Making Silage
The crops suitable for ensilage are the ordinary grasses, clovers, alfalfa, vetches, oats, rye and maize; various weeds may also be stored in silos, notably spurrey, Spergula arvensis. Silage must be made from plant material with a suitable moisture content, about 50% to 60% depending on the means of storage, the degree of compression, and the amount of water that will be lost in storage, but not exceeding 75 %. Weather during harvest need not be as fair and dry as when harvesting for drying. For maize, harvest begins when the whole-plant moisture is at a suitable level, ideally a few days before it is ripe. For pasture-type crops, the grass is mowed and allowed to wilt for a day or so until the moisture content drops to a suitable level. Ideally the crop is mowed when in full flower, and deposited in the silo on the day of its cutting.
After harvesting, crops are shredded to pieces about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) long. The material is spread in uniform layers over the floor of the silo, and closely packed. If possible, not more than a foot or two should be added daily, so as to allow the mass to settle down closely, and to heat uniformly throughout. When the silo is filled or the stack built, a layer of straw or some other dry porous substance may be spread over the surface. In the silo the pressure of the material, when chaffed, excludes air from all but the top layer; in the case of the stack extra pressure is applied by weights in order to prevent excessive heating.
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