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He Adds Ground Corn To Bagged Silage
Matt Fordyce of Alta, Iowa, wanted to add ground corn to haylage that he packs into plastic silage bags.
He did it by mounting an old bulk feed bin on a 3-wheeled running gear and hitching it to his Roto Press bagger. An unload auger on the bin drops ground corn into the bagger's conveyor as haylage is unloaded
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He Adds Ground Corn To Bagged Silage CROP STORAGE Bag Silos 25-1-12 Matt Fordyce of Alta, Iowa, wanted to add ground corn to haylage that he packs into plastic silage bags.
He did it by mounting an old bulk feed bin on a 3-wheeled running gear and hitching it to his Roto Press bagger. An unload auger on the bin drops ground corn into the bagger's conveyor as haylage is unloaded out of a wagon.
"I've only used it to fill two 200-ft. bags so far so I'm still trying to decide if it'll pay off," says Fordyce. "I got the idea after reading research that showed ground corn helps fermentation as much as adding on commercial inoculants. I was having trouble with mold. Apparently the ground corn provides a food source for bacteria so they multiply faster, speeding up fermentation. Inoculants work okay on corn silage because it has a higher sugar content."
The bulk bin holds up to 1,000 lbs. of ground corn. Fordyce adds 20 to 50 lbs. of ground corn per ton of haylage.
"The rear wheels on the running gear are only 40 in. apart, with a single front wheel so that the bin fits between the wagon and bagger."
Another idea Fordyce has was to use a pair of telephone poles, mounted on a loader bucket, to help seal bags of high moisture corn each day after he's done unloading from them.
He spaced the poles about 2 ft. apart and bolted on a pair of homemade steel brackets to connect them. Each bracket has a horizontal arm on it. To lift the poles off the bag he simply slips the lip of the bucket under the horizontal arms.
"Every morning I use the loader to lift the poles off the bag and set them off to one side. Then I load the corn. When I'm done I lay the plastic back down and place the poles on top of it. They keep the plastic from flapping around in the wind and also keep air out of the bag, which helps reduces spoilage. It makes quite a difference, especially during the summer. I don't use a lot of high moisture corn each day so it's critical to keep the bag sealed."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Fordyce, 413 Peterson, Alta, Iowa 51002 (ph 712 284-1052; E-mail: g.miller@ncn.net)
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