Silage Storage Maintenance – Are you really ready for spring?

Longer days and glimpses of warmer weather are typically the first indicators that spring will indeed arrive again, although the exact timing is always in question. Another key sign of spring might be your forage inventories in bags, bunkers or silos inching toward empty. Depending on your harvest management in 2024 (or before), this might be a welcome sight or a major challenge. In either case, it does offer producers the chance to take a close look into silage structure integrity and identify opportunities to perform maintenance on those systems. Alternatively, you may want to consider a move to a different silage storage situation altogether.

Proper forage production starts in the planning phase as growers make variety selections, test soils, and create nutrient management plans, identify optimum harvest intervals, and ultimately cut, harvest and ensile the crop. However, all this hard work can be negated by using silage structures that fail to preserve the crop or allow for spoilage or additional contamination.  While not the first step in ensuring proper forage hygiene, it is certainly important and often overlooked.

Limiting Oxygen to Increase Silage Quality

Oxygen is the enemy of quality silage. Improperly sealing the silo is a key culprit to forage spoilage and goes beyond the plastic seal most growers use. Different silage storage systems warrant varied maintenance protocols, and no structure is without its challenges regarding structure integrity. Prior to refilling any silage structure, make sure to remove all remaining feed or forage, particularly if there is any spoiled or poor-quality feed that remains. Acids produced during silage production can be damaging to concrete and any metal in the silo and can cause deterioration and damage to these surfaces.

If you are using bunker silos, remember that oxygen can permeate concrete walls and floors, and is a particular problem if we have cracks present in those surfaces. Upright concrete silos may have the same challenge in addition to leaking doors and damaged roofs. Silage bags can bring on a host of challenges – from holes and tears from birds and wildlife to contamination at feed out from placement on a poor-quality base.

Some quick reminders regarding management of different silage storage structures are below.

Spring Bunker Silo Management Considerations

• Inspect walls, joints, and floors for cracks. Patch cracks or consider sealing with plastic or masonry paint.
• Inspect and clean drains to allow seepage to flow away from the silage pile toward a dedicated area.
• Best practice is to line part of the floor and walls of the bunker to create a tight seal to alleviate oxygen seepage. Those filling the bunker must be cautious to avoid damage to plastic while pushing forage into layers and packing.
• When removing feed from the bunker, use caution not to damage plastic in place. Doing so triggers oxygen infiltration and secondary fermentation, speeding the spoilage of feed.

Spring Tower Silo Management Considerations

• Note areas in the silo where feed spoilage consistently occurs
• Inspect walls to identify cracks
• Inspect and replace damaged doors
• Inspect silo seals for leaks and consider re-sealing when appropriate
• Inspect and repair ladders, cages, and chutes
• Inspect and repair unloaders, cables, and pulleys as appropriate
• Inspect and install safety guards
• Older silos (most are) should be professionally inspected regularly for necessary maintenance needs

Spring Silo Bag or Silage Pile Management Considerations

• Assess bag/pile placement – avoid areas that are highly trafficked, poorly drained, or accessible to wildlife
• If mud is an issue, place bags on a firm base such as concrete or packed limestone screenings to limit soil contamination
• Level ruts as soon as weather conditions allow
• Ensure bag/pile is sloped to encourage water to drain away from the feed face
• Inspect bags/piles regularly to identify bird, rodent, weather, and child damage. Repair all holes promptly

Spring Silage Maintenance Safety Considerations

Always keep safety top of mind when you are inspecting and repairing silage structures. Each comes with its own challenges.

While the list of daily tasks on a livestock or dairy farm never seems to end, maintenance of forage storage systems is an important step to reduce feed shrink, protect profitability and animal health by better managing the feed we put into storage. The adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that certainly applies to ensuring our high-quality forage is stored in a high-quality structure.

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