Corn silage is produced to feed dairy cows. It can take up to a year to grow, harvest, and ferment the corn plants in order to produce corn silage. When corn is harvested to produce silage, the entire plant is chopped into pieces to form the corn silage product, so essentially, none of the plant is getting wasted.
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Corn Silage Harvesting (Chopping)
During the actual harvesting process, there are two workers and two machines that are used. One worker drives the harvesting machine, that mows through and chops the entire plant into pieces. The second worker is driving the adjacent trailer. When the plant is chopped, it is transferred from the harvesting machine to the adjacent trailer. Once the trailer fills up, another trailer takes its place in the field and that trailer heads to the dairy to unload the harvested product.
How to determine when the corn is ready for harvest?
Harvest time is determined based on the moisture content of the plant. The corn used to make corn silage is harvested at approximately 60-70% moisture content at the time of harvest. As you can see in the picture below, the dark orange color on the outer portion of the corn kernel represents the starch content, while the milky white interior portion demonstrates that there is still a large amount of moisture in the plant. However, when determining the actual moisture content, there is a scientific sampling and drying technique that is used.
Corn Silage Production
The corn silage piles are formed using the harvested corn plants. The corn silage production process is as follows:
- The harvested and chopped corn plants arrive at the dairy, and are dropped off near the silage pile that is being formed. The silage piles are formed on cement slabs in order for fermentation to be able to occur properly.
- A tractor redistributes the chopped corn plants throughout the silage pile and drives up and down over the pile. The point of this is to reduce and eliminate any air pockets, to keep oxygen out of the pile.
- Once the piles have been formed, they are covered with two layers of plastic and reused tires, which are used to hold the plastic down. These piles will sit like this for at least 8 months in order for the corn silage to ferment. This step is imperative because without the fermentation process occurring successfully, the dairy cows will not be able to digest the silage.
By the time the silage pile has been fermented, the initial color has changed from a yellow color (above) to a brown color (below).
What are the large piles covered in tires off the side of the freeway?
If you have ever driven down the I-5 or HWY 99 in California, you might have noticed these piles. I personally never knew what they were used for before now. These piles that are covered in plastic and old tires are in the process of forming silage. In this case, they are forming corn silage, but there are also other options, such as alfalfa, wheat and sorghum silage. All end products are destined for animal feed.
Corn Silage Harvest & Production Video
Click on the video below to see an overview of the entire corn silage harvesting and production process.
Corn Silage Harvest & Production Video
Click on the video below to see an overview of the entire corn silage harvesting and production process.
Featured Grower Information
I would like to thank Crivelli Farms for the tour and for allowing the gathered content to be shared. To see more from Crivelli Farms, you can check out their cotton harvest and ginning and pomegranate harvesting processes.
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Hi Megan, Thank you for doing such a great job at providing a valuable learning resource for produce. I would suggest an addition to your silage storage information-Bagged Silage.
I am the General Manager of Versa Corporation. For over 40 years, we have been designing and building Silage Bagging and Handling Equipment in Astoria, Oregon. One of our goals is to help educate Dairy Farmers and Cattle Ranchers on the benefits of bagging silage versus traditional pits and bunkers:
• It seals up the forage as soon as it is packed into the bags, capturing the maximum nutritional value as it immediately begins the fermentation process.
• Almost zero Dry Matter Storage Loss compared to as much as 30% loss in drive-over piles (After all the cultivating, planting, watering, fertilizing and harvesting, why throw anything away?)
• Increases the Total Digestible Nutrients for better herd health without molds and butyric acid, but more lactic acid for longer bunk life
• Bagging feed greatly reduces the volatile organic compounds released into the atmosphere due to less exposed feed surface area (a hot topic right now for Dairies and possible regulations in the future)
• Feed in separate bags are easily identified with different feed types and moisture levels to maximize your total daily rations
• Quality Feed with higher lactic acid increases milk production with dairy cows and weight gain in beef cattle
Versa Corporation has more patented technology than any other Bagger Manufacturer. These innovations have helped us to build machines that provide the best packed bags with the least amount of oxygen and the most silage per cubic foot. Versa Baggers are also the easiest to set up, easiest to work on and built to last longer than any other. 22 patents have kept us superior to any other manufacturer. Versa is the Bagger of choice for custom harvesters that need their Baggers to do a great job for their customers and not cause them any problems. More silage is bagged with Versa Baggers that any other in the World.
I’m happy to help with more information or setting up a visit to one of our customers, Megan.
My number is 503-325-5187 or my email is erics@versacorporation.com you can also visit http://www.versacorporation.com
Thank you, again,
Eric
Eric Savage
General Manager, Versa Corporation