Silage making

From field to muzzle

It is JFs goal to deliver modern technique to cattle farms and to manufacture reliable and user-friendly machines that live up to highly-yielding animals need for economical quality feed.

These 110 Jersey cows are fed once a day with a complete diet (TMR).

The cow - one of the wonders of the world

Dairy cows today are incredibly productive. A daily yield of 40 kg ECM (Energy Corrected Milk) is quite normal, and there are records of close to 80 kg per day. A yield of even 40 kg requires the cow to take in 5 times as much energy as a dry cow. This achievement can be compared to the achievement of a marathon runner or a Tour de France rider. It goes without saying that the feed must be of best quality in order for the cow to perform these achievements. For both sports achievements and for dairy cows it is decisive that the amount of fibres, energy, protein and minerals is in order. The cow and other ruminants are made to digest grass and similar materials with a large content of plant fibres. It is the cow's nature to eat grass and other things quickly and subsequently ruminate at a leisurely pace. All in all a cow actually chews up to approx. 10 hours per day. When the cow eats the feed is chewed roughly and formed into a lump, which is swallowed. When gliding down the gullet a crevice will open up and the lump will glide into the first stomach, the rumen. In the rumen there is high activity thanks to a large amount of bacteria. These bacteria subsist on plant fibres that the cow cannot digest itself. The bacteria only live a few days and when they die they are consumed by the cow. One can say that an extra food chain is built into the rumen, which enables the cow to live on fibres or straw feed. In order for the rumen to function correctly the feed needs to have structure and a so-called prickle-function will take place. When a piece of straw prickles the inside surface of the rumen it stimulates the movement of the rumen muscles and thus causes the contents to be kneaded. If the feed contains a too large amount of concentrates there will be no stimulation and the rumen will cease to function. Grass is perfect feed for cows. It contains the exact right amount of energy and nutrients for the milk production. Grass grows very quickly in spring and early summer, and the season's large production must be kept for the winter feeding. In order to do this the grass must be preserved. That can be done in various ways. In our household we would have chosen deep freezing, but in this case it is far too expensive. Another method in the household is acid preservation with vinegar, which is used for e.g. pickled herrings, cucumbers and beetroot. For preservation of grass it would also be too expensive to use vinegar, but there is another obvious solution: letting lactic acid bacteria break down the sugar in the grass. During this process energy is released for the life-activities of the bacteria, and the waste product of the bacteria is lactic acid. This acid is capable of long-time preserving grass and it is both tasty and aromatic, but the whole process implies that no air is present.

Crops

Input 30.000 litres blood Output 40 litres milk

The most commonly used ensiling crop is rye grass. It contains enough sugar to secure a good ensiling process and is also fairly tasty. Regarding the taste, several tests have been made where cows had free access to 3 different types of silage made from rye grass, cocksfoot and timothy grass, respectively. The cows chose timothy grass first, then rye grass, and the grass type that was chosen last was cocksfoot. According to this test timothy grass is the preferred grass type, but since rye grass can give a better yield, and since cocksfoot is more drought-resistant these types of grass are preferred by many. Clover ensiling becomes more and more relevant concurrently with maize being more and more used, because the high protein content of clover compensates for the low protein content of maize. The mentioned grass types make various demands to mowers and their conditioners, not to mention clover, which has crawling growth and can be extremely heavy because the water content can exceed 90%. JF is aware of these differences and all mowers have been tested in such crop types before being introduced to the market. Schematic drawing of the cow's digestive organs

Efficient grass ensiling

Water

In order to make good grass silage, 5 key rules must be observed. These key rules are Early, Dry, Speed, Pressure and Tight.

Ensiling

Dry matter

An old Swedish test shows that it is important to cut the grass at the right time. Silage was made from the same grass, but it was cut at 3 different times. The first grass was cut so early that there were no spikes on the stems, and the digestibility was 83%. Approx. 12 days later 50% of the stems had spikes and the silage had a digestibility of 75%. After approx. 12 days further all stems had spikes and the digestibility was down to 67%. These 3 types of silage were given to dairy cows according to appetite, as well as supplementary amount of concentrates. At 5 kg concentrates the daily yield was 26 kg ECM - with the good silage. With the second best silage the yield was 3 kg ECM lower, and with the poorest silage the yield again decreased with 3 kg. Cutting too late results in lower yield, but it is to some extent possible to compensate by increasing the amount of concentrates. The example shows that further 5 kg concentrates must be used daily to achieve the same yield with the second best silage. - The conclusion of these tests is that if the grass is not cut early the price is a decrease in yield or an increased use of concentrates. Compared with other farming crops grass has a very high punctuality effect concerning the cutting time.

Early

Dry matter %

15

25

30

Rules for ensiling - DRY 100 kg newly cut clover grass contains approx. 85 kg water. 40 or 50 kg water must evaporate in order to increase the amount of dry matter to 25-30% and to avoid outflow of sap from the silo.

