Booking in the contractor
If you haven't already booked in your maize silage harvest contractor pick up the phone and make the call today. Choose a reputable operator who has well maintained equipment. Don't make harvest price your key selection criteria. A good and timely harvest job is worth a lot more than a cheap job.
Bunker or stack preparation
Spring 2011 was a bumper pasture silage harvest season and as a consequence many silage bunkers are still quite full. Think about where you will stack your maize silage this autumn and get the area ready well in advance of harvest.
If you are using an existing bunker or stack, plan to do necessary maintenance (e.g. drainage) prior to harvest. Remove silage residues and, where necessary, recut dirt walls to give a straight, clean edge. Place rat baits in stations around the bunker and stacks of tyres.
If you are building a new bunker or stack ensure it is large enough to hold your crop and that the size of the face matches the rate of feed-out. Aim to feed across the face of the stack every three days taking at least 0.5m from the face. To ensure good feed-out management and operator safety, the top of the face should be easily reached from ground level using the feed-out machinery available. For good compaction the bunker or stack must be at least twice the width of the vehicle used to compact it.
Build your bunker or stack on a firm base away from hedges, trees and major drains with easy access all year round. Feed-out costs will be reduced if the bunker or stack is built close to where the silage will be fed out. The approximate storage space you will need is shown in Table 1.
Machinery access
Discuss with your contractor where the silage will be stacked and who will do the stack work. Where required widen gateways, culverts and races to allow safe and easy access for the silage harvester, trucks or tractors and trailers that will cart the silage to the stack. Check overhead electric fence wires, power lines and tree branches allow plenty of clearance for large machinery.
Silage making supplies
Ask your contractor if they will be providing silage making supplies (i.e. a high quality cover, tape for the cover joins and Pioneer® brand silage inoculant). If you are responsible for procuring these items make sure they are on farm well before harvest time. Silage inoculant requirements for a range of crop yields and drymatter are shown in Table 2.
Pioneer have developed a new maize silage harvesting manual – 'The Complete Guide to Harvesting Maize Silage' – which contains detailed information on all aspects of maize silage harvesting, storage and feed-out. To receive your complimentary copy call 0800 PIONEER (0800 746 633)
• Ian Williams is a Pioneer forager specialist. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
