How to keep a silage clamp safe
high above an unforgiving floor slab, with a slippy surface strewn with trip hazards close to an unprotected edge….. how do you safely uncover the silage on top of a 6m high forage cliff face?
Best asphalt for a silage clamp floor
what sort of asphalt should you use for a silage clamp floor, and what the differences between each type?
Stacking silage above the walls - a good idea?
The really critical aspect is the angle of the silage slope; stack it as steep as it will go and sure, you will get a lot in the clamp, but you will also loose loads of feed value.
Getting silage clamp face progression right
The speed the silage face progresses is important because it is porous. This means that oxygen rich air can get past the first few millimetres and actually penetrate deeper into the silage, fuelling more of the unhelpful microbes and increasing nutrient losses.
When is a silage clamp exempt from SSAFO?
exempt silage clamps do not need to be SSAFO compliant as long as they were completed before 1st September 1991 - but just how long can you continue to use them?
Does maize silage improve with age?
Is maize silage like a good wine, does it improve with aging or is it best fed as soon as possible to retain as much “freshness” as possible, and does it just go off if it is kept too long?
Is it worth sheeting silage?
What does it really cost you to sheet the silage clamp, and what are the downsides of not covering the silage at all?
Are maize or corn knives worth the cost?
Maize knives are designed to make the most of all the horsepower in chopping these really tough silage crops like maize or corn - or so the manufactures would like you to believe - but are they really worth the extra cost to buy and change?
How to bale maize silage
How can you make the most of maize or corn silage if you don’t have a clamp, or is it possible to bale maize or wholecrop silage?
When to cut silage in a drought?
So how should you react to hot dry weather and what is the best way to make silage in these conditions? Should you mow whilst the grass is green and lush or wait until there is a bit more bulk
Precast or cast in-situ concrete silage clamp walls?
The walls of a silage clamp - if you’re having walls - will probably be made of concrete…. I’m often asked if precast is better than cast on site or cast in-situ walls.
Is adding beet pulp to the silage clamp a good idea?
is there any merit in adding ingredients such as sugar beet pulp to the clamp as you are making the silage; what are the benefits and what are the risks?
What happened to trailed forage harvesters?
all the forage harvesters that followed, actually did follow, because they were all trailed back in the day. Fast forward a few decades and everything is self propelled, so why the change?
How best to seal silage clamp floor joints?
it is always the joints in a concrete floor slab that will most likely be the weak point when it comes to pollution control in a silage clamp floor. Designing these joints - where they are, the spacing and their sealants is the really tricky bit to get right when detailing a silage clamp floor and it is hydrophilic swellable sealant that might just be your best friend
What is the best way to fill a silage clamp?
The Irish love to build a steep clamp with a ramp that resembles the north face of the Igor, whilst the Germans build a clamp that has more in common the the flat lands of the neighbouring Netherlands…. Steep or shallow, high or low, what is the best way to fill a silage clamp?
Is it possible to make silage with zero losses?
I hear it all the time - the claim that “my silage clamp has zero losses”…… there is no such thing as a clamp with zero losses. Unfortunately that’s just a fact of biology or chemistry or whatever. It’s just not possible to make silage with no losses.
Cost of bale silage vs clamp silage
Spending a fortune on a new silage clamp has got to have a payback; it has got to make financial sense and the reduction in harvest costs might be one of the most important areas to study. That means it’s vital to calculate the costs of making silage in bales against the cost of making silage in a clamp.
How to keep silage effluent off clean areas?
A sleeping policeman or a channel across the front of the silage clamp? Which should you choose, and is there another option to consider?
Push-off buckrake or silage fork flick?
When it comes to levelling silage on the clamp are you a fork flicker or a push over?…. But here is the thing - in my opinion there is no such thing as the perfect flick!
What’s the cheapest way to build a silage clamp?
a silage clamp is a business investment and so the optimum solution should be the lowest capital cost for the anticipated outcome. In other words how do you spend the least on a clamp and still get good silage out of it?