Rules for ensiling - EARLY The diagram shows milk yield at different grass cutting times and varying amounts of supplemental concentrates.

The next rule is "Dry". When grass is cut it normally contains 15-22% dry matter. In the chosen example the water content is 15%, which means that for each 100 kg grass there is 85 kg water. When ensiling it is important to avoid outflow of sap from the silo, of 2 reasons: Partly because the sap contains all the water-soluble and most valuable nutrients, and partly because the silage sap can cause heavy contamination of streams and ground water. When the grass is so dry that it contains 25% dry matter, it can be ensiled in a clamp silo without sap outlet. In cases with thick layers as in a tower silo, it requires a bit more than 30% dry matter. In order to estimate the content of dry matter it is not necessary to send the grass to a laboratory. The grass just needs to be wrung like a dishcloth. If there is no sap on your hands the content of dry matter is over 30%. In case of a few drops the content is approx. 25%. The example shows that at 30% dry matter 50 kg water has evaporated from each 100 kg grass!!! It is also possible to let the crop dry to more than 30% dry matter, but in that case following disadvantages should be observed:: Loss of leaflets and thus loss of valuable nutrients. It is difficult to wrap the silage air tight. There is a risk of uncontrollable formation of mould in the silage. Conclusion: It is important to wilt; but stop at approx. 30% dry matter.

Dry

These rules are handled together, because they all have something to do with the sugar content of the crop. The goal of the whole ensiling process is to convert sugar into lactic acid, so if there is too little sugar the process may fail. In case of clover or alfalfa sugar is absolutely a limiting factor and it is important to be extra careful. In case of grass there is more sugar present, but if it rains there is a risk that some of the sugar may disappear. There are examples that 10 mm of rain can wash out 10% of the sugar in the grass. - Therefore it is important to do what ever can be done to avoid rain. If there is not enough Speed on the ensiling the temperature in the silo will rise. The energy for this heat production comes from the sugar in the crop. If the grass has been exposed to too much rain or if there has been a production of heat in the silo, it is possible that too much sugar has disappeared and that there cannot be produced enough lactic acid to preserve the silage. The grass must be Pressured together in the silo in order to avoid change of air. The silage must be kept Tight to prevent decomposition of matter. This may happen very quickly if the plastic foil is not tight and is allowed to flutter in the wind. If the air is changed approx. 55 times the silage will be decomposed into compost. Fluttering plastic foil, pumping oxygen into the silo as if it was a lung, is very unfortunate. If the silage is not kept air tight another process will start; production of butyric acid. Butyric acid is produced by butyric acid bacteria (chlostridium), which can live on almost everything, and their waste product is very unwanted because it stinks badly. In the example below butyric acid has been produced and the silage is not suitable as feed. It must actually be seen as compost. It is possible to reduce the activity of butyric acid bacteria and increase the activity of lactic acid bacteria with following initiatives: Try not to pollute the silage with soil or manure rests because they contain a large amount of butyric acid bacteria spurs. (A spur is a bacterium in a resting stage or dormant stage). If spurs get into the milk used for cheese-making, the cheese may be destroyed. Wilting, because butyric acid bacteria are restrained in dry conditions. Avoid any access of air to the silage. We at JF are very aware of the biology of ensiling and of the cows physiology and in the development of JF machinery we pay maximum attention to these factors.

Speed, pressure and tight

Succesfull grass ensiling Acid

Unsuccesfull grass ensiling Acid

Lactic acid

Lactic acid
Buty ric

Days

Days

Rules for ensiling - SPEED, PRESSURE and TIGHT The sugar content in the grass is used to produce lactic acid during the ensiling process. If there is not enough sugar the ensiling will fail and butyric acid will be produced.

JF mowers give maximum feed hygiene, which is one of the conditions for good silage quality.

The mower - an important parameter!

A mower must be able to make both long and short stubble in order to be ideal for all types of grass and soil conditions. Therefore, all JF mowers with conditioner have the possibility of 2 types of adjusting the stubble height. Partly there are height-adjustable skids for rough adjustment, and partly a spindle for fine adjustment when changing the inclination of the cutting unit. Feed hygiene is an issue that we at JF have studied very thoroughly in the product development. In order to limit the amount of spurs in the silage it is important to make sure that as little soil and as few manure rests as possible get into the silage. JF has developed the Top Safe system, originally with a view to securing maximum protection of the expensive bed disc in case of collision with stones or similar items. It has turned out that the system has a not so unimportant side effect; the machine follows the contours of the field so well that the blades rarely whirl soil up into the crop. Another safety factor is the possibility of using many skids. This possibility was further developed so that there now also is a feed hygienic perspective. It has turned out that a finger conditioner whirls up large amounts of dirt in to the ensiling crop if it hits the soil in very rough terrain. This acknowledgement is the reason to why the skid has been extended so far to the rear that it protects against this kind of pollution.

