WHY you NEED TO COMPACT SILAGE! | IS IT WORTH THE COST?

This week we go into detail on Silage Compaction! The consequences of poorly managed silo pits is a huge hidden cost on many many farms!
Research:
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
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[@forcesfarming8511]

Also nice to see a loader with a push off buckrake! Far too many people think flicking times and wearing bushes is fun….

[@forcesfarming8511]

To be honest I’m surprised you haven’t got one on the front at the same time 😂

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I was tempted!

[@FarmersSss]

The silage pit is an area I have lots of experience with. Yes, I do agree that a compactor is definitely worth using, but I think a good buckrake operator who builds the grass up in thin layers evenly and rolling in well will achive just as good a result than a poor buckrake operator that buckrakes the grass in heaps/ thick layers with a compactor.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

100% agree.

[@mde7142]

Excellent Video! The process of proper compaction is a lost art. Great to see our Rhino Pak making an appearance!

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Thanks for the demo!

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Video, I totally support all your comments, particularly regards contractors, they are only interested in the bill that they will send you! thanks for sharing

[@matthewalford4006]

👍🏻 excellent video and brilliantly explained 👍🏻 I’ve got a few SilaPactors that I hire out in the south west and seeing some exceptional results with them on farm.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

People have to see it to get it.

[@feirmfactor859]

Sensible advice about compacting. Fair play!!

[@user-pu5ij9lc6z]

Well I watch all your videos you explain everything very well in normal language and thankyou for that..could you do one on diet feeding sometime and different ingredients you use with silage to make your cows milk??

[@Harry-zb9tb]

Side sheets do save a lot of money and especially time too.

[@seanbirkle5553]

great video. as a contractor from a dairy farm back ground and understanding the importance of this, I have purchased a compactor and use it on every customers clamp. 👌

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Excellent! Has to be a great way to protect your business, doing the job better than everyone else and adding value

[@cumbriafarmer6258]

You are the cleanest farmer I ever seen

[@forcesfarming8511]

You’ve just got ask yourself WHY do all the clamps across the channel have a dedicated tractor to compact? Exactly this reason. Great video.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Exactly! Or in the US they have multiple of their biggest tractors on the pit!

[@user-su5hb8gc7t]

I remember back in 1970 we used a system of vacuam silage this entailed fully enclosing the grass in the pit and joining top sheet to side walls with alkathene pipes one inserted in the other and connecting a pump to extract all the air out of the sheets results were amazing heaped pit reduced by 75 to 50 percent. Can anybody else remember this and does anyone still do this

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Wooooow! I would guess back then grass wasn't compacted well at all!

[@MrDavidSThompson]

Grass would have been compacted better. The buckrake man had to go on with thin layers other wise he wouldn't be able to get over the pit , he had to keep it compact otherwise he would get stuck and loads just didn't come in as quick so had time to roll.

[@billabong9215]

I know it's a little off topic... but over compaction of wet silage( it happens, some people take chances and get caught out. Some years, there is no choice).... but over compacting wet silage has a negative effect. Pits split, the leaves of the grass are destroyed. 10th generation dairyman also made a great point when filling a maize pit. They didn't get it covered that night and the next morning... it had fluffed up again. They left it alone and didn't roll again the next morning because they would have pushed that air in to a lower layer of silage and lead to increased losses. Mighty video again. Always love the detail you go into.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

We won't compact very wet grass, it doesn't need it, it's own weight gives great density.

[@markdaynes9154]

I find this very interesting, as a contractor it is very clear to me how important good silage is to the farmer. For the last few years I’ve been hiring in a tractor completely weighted down to roll the pit beside the loading shovel. For this year I decided to run a second loader on the pit but not before pricing a rhino. I know you said you don’t think there’s a way of justifying it for the contractor but how would I quantify it ? The second loader allows me to push a little harder and get through more work but I don’t believe in making bad silage just to get through the acres

[@FarmTheoryNI]

It's up to the farmer to see the value, you can only do so much!

[@Ai-lm9pb]

Andrew, start at the start. Slow down your feed rollers and chop your silage much shorter. this will have much more effect on your silage density than any silage compactor. Also has a lot of other benefits such as increased DM intakes in your cows etc. If you want to, then also do it with the compactor and see where you finish up with silage density. Some of the other benefits are, even more silage in your silo, far less loads to draw home especially on a long draw, much easier to buck rake and keep level in the silo, much better mix quality for those of us with wagons. The only down side is the need for a lot more horse power (and diesel) to chop it.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Not a good option because I'm limited to 265hp to lift 30ft rows. Speed is absolutely vital. The compactor is a compensation for that.

[@michealwhite8776]

Good informative video Andrew! I remember you saying in a pass video, " that you never roll your fields " why is that? Surely it would reduce damage to the mower especially on the outside sward..

[@FarmTheoryNI]

You cause compaction and reduce yields. I just lift the mower over any tracks and havnt damaged it yet.

