Feeding maize silage in winter: Setting the herd up for success
As I write this article, we have just had our first frost in the Waikato, a change in weather signalling that winter is upon us.
While the composition and efficacy of the various products have been argued, one key point applies to all – to ensure the correct amount of product is used for the prevailing conditions.
Quite often the calculation about the amount required is based on guessing the output of the forage harvester, guessing the weight of the crop in the trailer and sometimes guessing the output of the additive pump. This guesswork is further compromised during the harvesting day by changes in drymatter, grass species and changing trailer weights.
The SilaScale system, invented and developed by Andy Strzelecki and UK specialists Kelvin Cave Ltd, is aimed at removing all the guesswork with a system that continuously updates application rates throughout the day, by monitoring the fresh weight of forage being delivered to a trailer.
Key to the system is a robust set of load cells fitted to one trailer -- the 'master' in a fleet of silage trailers.
The master trailer continuously monitors the fresh weight of forage being harvested and communicates the results to the flowmeter that is part of the harvester mounted applicator via a Bluetooth connection. Crop weights are measured 60 times per second and data is transmitted every second. The data received allows the flowmeter to recalibrate second by second.
When the master trailer moves away from the harvester to empty, the flow meter 'fixes' the average flow rate for that load and continues to apply this rate as subsequent trailers are filled. When the master returns the wireless connection is re-established, and the flowmeter is re-calibrated as the trailer is filled.
The key benefit is complete accuracy of application and the avoidance of under- or over-delivery: the former would compromise forage quality and the latter provide little or no benefit except for increased costs. Once installed, the desired application rate is selected, the system is fully automated and it needs no operator input.
"A farmer or contractor who is certain that the right additive is being delivered at the right rate can be more certain of the final result," Strzelecki explains. "And he is also likely to benefit from substantial cost savings."
