VACUUM SILAGE FOR BEEF, SHEEP

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30823, 7 August 1965, Page 9

VACUUM SILAGE FOR BEEF, SHEEP

The use of vacuum silage opened an entirely new field for sheep, Mr J. L. Doutre, instructor in agriculture of the Department of Agriculture in Auckland, told the Massey University sheepfarmers’ meeting recently.

During a drought or facial eczema period they could be held as a mob around a low vacuum stack and they would be adequately fed until the particular condition was over. The cover on the stack could be resealed again if care had been exercised to protect it during feeding out. English work on silage feeding of in-lamb ewes showed this material to have advantages in maintaining good bowel condition and the ewes in good lambing condition. Other work had suggested that both mineral and metabolic deficiencies were overcome by feeding high quality silage to ruminant animals. But future developments of this feeding system would be towards increasing beef cattle numbers and feeding them better thereby producing more top grade beef on land now producing stores. Much of the gamble Was removed from this enterprise on the drier areas subject to drought if a stock-pile of silage was available to see the herd over any dry period. The annual fluctuations in stock numbers could be evened out increasing the carrying capacity of entire

districts to a higher productive potential.

Farms having a reasonable area of flat land in conjunction with hill country could contour electric fence their steep country for better control of spring growth by grazing. They could then harvest the limited flat areas toward select sites. Self feeding of silage could replace hay in some instances in the development of rough country while feeding the herd to a better standard. Where fertility was in good balance and up to a high standard nitrogenous fertilisers had been used economically to produce a bulk of feed from limited acreages. Better Feeding “If we are to push our beef fattening farms further into the hills and produce more carcases or packaged beef for the world market it must be done by more adequate feeding. There is little doubt that the fastest means of doing this is by carrying all surplus crops forward to periods of shortage. In a sense this entails more crop utilisation —the harvesting of more grass throughout the growing season to fill in all the shortages.” Mr Doutre said that most of the benefits of air-tight silage making had been understood for many years, but unfortunately the towertype silos were too expensive to build and the costly equipment needed to fill them and feed out from them precluded their general use.

Their high capital cost was also for a fixed size of operation and they were not sufficiently flexible to allow for a change in the yearly enterprise, the ensiling of extra crop in good years or the cutting back of overhead costs in the face of poor market conditions.

With the use of light and relatively cheap polythene or PVC sheeting, the operation was completely simplified, and small or large quantities of crop could be made into silage as desired. Any surplus could be fitted into the feeding programme or stock piles built up as a security against future shortages. There was no need to purchase expensive blower or unloading equipment, and if a break-down did occur it was easier to exchange the tractor or harvesting equipment and proceed with the operation. It was possible to work with one or several units on the same stack. During the last two years, Mr Doutre said, this simple method for vacuum compression of silage had been used to form above-ground stacks. The making of double-ended wedges, ramp stacks or the filling of lined concrete bunkers had become an accepted practice and more than 1000 stacks had been built and evacuated encompassing almost 200,000 tons of grass, maize, and other fodder crops. This practice had been tried and proved first by the town milk and dairy industry and had now spread into the feeding of beef and other livestock. It had even been used for racehorses and sows.

Cows would eat from 80 to 1201 b daily when given free iccess to it and a dairy cow could produce up to 2.8 galtons of milk from full rations. Similarly beef cattle could make live-weight gains of 2.51 b to 31b daily under ideal growing . conditions. Young calves, two to three months old, could be reared on it.

Any Time

Mr Doutre said that grass could be ensiled throughout the season. The constant topping of paddocks kept them clean from weeds and trash. Grass surpluses usually occurred later on the sheep farm and such late crops of lush material would generally make poor conventional silage, but by the vacuum process this material was more readily made into a highly palatable product. At this time of the year it was almost impossible to make hay, but silage harvesting proceeded as long as the grass was dry. When the first drops of rain began to fall the cover was quickly drawn over the heap, whatever its height, and the sealing could proceed in the rain. Evacuation- was no problem and the silage remained intact until the weather changed and the sward was dry enough to begin again. Stacks could be of any desired size but the larger ones were more economical of plastic. There were a number of stacks of 50 tons and a few of 800 and costs varied from 11s a ton down to only 2s 6d, with the average being less than ss. Mr Doutre said he had compared the cost figures of contractors who made both hay and silage under contract —from standing grass into the cover or into the hayshed. It was not surprising to find that on stacks of 300 tons, compared with an equivalent dry matter content of 11 bales of hay per ton, or 3300 bales, vacuum silage costs were usually less than two-thirds the cost of making hay.