The Top Safe system ensures good contour adaptation as well as protects the machine.

Avoid old plant rests that can harm the feed hygiene.

The skids have a double function. They partly protect the bed disc against wear and blows, and they partly prevent the finger conditioner from coming into contact with the soil, and soil and spurs from getting whirled up into the silage crop.

A test, carried out at JTI - Instituttet fr jordbruks- och miljteknik in Sweden, showed that the top plate of the conditioner had a bad shape, because there was a trough in which plant rests would accumulate. These plant rests would decompose and could contain harmful bacteria, which could be sprinkled over the swath surface as if it was salt from a salt castor. - JF has hence changed the construction of the conditioner plate so that it now is correct hygienically seen. Conditioning is an important factor when shortening the drying time. A perhaps somewhat surprising ascertainment is that it almost doesnt matter how the conditioner is shaped in order to obtain shorter drying time. - The main thing is that the crop is spread out in a wide airy swath through which air can blow unhindered. JFs system for efficient swath spreading is called Top Dry. It has turned out with this system that it makes sense to cut the grass in the morning just after the dew has evaporated. In the wide swath there will still be life activity and sugar will be produced for some hours by means of photosynthesis before the plant dries out and dies. The increased sugar content will benefit the ensiling process.

Day 1 Swath weight in kg

8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0

Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

15% dry matter content

30% dry matter content

One of JFs numerous drying tests showed that the grass dries much faster if it is put in a thin wide airy swath. The wide swath was ready for ensiling in a little less than 24 hours. It took 1-2 days more before the narrow swaths were ready for ensiling.

Treatment of swath and raking

Using a rotary tedder in a silage crop must be done with care in order to avoid waste of leaflets and avoid polluting the silage with soil. Pollution with soil is difficult to avoid because the crop is moist when cut and soil easily sticks to the grass. This increases the amount of spurs. If the crop is wilted heavily the soil will be shaken out of the crop when raking it. However, all in all it is advised not to use a rotary tedder in silage crop, unless the roots are tight like pastures. JFs system for swath spreading with the mower is called Top Dry, and it is a good alternative to spreading it with a rotary tedder. With the Top Dry system the spreading is done with the mowers conditioner, which eliminates the risk of further mixture with soil and pollution with spurs. Besides, earlier drying start time is achieved because it typically takes some hours before the next procedure swath spreading can be started. If the crop was wide spread either by means of a mower with Top Dry or a rotary tedder it must be raked together before it is picked up. A rotor rake with maximum contour adaptability is needed to avoid mixing with soil. There are several principles for contour adaptability, for example many wheels close to the zone where the raking tines are in contact with stubbles and perhaps soil. The use of cardanic suspension of the rotors is also a possibility.

Spurs are found in manure and soil. If these impurities get into the silage there may - in cases with poor barn hygiene - be a risk of spurs in the milk used for cheese-making. Bad cheese. Spurs cause development of air, which blows the cheese apart. Besides, there may be a reduction in taste.

Good cheese

GX-SM Top Dry - is an example of a mounted mower with wide spreading. The use of Top Dry decreases the risk of mixing soil and crop, compared to a rotary tedder.

The JF chop forage wagon and all other JF forage harvesters cut the grass in a way so that the sap is smeared out on to the grass surface, in order for the ensiling process to start quickly and safely.

The chopping method is important

It used to be said that chopping should only be done out of consideration for mechanization of the feeding process and not out of consideration for the cow. This attitude has changed, partly because it is an important factor for the compressing in the silo and thus for the silage quality, and partly because it is necessary in order to manufacture quality feed in connection with complete diet mixers.

In order to answer the often asked question concerning how short the feed must be before digestive problems occur, JF has made material available for the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Denmark (KVL). 3 types of feed were manufactured, partly unchopped grass, partly normally chopped grass with a theoretic chopping length of 19 mm and average chopping length of 34 mm, and partly grass with the shortest chopping length possible theoretically 4 mm and average chopping length of 27 mm. The result was that no matter the chopping length all feed had been chewed roughly into pieces of 15 mm length at the entrance to the rumen. This means that chopping length does not affect the environment in the rumen. Chewing time and number of chewing movements were also registered in the test, and the normally chopped grass reduced the chewing time with 21%. As mentioned earlier a dairy cow's chewing time per day is up to 10 hours, and therefore precision chopping is a decisive factor in order to obtain a high intake of roughage. It is not unimportant how the grass is chopped. If it is cut there will not be any sap at the outer surfaces and it will take long before the lactic acid bac-teria get into contact with the sugar in the grass and start the ensiling process. It is different with a quick rotating chopper, which crushes the grass when cutting it and smears the sap out on to the grass surface. A test carried out at KVL comparing these two chopping method confirms that these assumptions are right. The test showed that large amounts of butyric acid were produced if the grass had been wilted until it contained a little less than 30% dry matter, and small amounts if it had been wilted until it con-tained around 40% dry matter.

