Step by Step Process of Silage Making in India and 3 benefits

What is the Process of Silage Making is one of the most frequently asked question in Dairy farming.

We have seen types of silage, production process, its advantage & importance in milk business, in previous article on Silage Making.

 

Process of Silage Making

Let us learn in detail, the Silage making process step by step from corn plantation with bag or pit method.

 

How much should we sow for Process of Silage Making ?

Per acre corn sowing for silage production

For actual corn plantation, we can use calculation of plantation of corn on about 2 acres of land

How much fodder can be produced from one acre of land?

1 acre land has approximately 40000 square feet of space which can be utilized to produce corn fodder at around 500 kg per guntha. This then translates to making of 18 to 22 tones of silage in an acre of land.

How much and how to sow corn seeds?

You should plant 10 kg of corn in an acre of land with a spacing of 2 feet wide aisles and  seeds separated by 8 inch.

How many days it will take for Corn to be ready for Process of Silage Making ?

It will take approximately 80-90 days for crop to be ready for harvest for use it in Silage Making process.

 

How to identify if the corn crop is ready for harvest and silage making?

To make silage, we need corn with 60 to 65% moisture in the plant.  How can we determine that the corn has 60-65 % moisture?

1. For that we need to horizontal cut, there we can see a milk line it should be in middle of the pea as shown the picture.
2. We can also check the water content by rubbing plant leaves on hand.  If slight moisture is felt on the hand, then corn can be considered fit for silage production.

This state will be seen after approximately 80 to 90 days of plantation.

 

Steps after harvesting : Process of Silage Making

If moisture content is high, then you should allow the harvest to dry for 2 to 3 hours.  Sometimes, this drying duration might also be as high as 4 to 5 hours.  Take a decision regarding this depending on the moisture content.

After ensuring the right amount of moisture content, Cut the crop plants with the help of machine cut it approximately in pieces of 1-2 inch and fill the fodder thus cut in to bags.

This again, has to be layered (1-1.5 feet) and pressed manually by humans.

Make sure that the harvest does not dry out completely or more than optimum.  This  will reduce the nutritional value of the silage.

When storing silage in pit or bunker, the chopped fodder has to be directly emptied in pit or bunker, pressed and enclosed in airtight manner.

 

What are extra products should I use in the Process of Silage Making?

You can use the silage culture mixture as per the instructions on the packet.

If you add other ingredients without proper care and knowledge of how and how much to use, you might just spoil the silage.

We suggest if you are doing the process of silage making for first time do not add elements such as salt, urea, jaggery.

Only chopped corn will do the job just as well.

 

Process of Silage Making – Procedure to store silage in bags

Bags shown in the picture have an approximate capacity of 600 kg. They are approximately 5 feet in height

Make sure you press the filing well & ensure no air is left inside the bag.  For this you have to fill layers of fodder each with 1-2 feet. While packing and enclosing the bags, you have to tie and close top of the bag with a cloth strip, after which you can use a rope to tighten.

Ensure no air can go inside the bag.

 

Process of Silage Making : Care taken while filling the silage in a pit

 

Dig a pit, 3 to 5 feet deep for silage making.

The soil thus dug out can be used as the closing top layer for storing of silage.  Cover the pit with plastic paper, fill chopped corn inside the pit.  Preferably, do not use any other substances while storing corn silage in the pit.

To remove air after every one or two feet press it with the help of tractor / presser.

Places in corner where the tractor wheels can’t reach, have to be pressed using manual labor.  Cover with plastic and put a layer of soil to enclose and lock silage pit completely, after filling the last layer.

Keep the silo pit safe from rains or water logging.

 

How much silage will I need for one cow?  How much corn to be grown?

A cow will need 20-25 kg of silage every day depending on her weight.

Which means 9125 kg or 9 tons of silage for 365 days will be required.

This translates into 18 bags of 500 kg each.

Which means for fodder enough to feed one cow for a year, we have to plant 20000 square feet (half an acre) of corn.

If you are planning only for 6 months of fodder of a cow, 10000 square feet plantation will do.

Wow this is a great step by step guide to Process of Silage Making, but we don’t feel too much confidence yet. 

You can help yourself more by watching this online training on Process of Silage Making for free.

If you have any other doubts please post them in the comment section

Here’s a good video tutorial on Process of Silage Making