ensilaging and silage.
There are:
to build up feed reserve for utilization during periods of feed deficiency, e.g. dry season or winter
as a routine feed supplement to increase productivity of animals
to utilize excess growth of pasture for better management and utilization
to store and enable extended use of potentially unstable material.
Basic Method of Silage Making
Making a silo Silo is a pit in a ground, trench or tower where green fodder is stored as silage, or a plastic bag (small or large). The size and type of silo depends on the number of animals, quantity of available feed and the period of feeding A commonly used type and size is a Small Pit silo of 1.75 x 1.7 x 1.75 metres.
Harvesting of crops The crops should contain about 30-35% dry matter at the time of ensiling. The quality of silage depends upon the stage of harvesting. In general, grasses should be harvested just before flowering. If moisture content is high, first wilt the crop to 30-35 % dry matter content.
Chopping the crop Chop the crop into small pieces. Chopping make it easy to compact the silage and to remove the air.
Filling the silo Fill the material into the container layer by layer. Compact the crop all the time by continuous treading. This remove the air inside the silo. Try to fill your silo continuously in one day. Seal the silo quickly. This will improve and speed up the fermentation process.
Feeding the silage to livestock Silage can be fed as a source of roughage either on its own or with other feed sources.
