This morning around 8:00, the guys rolled in with the harvester, tractors, wagons and the bagger, to chop our last field of corn silage. Rather than refilling the silos now, we chose to put out a 150' ag bag. Later this winter when the ground is frozen, we'll transfer it to the much emptier silos.
It was a rush to beat the rain.
Setting up the bagger, with the field to be chopped in the back ground...
The bag, which comes all folded up in a box, has to be positioned on the bagger and clamped into place...
Taking a look inside the bagger...
Once it's in place, the end is securely tied shut. This end will be tucked underneath the bag as it fills...
The bagger is powered by a tractor, which is put into neutral. As the bag fills, it gradually pushes the tractor forwards. I sat in the tractor for a while to make sure it was going in a straight line. It's a unique perspective, looking out the back window... (pardon the dirt!)
The guys driving the forage wagons have to watch carefully as they are unloading, pulling forward bit by bit as the bagger inches forward. It gets a bit monotonous sometimes for them as you can see here...
Well under way. The far end of the bag is braced against some plywood boards and a pick up truck, to hold it in place as they get started...
Almost done! Here they're counting the folds left in the bag, to see if all of the silage will fit inside. You need to have some extra plastic left at the end, to seal the bag properly...
The bagger has just been pulled away, and you can see some silage spilling out the end of the bag...(there are rain drops on my camera lens!)
Here, Jim's forking the silage that spilled out back into the bag as far as he can, getting ready to seal up the bag...
All finished for today! They temporarily closed the bag...rolling the end of it shut around a piece of wood, and securing it with cement blocks. You can see the bag already beginning to puff up with gas...
It's raining now, but in the next day or so, Jim will use the skid loader to bury the end of the bag more securely. It's critical that it remains air tight, so the silage cures properly and doesn't spoil.
It's so good to have this job finished for the year!
Wow you know Alica I drive by these bags in fields all over the country and have NEVER knew how they were filled surprising isn't it because I call myself a farmer:)
ReplyDeleteI love the way you described it step by step. I am so glad you are done now you can rest easy waiting for the winter and know the cows will be fine. Great post. Hug B
yay for successful harvest!
ReplyDeleteNever had all this when I was on the farm back in the 60s and 70s . We could of used that bag for sure ! Nice photos . Thanks for sharing . Have a good day !
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice sight! Must do your heart good to see that one more project has been completed, in time for Winter.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us, and giving us an up close and personal view of how the bags are filled. It's a lot of work!!
Have a wonderful week :)
Kerin
Great pictures again, Alica ! I'm glad you got the silage all put up before weather sets in.
ReplyDeleteWish we had the ag bag when I was young. It would have worked great for us.
Wow thank you I learned something today!
ReplyDeleteYour cattle will certainly enjoy the fruits of your labor this winter. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is corn silage Alica? I enjoyed how you get it bagged up and haven't seen any of those bags here in SC. Thanks for another excellent post.
ReplyDeleteDolly...corn silage is the complete corn stalk...chopped up and put into a silo (or in this case an ag bag) to cure. It's the main feed that our cows eat, other than hay and shelled corn.
DeleteA whole new education for me, too. Thanks for the lesson on bagging silage. I'll bet the cows will love that stuff when it's cured.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you have your corn in. That's a big job. So that's how it's done. We never used an Ag bag on our farm and I'm so glad that you showed us the process. I learned something new today. We wrap our silage in those big white marshmallow type of wraps and stack them up since our silos are too old and deteriorated. They are due for demolition but so far we haven't had the time to tear down and they are near the road. If we hire professionals to tear them down it will be costly.
ReplyDeleteThe silos are in the path of the airplane route and the pilots use them as landmarks.
Hugs,
JB
That's a fascinating process! I don't remember what process my dad used on our farm growing up, but I do remember he stored the silage in something like a dugout covered with tarp. I still remember that smell.
ReplyDeleteI learned something today! Interesting to me as this is not something we do around here!
ReplyDeleteGot good information from your blog...
ReplyDeleteThat is just amazing! I had no idea you could do that with silage. I love reading about all of the very interesting things that you do.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting. I've never seen the bags around here.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat post! Who would have thought that you could seal it up in a bag for later? :)
ReplyDelete