Friday, February 4, 2011

Transferring the Ag Bag....

Well...it's finished! 

Things went relatively well today with transferring the corn silage from the ag bag into the silo.

It took a little while to get set up this morning...there was some hard, crusty snow on the sides of the bag and around the bottom that needed to be cleared away before they could cut the bag and pull it back.

Once the end of the bag was opened, the first glimpse didn't look so great!  The slope end of the bag is never packed as tightly as the rest of the bag, and a tightly packed bag is crucial to preserving the feed! This is the end where the bagger was pulled away, the remaining silage shovelled in by hand, and the end buried to make an airtight seal.  Typically we don't have much trouble, but this year we lost a little silage at this end.  There were a few small holes which created problems!

The white that you see is ice on the silage around the edges, and that's normal.  But some of the silage itself was spoiled.  We were concerned...


 It's never a good sign to see the manure spreader out by the ag bag!  The spoiled silage went right back onto the field for fertilizer.  (and food for the crows, who are now welcome to help themselves!)  Thankfully, it was just one spreader load...


The rest of the plastic is pulled back...


and it looks great!  The cows and the farmers are happy...


The morning continued...Ken is a master with his loader tractor...


The silage is unloaded off the trucks and into the blower...


...and up into the silo.  Can you tell which silo it's going into?


Now Jim has two silos to level, and we have one silo unloader to lower and set up.  Sounds like that will keep us busy for another afternoon.  It wouldn't do to be bored!

 And...now that we're finished transferring the ag bag, the tractor operator is free to go to Florida!


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10 comments:

  1. Hi Alica,
    I work with your Aunt Alice Shenk in Fort Collins. She showed me your blog and I love it. I believe I met you when I stayed at your parents home several years ago to quilt with the Amish ladies. I love your parents and remember your mother's laugh { it makes me smile to think of her laugh} and her wonderful lima beans.
    Your blog is beautiful and the pictures.......incredible. I came home from your parents home with a new fond appreciation of cows. They are so beautiful and BIG.
    Say hi to your folks for me and Happy Birthday to your MOM.

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  2. ELP...it's great to hear from you! Yes, I remember your visit...and the quilt that my Mom made from your very generous gift! :) I'm glad you enjoy the blog...stop back again!

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  3. That has to be such a satisfying feeling to get that done and know you are ready for the rest of the winter.

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  4. Yes, it is a great feeling! It should be done when it's cold, and the ground frozen...and with the strange fluxuations in weather we've been having, it could have been a problem. It rained on Wednesday, froze again, and is to rain again tomorrow!

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  5. Wow! How long is that ag bag? At first I thought what you showed in the first photo was all of it. Then when I saw the photo of someone pulling back the plastic on that long white hump there...I was like, whoa! How interesting. I love to see the behind the scenes stuff from farm life!

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  6. This year's bag was 100' long. Other years we've done 150' or even 200' bags, but the corn that was designated for silage didn't yield as good this past year. Still, it should just about last us until it's time to chop again in August.

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  7. I’m so glad you joined up with Farm Friend Friday. It’s ok if it was late--I think folks will continue to visit through the weekend and I am leaving the post up. You are welcome to join every or any Friday. Invite your farm friends to join us next week as well. You just can’t beat farm life can you?
    Happy Saturday,
    Amy

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  8. Excellant photos.
    I love to see John Deeres and Kubotas doing great work for farmers.
    Are the upright silos airtight so the ag bag silage doesnt rot?
    I use to have to fill silos BY HAND by standing inside a silo with a pitchfork.... almost got killed inside one when it filled faster than I could move it around.
    Farming is dangerous. Very nice blog.
    Come visit my herd when you have a moment
    www.tailgait.blogspot.com

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  9. Thanks for visiting! No, the upright silos aren't airtight. The silage is fed out from the top twice per day, and the weight of the silage preserves what is underneath.
    Yes, farming is very dangerous, and we can't take safety for granted!

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  10. thanks for this!!! really neat to see how it is handled! (i hope you don't lose much this year!)

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I enjoy hearing what you have to say! Thanks for your comments!