The Algona Upper Des Moines from Algona, Iowa • Page 10

Polyethylene Sheeting plus "TY-FAST" Net LOW-COST PROTECTION TEAM Now reliable protection at pennies per ton I Use "TV-FABT" Net to secure OER-PAK Silo Covers and minimize silagelossl End time and money losses from spoiled silage. The savings are definite and the work is practically nil. Just cover silage with high quality sunlight-resistant Black GER-PAK Polyethylene Sheeting. It goes on easily, anywhere. And for positive protection against damage from wind whip, secure your GER-PAK Silo Covers with mildew-proof "TY-FAST" Net.

Take advantage of GER-PAK silo sheeting with its outstanding resistance to water, weather and dust. Write Gering Agricultural Dept. RG-5 for free literature. CM Ms Mmpapw tor MM INT Heal Mir. Prt-Pachafed OER-PAK SILO CAPS OlH, 5 irtl, 4 prevent costly siltfe spoilafe seal out air and moisturt MEL MHMCU TAPE PATCH KIT CAN BE Farmers across the country find they get more feed value out of their forage crop at first cutting by making it into silage.

First, untimely rains make it difficult to harvest the first cutting as hay. Made as silage, the forage crop is less at the mercy of unfavorable weather. Second, weeds are often more numerous in the first cutting. By making the crop into silage, the forage will be more palatable to your cattle when you begin feeding later this year. You'll also be able to cut at an earlier bloom stage and increase your chances of getting more total tonnage off the field during the season.

To produce a silage high in feeding value that's most likely to keep under ordinary storage conditions, cut alfalfa and most other legumes in the early bloom stage. Grasses or mixtures containing a small percentage of legumes should be cut when the grasses first begin to head. If the grass-legume mixture is predominantly legumes, cut it when the legume is in very early bloom. To make high quality meadow crop silage, it must ferment properly after it is ensiled. Moisture content plays an important part in this fermenting process.

But moisture content should vary depending on whether you put it in an upright silo or a trench, bunker or stack. If you have an upright silo, it's desirable to cut and wilt your forage to 65 to 701 moisture before you chop and ensile it. At this moisture level it will pack enough without excessive seepage losses. Ordinarily desirable lactic acid will be produced under these moisture conditions without having to use a preservative. Where silage is stored in a trench, bunker or stack, it's much more difficult to pack.

For this reason it seems desirable to cut and chop forage in one operation without wilting. The cutting or chopping method may also have an effect on how well the silage ferments. USDA researchers found that crushing the stems to rupture the plant cells resulted in more rapid fermentation. They harvested third-cutting, unwilted alfalfa with a forage harvester set for a cut. This alfalfa was then run through a flail- type harvester before ensiling.

of the desirable acids were produced during fermentation and fewer undesirable ones. You can't afford to follow the same harvesting method as these researchers but their results do point out the need for setting your chopper to cut the forage quite fine. Power requirements will limit you some but, if at all possible, set your chopper to cut in X- to X-inch lengths. It will pack better, be easier to remove from the silo and may possibly ferment better and be of higher quality than forage cut in longer lengths. Preservatives may also help you produce a higher quality silage.

A preservative is especially desirable if forage is not wilted and contains a high percent of moisture. While it may not be absolutely necessary to add a preservative to wilted forage stored in a tower silo, all forage stored in bunkers, stacks or trench silos should be treated with some type of preservative..