Mlesteder

Chopping methods are very different as appears from following 3 comparisons: Chopping method Chopping length cm 4 4 4 4 Dry matter % 26 29 38 41 A-number*) % 15 7 13 8 pH Lactic acid % 3,7 7,4 3,5 5,7 Butyric acid % 2,6 0 0,7 0

Cut Chopped Cut Chopped

)

4,7 3,9 4,9 4,2

* Ammonia number - a measure for decomposition of proteins. Source: Henry E. Jensen, Institut for Jordbrugsvidenskab, KVL

Chopping qualities are very different as appears from following comparative test that Pttinger had made at Sveriges Landbruksuniversitetet: Chopping length fraction Theoretic chopping length < 40 mm 40-80 mm 80-160 mm > 160 mm Average chopping length JF ES 3600 ProTec 16 mm 84% 12% 4% 0% 37 mm Pttinger Jumbo 7200 35 mm 30% 32% 27% 11% 83 mm Cut grass

The test shows for both chopping systems that the practical average chopping length is approx. 2.3 times the theoretical chopping length. If longer chopping length or less power consumption with JFs chop forage wagon is wanted every second blade can be removed. This does not reduce the JF chopping method's beneficial influence on the ensiling process.

Chopped grass Forage harvesters with quick rotating blades Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Self-loading wagon with stationary blades No No No No Yes Yes Yes

1. Possibility of short chopping length 2. Grass sap is smeared out on to the surfaces during chopping 3. Swaths with moist ground and dry top are homogenized during the chopping process 4. Additives such as acid will efficiently be applied to all grass surfaces 5. Dosing unit is needed to avoid unloading big lumps in the silo 6. Demand for extra heavy tractor for compressing the grass in the silo 7. Removal from silo requires a silo block cutter or the like

Conclusion

The use of forage harvesters make it possible to ensile without swath spreading and raking especially due to item no. 3; but also the other items more or less improve the ensiling quality of the grass. The forage harvester is useful in the simple and short machine chain (see back of brochure) based on wide swaths and direct pick-up. This method is common in Scandinavia, Finland and Great Britain. Self-loading wagon with many blades is useful in the long machine chain, which also include swath spreading and extra silo work spreading and compressing the crop. In order to limit secondary fermentation this roughly cut material requires a silo block cutter or the like. This method is mainly used in for example Germany and Holland. It is JF's goal to deliver technique to cattle farms and to manufacture machines that live up to highly-yielding animals' need for quality feed. It is our hope that this brochure about silage making will contribute to a better economy within dairy farming.

Used literature:

Birgitte Mia Bendixen. The importance of the cutting length of grass silage and the particle length in feed, bole, rumen content and faeces. JTI-report 291. Wide spreading of grass with the mower conditioner. http://www.agsci.kvl.dk/ahydro/iplprodundv/fpdf/f15hej.pdf

Ensiling machine chain

The short machine chain The long machine chain

Machine chains
The short chain is mainly used in Scandinavia, Great Britain and France and is based on swath drying and precision chopping. It doesn't matter if the swath is dry in the top and moist near the ground because the crop is thoroughly mixed by the chopping rotor. During the past years this chain was extended to also comprise swath spreading with the mower (Top Dry). This requires that the short chain is extended in order also to include a rake. If the rake has good contour adaptability qualities there will be no mixture with soil or reduction of feed hygiene. The long chain is mainly used in for example Germany and Holland. Here selfloading wagons with stationary blades are often used. This method implies that the crop is wilted more and requires more patience with the compression of the crop in the silo. In order to wilt the crop more, a rotary tedder is used for swath spreading and perhaps also for repeated turning. This is also a good solution because the grass fields usually are permanent and therefore have very tight roots, which reduce the risk of soil being mixed with the crop. In the silo combined shredder and dosing equipment for laying out material in thin layers is used. Subsequently the relatively dry and more roughly chopped material is compressed with an extra heavy tractor. The material will loosen in flakes during the removal from the silo and therefore a silo block cutter or the like is required to avoid secondary fermentation.

JF - at home in your barn and your field!

JF-Fabriken - J. Freudendahl A/S Linde All 7 Postbox 180 DK-6400 Snderborg Tlf. DK: +45 74 12 51 51 Fax DK: +45 74 12 52 51 Tlf. Int.: +45 74 12 52 52 Fax Int.: +45 74 42 58 08 Internet: www.jf.dk

PBDK-307X 12.03 Printed in Denmark