Making the right silage pile is just as important as making the best quality silage. The perfect silage pile ensures that the quality of silage remains intact for a longer time, and it also provides easier maintenance and storage.

Drive-over silage pile construction

The drive-over silage pile is the most efficient. Thus every farmer should know how to build a good drive-over pile. Here are five tips to make the best pile out there.

Location is key

The first thing that every farmer must keep in mind is the location of the silage pile. The critical point here is drainage. The farmer should make their pile at a non-porous base, for example, cement, tarmac, etc.
The location should have enough slope so that rainwater and snowmelt-like stuff slides away from the pile.

Size matters

The next part is the size of the pile. Again, farmers should have proper knowledge of pile dimensions. These measurements should safely provide storage for the amount of silage that will go into it.

Doing so ensures that the measurements will allow the target feed-out rate to avoid heating. In addition, farmers can take the help of experts who will have spreadsheets and factsheets to help them correctly calculate pile dimensions and help them with proper storage.

Packing is essential

The next step is packing. Farmers must pack silage during the time of harvest continuously. It will help them get an anaerobic atmosphere that starts the fermentation process as fast as possible, decreasing dry matter and nutrient loss.

Farmers should also know the minimum packing mass. The value should not be less than 44 pounds per cubic foot on a new weight base. The other mass value they can use is 15 pounds per cubic foot at 35% dry matter.

Using the wedge

Farmers can also use a progressive wedge technique to construct their silage pile. It tops packing efficiency and safety, plus it minimizes the amount of air that enters the silage surface.

Farmers should try to get at least a 4:1 run-to-rise ratio. The higher, the better. They should continuously use the packing material during the chopping process. The layers of silage distribution should be at most six inches thick to get good packet mass. Farmers can also watch videos to gain more knowledge on creating drive-over silage piles.

Safety is the number one priority

The last and essential step is safety. Farmers should create piles and bunkers with a height that unloading machines can quickly and safely reach. Properly managing silage pile measurements ensures that the feed out to cattle is safe.
Farmers should read silage safety handbooks with valuable data on creation, maintenance, and feeding out of silage piles and bunkers. Plus, they contain other critical information on silage safety.

Silage Agro is the best Silage Provider in Punjab. Their silage product goes through 1000s of quality checks before reaching the farmers. Thus they can trust their silage as it will always guarantee the best quality.