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Description: For silage, corn is harvested when the corn kernels are in the early dent stage. Choppers, towed and powered by a tractor as shown here and in NAL #4891, #4892 and #4893, cut the corn plant to 1/2-inch lengths for unprocessed corn, corn that is going to put through a processor will be chopped to 3/4-inch. Hay for ensiling is cut, raked into windrows, and dried to 30 to 40% dry matter. The hay is funneled by a pick-up mechanism from a windrow into the chopper (e.g., NAL #4895, #4896 and #4897). The choppers in images NAL #4893 and #4896 are equipped with tanks to add liquid nutrients or preservatives to the chopped forage. Self-propelled choppers (e.g., NAL #4898 and #4899), an alternative to towed choppers, are best suited for larger operations. Chopped forage is blown into a trailing enclosed wagon or truck, and transported to a silo usually located near where cattle will be fed. At the silo, an apron at the bottom of the forage wagon slowly unloads the forage into the hopper of a blower (e.g., NAL #4900, #4901 and #4902) powered by a tractor. The blower elevates the forage into a tower silo (e.g., NAL #4654) usually 40 to 80 feet high and 14 to 30 feet in diameter. Weight compresses the forage and excludes air to create an anaerobic environment for fermentation, thereby preserving the forage as silage or haylage. As an alternative to a tower silo, the chopped forage may be dumped into a bunker (horizontal) silo (e.g., NAL #3301), where a tractor is driven over it to exclude air. Fermentation (ensiling) normally requires about a week.

Resolution: 504x504

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