Silage Production: Introduction

Preserving and storing an adequate and nutritionally suitable winter feed supply is an essential part of livestock production in western Canada. With feed costs making up a major portion of total livestock industry expenses it is essential that the most efficient and effective method be used. Silage offers the opportunity of consistently putting up high quality feed with a minimum of harvesting losses despite weather. Timely harvesting will minimize losses resulting in silage of a high quality. The ensiling process itself does not affect the quality of the feed.

Low quality silage can result from a lack of understanding of the process, poor planning, or inadequate or imbalanced equipment, labor, or storage facilities. Before making a long term commitment to put up silage, it is necessary to estimate the relative merits of various systems, especially total costs, availability of labor, need for consistent high quality feed, how well harvesting utilizes existing equipment and can be integrated with other farm operations. If a silage system is selected it pays to understand the process well and to do it correctly.

The major advantage of silage is that the crop can be harvested when it is ready in almost all weather conditions.

Since there are fewer harvesting losses, more nutrients are harvested per acre compared with most other systems (see table 13 comparing dry matter losses with various harvesting systems). Ensiling permits the use of a wider range of crops including corn, fababeans and sunflowers which are difficult to preserve by other methods. It offers a practical method of salvaging weedy, hail damaged, frozen or otherwise damaged crops to produce a palatable and nutritional feed supply.

Silage can be put up and stored in large quantities of uniform quality requiring minimal adjustments to the ration fed. Feeding silage also reduces many feeding problems including difficulties with starling cattle on feed, bloat and elimination of dust. It minimizes the need for feed processing.

The major disadvantages of silage compared with hay are that it requires more labor and time. Economies of scale and labor requirements can be met by working with neighbors. Capital costs and total costs per ton (tonne) harvested can be high or low depending on the total tonnage harvested and the system used. Used silage structures have limited market value.

Silage is heavy, so long distance hauling is inefficient. It must be produced near the location where it will be fed. Silage has limited market potential.

Silage odor is offensive to many people and this should be considered when choosing storage locations.

Making silage fits in well with most other farming operations. By ensiling cereals, you reduce the number of acres that must be combined. Early ensiling also makes it easier to do fall cultivation, fertilization, etc. As mentioned, silage offers a mechanism for salvaging crops that would be useless for other purposes.

Silage crops that are harvested early are better companion crops for perennial forages than crops which are left to mature for grain. Reducing seeding rates and nitrogen fertilization rates for the silage crop will result in less competition to the establishing forage crop.