Haylage is coming in and the corn silage harvest will be here before we know it. Weather, harvest speed, fuel cost, compaction, machinery needs, labor, maintenance cost and many other matters you considered as you harvest. Here are six keys to review to help you make the best stored forages you can.

1. Optimum Moisture - forages are usually ensiled by chopping and blowing into a conventional tower silo, sealed or unsealed, a prepared bunker, into a long plastic bag or simply a compacted pile on the ground. Large round bales harvested at high moisture and covered completely with plastic is also a popular way to store forages. Each of these ensiling methods work but have unique moistures levels at harvest.
2. Chop Properly - Much research has been done on proper chopping length. Chopping too fine doesn’t create a good rumen matt. Chopping too course does not pack well and creates a sorting problem at the TMR. Corn silage also brings another challenge by making sure the corn is processed properly. Having enough chop length and being able to make changes during the harvest season is important as well. Call us to talk about what the proper chop might be for you.
3. Fill Rapidly- Whatever method is used to store your forage in, it is important to fill rapidly. By filling rapidly, the forages have less time to be exposed to oxygen. The longer it takes for the silage mass to become anaerobic (all oxygen use or excluded) the more heating and spoilage will occur.
4. Pack Tightly- packing tightly is the back half of rapidly filling. Packing tightly is as important as rapidly filling. It is important to have enough pressure to push out more oxygen to make the forage more anaerobic. After it becomes an aerobic lactic acid producing bacteria begin to grow and multiply.
5. Cover Quickly- by quickly covering your newly harvested forage you are again limiting the amount of oxygen available. This also helps produce lactic and acidic acid which reduce the forage pH, inhibit growth of undesirable yeast and mold and prevent plant proteolytic (protein breakdown) process.
6. Preserve by Microbial or Chemical Means - using additives, most commonly microbial or chemical, will eat up more oxygen. Using preserving products will reduce pH more rapidly, inhibit aerobic activity and lower the nutrition value loss. If you are harvesting at optimum moistures microbial inoculants work well. As your forages become dryer Chemical methods may become more effective in reducing forge pH rapidly and preserving the crop,

Carefully managing these keys can spell the difference between good and excellent forage. Unfortunately, no magic additive can substitute for hard work and good management. Be safe and good luck with this year's harvest.