[@rich7584]

100% agree . What’s your thoughts to the new style ones compared with train wheels? What size are your train wheels? I use a mates that he made with 8 wheels (1meter wheels) and my 6330 JD won’t lift it.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Train wheels put more pressure on the grass. Working on a redesign of the roller style to match the pressure of the train wheels.

[@davidnjuguna8960]

Can soil compactor used in construction do in small scale farming

[@trevormcclure2445]

Thought provoking video Andrew. Interested to know what your opinions are on the two different styles of compactor ie your train wheel style versus the fixed barrel style you have tried, pros and cons as you see it or are they as good as each other? Thanks

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I have a tiktok about it. Train wheels are better.

[@RallyRobert976]

How did you come up with the frigger for rolling your own pit

[@doffarm]

Do you find leaving the front mudguards on is a dangerous game on the pit😅

[@farmersfrankland2007]

Well compacted Why don’t you use a sheet on the side/shoulder??

[@FarmTheoryNI]

It's a pain at feed out. It's when the ideal meets the practical reality.

[@alexnicholas2371]

The compactor looks to do a great job at levelling the silage but I still think a tractor on narrow pumped up tyres with a big weight delivers more concentrated pressure

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I could work it out, I must do that!

[@ciaranconeely8579]

👍👍👍👍.

[@georgemontgomery8847]

Should show this to our contractor who just shoved it in and didn’t roll it.

[@wyndhamhewlett8223]

Don't put up with it!!

[@FarmTheoryNI]

It's the most essential part of harvesting silage. I would make sure it's done.

[@nthnmcclure3020]

I completely understand that more pressure produces a greater bulk density,, but the financial figures you went through all seem based on a lot of guesswork. As far as ME goes, i agree that if a pit is extremes badly compacted then you’ll lose a decent chunk of your energy through poor fermentation, but as long as you manage a pit pretty well, to the point where your silage analysis shows good fermentation characteristics, would you really have any benefit from increasing bulk density further? You assumed 0.1ME increase, but it could just as easily be 0.05 or 0.5ME, it's just a guess. And for DM loss, again the 2% DM loss saved over tractor and weight figure seems to be just what you've assumed, which i get is fair enough based on your experience, but i wouldn’t have guessed there was as much of a difference between weight block vs compactor. I remember someone saying if you buy a product you have to hope you get a return, but if you don’t then you're guaranteed a saving 😂 I'm not having a go, just wondering if there was any research you based these figures on.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

The research is in the description, I do agree it's a lot of assumptions but it has a basis and there margin of gain over cost is large enough I can confidently say it's worth it

[@RPK1990.]

On silage clamps its deffinatly worth it. A loader cannot provide the same density as this compacter. It increased my DM / m3 from 190kgDM > 220kgDM. And also protein losses have been reduced by 5% thanks to the compacter.

[@MrEmpire4]

Why no sidewall plastic? Its cheap and air can pass through concrete.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Nope, sometimes the reality of having to deal with plastic all winter trumps perfect quality

[@bluebutterfly6394]

Isn't silage bailing better and has better logistics?

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Definitely not. 🤣 I try and avoid bales at all costs.

[@mcagris]

What makes up the 6k cost?

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I guess it's pretty heavy steel? On the train wheel type it's the wheels which costs a lot.

[@mcagris]

@@FarmTheoryNI ah I see that's the initial purchase of machine not your annual cost of doing the job for the season

[@seansexton729]

I’m going to start an argument🤪🤪 Firstly, we harvest on this island predominantly grass silage. Why? Because it’s the cheapest protein forage source we can grow effectively and efficiently. Some would say it’s the only protein source we can grow. I.e. it provides our livestock with the vast bulk of their daily protein and ENERGY requirements when forage is otherwise not available, e.g. winter months. 2. Protein diet supplementation IS the most expensive feed any livestock farmer has to pay for. So why destroy protein in our forage?read on. 3 Why do farmers focus on ME/energy values of grass silage, when in actual fact , we are growing a protein crop? 4 One of the easiest ways, of farmers devaluing the NET value of their silage is to denature the proteins. I.e. render them useless for ruminant digestion. The loss of protein value in silage will far outweigh any feild / harvest, ensiling or feed out losses. 5 compaction , compaction , compaction makes perfect sense, when ensiling, energy crops. E.g. maize silage- less aerobic energy loss. 6. Tongue in cheek I think the presenter is trying to justify the money he wasted on a compactor , that he can barely use with the tractor he’s got for the job. A cheap set of cross ply tires inflated to high pressure would do exactly the same job & cost a fraction of the money. 7. Irish farmers waste millions every year on innoculants that are scientifically proven to help preserve proteins, not increase energy values. Finally the best way to denature proteins in silage is …..you guessed it…..OVER ROLLING. BUT ….. all things in moderation…… rolling is imprortant.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Interesting argument but my silage proteins are very high 15-17% and buying the compactor had no affect.... So....

[@christymarlow9539]

I think your figures are completely wrong a bit on the high side

[@FarmTheoryNI]

For the DM saving? It's absolutely a guesstimate since I don't know the density.

[@farmerjimmy7453]

Great but whats so funny 🤔