The Rural Voice, 2005-01, Page 39Advice
Managing forage storage for more profit
• No matter what kind of storage
you choose, good management can
reduce shrink loss and spoilage, a
U.S. forage expert says.
Bill Mahanna, global nutritional
sciences manager with Pioneer Hi -
Bred told the Forage Focus
conference in Shakespeare,
November 30, that shrink loss can't
be replaced. "You've lost the best
part of the crop: the sugars and
starches," he said. "You are left with
fibre." The cost of replacing the
sugars and starches lost with shell
corn is a significant item that must be
calculated into the cost of shrink, he
said.
But good management can reduce
those costs. While losses in forage in
bunker silos averages 22 per cent, in
California large operators have
reduced their losses in Targe pits to
15-18 per cent.
The key to good storage in a
bunker silo is the density of the
silage, Mahanna said. He
recommends packing in six inch
layers to squeeze out the air. Make
sure you pack equally along the walls
of the silo, he said because density
tests have shown that often the
density in the silage is not nearly as
great along the walls, increasing
losses. But don't over -pack the top
layer, he warned. The weight of
packing vehicle doesn't go down to
increase the density below the top
layer and the excessive damage to the
cells of the top layer may increase
spoilage.
Encasing silage in plastic within a
bunker silo can decrease losses
further, Mahanna said. Plastic is laid
across the bottom and up the
sidewalls of the bunker, then
wrapped over the top. A drainage tile
is put at the bottom of the wall
outside the plastic to drain away any
water that gets in.
The height of the silo should
generally be chosen according to the
amount of feed you'll need to remove
each day. Generally, however, the
silo shouldn't be less than eight feet
Set-aside program explained
Continued from page 34
A producer will be required to pay
that back if the cattle are slaughtered
prior to January 1, 2006. "In this case
you did not fulfill the agreement."
If the border opens, all set aside
cattle will be released from the
program, said Handley.
If a tag is lost the producer will
need to replace it. A death must be
reported with documentation.
Handley said that there will be
115,000 cattle in the program. To
date they have reached 49 per cent of
that total. The program is "first
come, first served. The cut-off will
be January 15 or when 115,000
cattle are in the program.
It is hoped that the first cheques
will be issued by Christmas.
In response to a question Handley
said "any cattle owned by federally -
inspected packers are not eligible for
these programs."0
Gaunt predicts slow progress at WTO
Continued from page 33
markets for farm products. In the
U.S. 90 per cent of the packing
industry is in the hands of a few
select companies and the balance of
power has shifted.
Gaunt predicted progress in the
latest round of WTO talks will be
slow. While the original deadline for
agreement was January 1, 2005, it's
likely to be 2007 or later before an
agreement is reached, in part because
the faces of the people at the
negotiating table are changing.
Though admitting he,is no trade
expert, Gaunt said his guess was that
supply management will survive this
round of talks intact, though there
might be some further reduction in
the tariffs that allow Canadian
farmers to control their market.
"I would hope we would get a
new (WTO) deal but not at any cost,"
he concluded.0
or more than 14 feet in height, and
costs are higher over 12 feet because
of the additional reinforcement
necessary.
Because of the importance of
good packing, large operators like to
size their bunkers so they can be
filled with one day's operation. As
well, "if you have a bunker silo the
absolute best investment you can
make is a silo facer," Mahanna said.
The trend across the U.S. has been
away from tower silos and toward
bunker silos with a Hoard's
Dairyman survey showing an
increase from 21 per cent of dairy
farmers using a bunker in 1993 to 31
per cent in 2003.
Still, the choice of storage
depends on the need of your farm,
Mahanna said. A University of
Wisconsin website at
http:/u wex. ed u/ces/crops/uw forage/st
orage.htm#Storage%20Types can
help with decision making.
Continued on page 47
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