FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 97, 6 December 1939, Page 2

FARMING NOTES

THE MAKING OF SILAGE IMPORTANCE OF USING YOUNGLEAFY MATERIAL .T. M. Smith, Fields Superintendent, I-} ami I ton, (Continue:]) There is nothing very my. I ;!cm*ions about the making of' silage, and in actual practice it will be fount! that it is easier to make good .silage than it is to make good hay. When any green sappy material is heaped together bacterial action is set up and fermentation takes place. With the exclusion of air this fermentation is halted, and the mass can then be held in that condition for a long period, providing air is not readmitted or allowed to get in. This, briefly, is the principle of the making of silage. It will thus be seen that the main factors of success in this phase of farming a-e H) the cutting of the material in a green sappy condition; (2) the gathering of it into a heap as soon as possible; and (3) the ability to exclude air from the mass. These last two factors can best be accomplished in the pit or stack, and explains why these two methods are both popular and efficient. Silage of good quality can be made in the stack, but this process requires a little more experience, while there is usually more waste in the stack method. As an offset against this, however, is the fact that the stack can be built anywhere on the farm, while it can also be made to accommodate any quantity of material. With the pit or trench it is necessary to have suitable locations on the farm and, once built, may entail long cartage to or from this site Time Factor. In making silage it is essential that the green material should be put into the stack as soon after cutting as possible. This is not so necessary where the pit or trench is being used, and it is often an advantage to allow the material to wilt s "ghtly in the field before being carted in. A sweet, or very slightly sour silage should be aimed at, and if the material becomes too dry the temperature will go too high before the air is excluded, and a brown or burnt silage of inferior feeding Quality will result. The same Avill happen if there is too great a delay in the harvesting, and where silage is being made in the stack it is expedient to earry on on snceessivc days, until the job is done. With leafy green material, however, a day between operations can be allowed without any great danger of the silage being reduced in feed value. These spells will allow the material to settle a litte before operations begin again, but Avith a mechanical lift or hoist there is little advantage in this. With the pit or trench, where the material is tramped and packed more densely than in the stack, a snell of a day or more between sections is advisable otherwise a very sour silage will result. Packing of Edges. ■» In building a silage stack every care must be taken to see that the edges are tightly packed to ensure the total exclusion of air. The better job a farmer makes in this respect, the less waste there will be in the stack when the time conies for feeding out. As previously mentioned, the exclusion of air controls fermentation, so that another advantage of the short leafy green material, apart from its higher feed value, is that it packs more lightly and thus controls the temperature. | In the early days of making silage it was deemed necessary to take the temperature at the centre of the stack, and proceed with, or delay building, according to temperature. To-day, the thermometer has been dispensed with, as it is realised that there is little risk of the temperature remainiing too low, but great risk of the temperature going too high, so that with continuous building in the stack, or building on alternate days in the pit or trench, this high temperature is avoided. At times controversy takes place as to Avhether stacks should, be square rectangular, or round. Actually it matters little, although with a round

stack there is less Avail area exposed to the weather, and as it is on the walls that waste hikes place, this lessor area on which there can he waste is an advantage. At the same time, if a stack hudder feels more conndent when building a square stack it should be built as high as possible. consistent with the degree of safefy necessary to ensure that no canting takes place. With a low. squat slack covering too much ground, a poorer quality silage usually results, while there is much waste. Covering Recommended. On completion of the building with the green material the stack should be topped up with a foot to 18 inches of soil, and the edges of the stack should be so built that it is possible to get the full, weight of the soil right out. This Aveighting Avitb soil is to ensure that the air is excluded from the top three or four feet. Even with pits and trenches it is an adA*antage to top up Avith soil, although some farme~s do not do so, and little Avaste results. Much depends upon the leafiness of the green material; if this is young and succulent, little \A r aste occurs, even where no soil is employed in topping up.

As the time is noAv rapidly approaching when pastures Avill be at their peak of seasonal production Avhieh Avill, on most farms, result in a surplus as silage, it is in the interests of the pastures that this groAvth should be removed, and in the interest of the stock that this should be saved in its most succulent, nutritious, and palatable form.

Farmers desiring further information in connection with his important phase of dairy, sheep and mixed farming should get in touch with the nearest Instructor in Agriculture of the Department of Agriculture, and this officer will call and discuss the whole matter with them.