EXPERIMENT WITH POTATO SILAGE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29264, 23 July 1960, Page 8

EXPERIMENT WITH POTATO SILAGE

TRIAL pit of 450 tons of oat silage to which about 20 tons of potatoes were added at the time of making is at present being fed out to dairy cows on the Belfast property of Messrs Johns Bros. The value of the potatoes in the silage is being shown the rise in the milk yield when the layers of potatoes are encountered during the cutting into the pit The principle of. ensiling potatoes is to spread them in thin' layers through the main material being used for the silage. TJie

heat generated by the mass partially cooks the potatoes, and the weight presses them into flattened cakes of a cheesy consistency, shown embedded in the silage in the above photograph. An employee, Mr Douwe Liemburg, suggested to Mr B. F. Johns the use of potatoes for silage which was common in Friesland, where he and his father farmed. As some surplus potatoes were available last year when the tillage was being made, it was decided to make a trial batch. Two layers were spread in the pit, one near the bottom and the

other not far from the top. While both layers converted to silage satisfactorily the top layer did not receive sufficient weight to flatten the tubers and express the excess moisture, but there was no evidence of rotting. The ensiled potato retains its skin and the inside remains a white colour with a mild acid taste and a much less powerful smell than ordinary silage. Providing that potatoes are available the Johns brothers intend making more potato silage this year, probably using grass as the main material.