This is the view from the silage room this morning...
Open silo doors indicate.that the silage level is level with (or lower than) the door. The doors are opened from the top on down, so that the unloader can throw the silage out the door and down the chute. When the open doors reach the bottom, it means one thing...
No more silage! This is inside the east silo...the unloader is resting just off the bottom of the silo, and Jim has been forking the last of the silage out by hand. The unloader in the west silo is already at the top, ready for filling...
Jim knows which fields will be ready to be chopped first, and we've been taking sample corn stalks...running them through the chopper...and having them tested for moisture. Today's samples came back at 70%, so they're still just a little too wet for our silos. He would like to see them around 68%...which should be in just a few days. Hopefully by the middle/end of this week, the silos will be full of fresh corn silage.
This afternoon's job? Putting up the second unloader. Then as soon as the corn is dry enough, we'll be ready to go!
Wow -- you are way ahead of us. Our corn is really still quite wet and won't be ready until October or November. Depending on the weather of course! :)
ReplyDeletehope you get perfect drying weather for the next few days, then. i know how dangerous silage can be if too wet...
ReplyDeleteI'll bet it smells good while the silos are filling up. :)
ReplyDeleteI do hope you have some good weather to allow the silage to dry!
ReplyDeleteFarming is really a game of russian roulette. You need just the right maturity, and the right moisture for harvesting. A fine line to walk and all depends on the right weather.
ReplyDeleteWe got out of the corn silage and just use hay silage in big white marshmallow bales now and hay bale. We have to buy our feed rations bulk.
Wishing you a good corn harvest.
hugs,
JB
Hugs,
JB
Nice timing on the silage. Hope you get plenty for next year from this crop. Fun to see how silos work. My dad just had a huge trench dug on our farm for the silage. The cows loved getting their warm "corn mush" for breakfast when the weather was really cold.
ReplyDeleteI find all this farming info fascinating. Always wondered how silos work.
ReplyDeleteIt will certainly be a good feeling to have them full of winter's food!
ReplyDeleteI guess what I like about reading what you are doing is it sounds like fall and getting ready for winter. They are all doing that here too. only they store their silage on the ground in mountains with tarp and old tires.
ReplyDeleteI guess because we don't get that much rain.
Well don't work too hard this week,
We don't fill our silos with silage anymore....what a job! We pile it and feed with a feed wagon now. We have converted our silos into corn storage. Love to see your pictures, brought back some good memories!
ReplyDeleteI had never actually seen inside a silo before. They always fascinated me as a kid. I still love seeing them on farms .
ReplyDelete