Technology of Forage and By-Products Preservation
4. Flow sheet - silage making, from seed to feed
Silage making can be described as a chain of processes, and the strength of the whole chain depends on that of the weakest link, however strong the others might be. Silage making involves several stages, each of which must be done at the correct time and in the appropriate way, since a failure in one stage cannot be remedied in a subsequent stage. Therefore, care must be taken throughout the whole process, and if this is done, the advantages of ensiling technology will be very evident. The following "links" in the ensiling process chain are discussed in the subsequent sections:
- Raw material.
- Mowing/cutting.
- Wilting.
- Chopping.
- Enrichment
- Transportation
- Compaction.
- Sealing.
- Feed out.
- Correct coordination.
