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May 25, 2010

Our Biggest Delivery of the Year~

As I was headed down our driveway the other day, just before cresting the hill to drive down the hill, I see a very large load traveling up in the opposite direction.  I stop to wait (it's a one lane drive).  The silage trucks are coming.  This means silage delivery will begin the next morning.  Approximately 1600 TONS of silage to be exact.  It will take about 2 1/2 days or so for the delivery to be complete with 13 trucks, working non-stop in the daylight hours traveling to and from the silage fields.  Many truckloads.


This delivery of silage occurs every May when the silage fields are ready to be cut.  Silage is a mixture of fermented oats, rye grass and some other grasses and it is mixed in with grain by the tractor load to feed 250 cows and 200 heifers.  Read more about what we feed our cows HERE.

The silage is dumped onto the conveyor belt (the green platform you see) which then gets pushed into the plastic bags one truck load at a time. It takes about 3-4 minutes to unload one truck load.



The purpose of keeping silage in bags is to prevent air from getting in and causing it to spoil.  The same as storing your own food in an airtight container.  When all is finished, we end up with seven bags that vary in length from 100 feet to 250 feet long.



This is what it looks like close up.




Here is Bryce standing in an opening to one of the bags that is currently being used.


Every year the silage trucks pick away at the road (our driveway) leading up to our house.  But this year with all the late, wet weather we've had, has left the ground extremely soft for May and is by far the worst year for wear and tear on our driveway.  Not sure yet, what's going to happen with the driveway.  Yikes!


Happy Tuesday!
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4 comments:

  1. Ren- Lady Of The ArtsMay 25, 2010 at 5:55 PM

    Nancy- that is so interesting! Thank you much for sharing and explaining the feeding process of your animals- This is the first time I ever heard what those 'plastic tubes' that I've seen from the car are- silage is a new word for me. I loved your photos.
    That driveway is toast!

    ReplyDelete
  2. crystal.cattleMay 26, 2010 at 10:17 AM

    I love the smell of silage. It is one of my favorite parts of visiting the farm.

    www.cdycattle.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 9, 2010 at 12:50 AM

    That's one huge batch of silage! And I am amazed that it feeds only 250 cows and 200 heifers, they sure need to eat a lot to gain more nutrition and weight. It made me remember the day that I first started my business, a huge load of furniture brought by a big truck from a semi truck trailer rental company arrived at my new store. It was sure a fantastic experience to see a gigantic truck coming onto your place to drop supplies.

    ReplyDelete
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