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Description: In preparation for this self-propelled chopper, hay is mowed and raked into windrows. After it has dried to 30 to 50% dry matter, the hay is funneled by a pick-up mechanism from a windrow into the chopper that cuts the hay to 1/4-inch lengths. Hay choppers that are towed and powered by a tractor (e.g., NAL #4895, #4896 and #4897) are an alternative. For corn silage, choppers (e.g., NAL #4891, #4892, #4893, #4894, and #4898) cut the corn plant to 1/4 to 1/2-inch lengths, preferably when the kernels are in the early dent stage. 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 (eg, 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.

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