Silage troubleshooting in grass silages

Possible causes

• Holes in the silage film, e.g. caused by birds or mice
• Insufficiently strong silage film
• No oxygen barrier
• No sand bags as cross lines

Solutions

• Use oxygen barrier
• Use main silage plastic that is at least 150 µ thick
• Use silage netting to protect against mechanical damages
• Use sand bags as cross line on the silage face to prevent air from entering

Possible causes

• Inadequate compaction
• Pick-up rate (chop length, deposited layers) and silo geometry (i.e. silo size) do not match
• Incorrect removal technique and overfilling of silage clamps: loosened, rough silage face

Solutions

• Improve compaction: Reduce the pick-up rate per unit of time if the silo surface is not yet large enough
• Avoid “ripping” harvesting techniques

Possible causes

• Excessively deep layers deposited at the top: This prevents deep compaction (max. 30 cm, depending on tyres)
• Silage layer excessively contaminated with soil and dirt
• The top layer is often unaffected as it cools and temperatures are therefore too low for moulds or yeasts to grow

Solutions

• Max. 15 – 20 cm layer depth
• Maximise deep compaction during rolling: maximise tyre pressure; avoid using dual tyres
• Harvest clean Silage: avoid setting harvesters too low, increase cutting height

Possible causes

• Excessively dry substrate layer: old, excessively wilted material
• Excessively deep deposited layers
• Insufficiently chopped material

Solutions

• Max. 15 – 20 cm depth of deposited layers
• Avoid introducing over-mature and/or excessively wilted material into the middle of your silage: instead ensile separately (round bales, square bales, separate silo) or deposit in thin layers at the very bottom of the silo

Possible causes

• Insufficiently chopped or distributed over-mature substrate (in combination with inadequate compaction)
• Inhomogeneous silo filling, presence of cavities, slip
• Inadequate grassland management, e.g. harvest residue from the previous cut (rough-stalked meadow-grass)

Solutions

• Chop over-mature material very short (2 cm)
• Fill silos evenly: avoid “cavities” resulting from unloading large forage quantities
• Prevent slip of harvesting vehicles on Silage by pulling up the compaction tractor
• Avoid harvesting residue from the previous cut: remove rough-stalked meadow-grass with a harrow and discard

Possible causes

• Incorrect filling of silage clamps (sloped outside edges): poor compaction along edges
• Ingress of air or water, e.g. if no side wall or oxygen barrier is used

Solutions

• Rolling right up to the silo wall
• Use side wall and oxygen barrier

Possible causes

• High contamination (crude ash) of harvested material due to attached soil or late fertilisation with liquid manure before the harvest
• Extensive fertilisation: shortage of nitrate in plants as a natural inhibitor of clostridial growth during the ensiling process
• Ensiled material too wet: fermentability coefficient too low

Solutions

• Clean harvest, reduce soil contamination
• Adjust fertilisation
• Review silage additive used

Possible causes

• Holes in the silage film, e.g. caused by birds or mice
• Long delay in covering silage
• Pockets of air between the film and silage

Solutions

• Cover the silage as soon as rolling has been completed
• Use oxygen barrier
• Use main silage plastic that is at least 150 µ thick
• Use silage netting to protect against mechanical damage