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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-03-18, Page 51Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food, Jack Riddell, took the opportunity of buying his crop insurance from Dashwood Crop Insurance agent Donald Weigland at the 20th an- niversary banquet of crop insurance agents early in February. The deadline. for purchas- ing insurance for general crops and tobacco under the Canada -Ontario Crop Insurance Program is May 1, 1987. (OMAF photo) We Farmers beware of silo gas By John Heard Soils and Crops Sepciayst We like to worry about making corn silage. Farmers worry about the correct moisture content to ensile at, and we, government folks, worry about farmers killing themselves with silo\gas. Corn reaches its maximum silage dry matter yield at 30-40% dry. matter. The variance Within this range accounts for hybrid differences and CHU location in On- tario. A 35% dry matter sample of whole plant silage compares to 40-45% grain Moisture. Obviously then we will be determining the right silage moisture content with something other than a grain moisture tester. A microwave oven works well to quickly dry corn silage formoisture determina- tions. Weigh out . a 100 gram sample of chopped silage. Zap for 6 minutes in the ' tnicrowave. Reweigh. Zap for 2 minutes. Reweigh. Zap and reweigh at 2 minute time intervals until , you no longer find weight. loss. (Burning the sample does not constitute weight loss - use the previous weight in your calclation.). Moisture content of the silage is then equal to weight of wa er burned off divided by the initial weight times 100. A result of 65% moisture would then cor- respond with 35% dry matter. Corn silage cannot all be harvested and ensiled at the exact correct moisture (for the same reason we can't plant all our corn on the. best planting date). Safe limits for storage are: 'a) for harvested storage, greter than 60% moisture; b) for upr`iht concrete silos - greater than 55% moisture; c) for larger upright silos - corn can be stored at 50%; d) for •oxygen limiting silos, as low as 35 too 45% moisture. Once the corn is in the silo it's time to worry about the farmer.. Nitrate, a form of nitrogen in the corn plant, covert to poisonous gas. Examina- • ticn of those unfortunates who have been killed by silo gas show massive bleeding in their lungs - due to nitrogen dioxide gas. The most common reason for poisoning is because the farmer feels he has to level off the silage at the top of the silo. This is ajob better left undone in many cases. Indicators of silo gas are: a) brown or yellow haze at the. silage surface or feed room floor; b) coughing of livestock (since animals on the floor are exposed to heavier gas concentrations\ than a person stan- ding) ; c) dead flies, cats or mice on the feed room floor. Tests have shown that running a blower for 20 minutes will likely disperse the gas IF the silo surface is within 15' of the toprof the silo and the doors are all closed. However, silo gas is unpredictable. It's, best to stay out of the silo. Be careful if there are open doors. The gas may spill down the chute. If there are opeelnn silo\doors, keep the feed room door shut\ and disperse the gas with a ven- tilating fan in the feed room. - BE CAREFUL. There have been too many tragedies to take chances. The re- cent wet conditions may increase the possibilities of a problem. Fire depart- , ments are available in the event of a life threatening emergency. Page 11A Box 88, Mildmay, Ont. NOG 2J0 (519) 367-5358 //// e5m atz "Specializing in Concrete & Stable Work" AFTER HOURS CALL: 367-2163 or 367-2707 PUNKA CAMS See us for •Corn •Feed •Seed *Gluten,' *Fertilizer •Chemicals •Custom Spreading •Bag/Bulk Delivery Mgr. Don Morrison 12 conc. Huron Township 395-2605 • 395-2606 DAVIDSON Well Drilling Ltd. A member of Canadian and Ontario Water Well Associations, with 87 years of experience that assures "lower cost water wells." LICENSED BY THE MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT ■ Farm ■Suburban •Industrial ■ Municipal ■ Free Estimates ■Guaranteed Wells ■ Fast, modern equipment Wingham357-1960 Waterloo 886-2761 "SERVING ONTARIO SINC 1900" SCOTT DRAINAGE COMPLETE FARM DRAINAGE SERVICE , PLASTIC CLAY CONCRETE LAND IMPROVEMENT EROSION CONTROL STRUCTURIES — EXPERIENCED — CERTIFIED CONTRACTOR — QMAF GRANTS AVAILABLE RIPLEY 519-395-3563 395-2992 ONTARIO