Feed storage for dairy farming

FEED STORAGE

Feed Storage2013-ag-44712011-ag-2360

FEEDFood given to domestic animals in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types, fodder and forage.

FODDERFood given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves (see forage). It includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and oils and mixed rations, and sprouted grains and legumes.

FORAGEIs plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock.

Characteristics affect which feedstuff is the best choice for an operation.

Types of Feed Storage Commodity sheds BUNKERS.Different types of silos.(1)Tower silos. Bags silos etc.

Site selectionFeed storage facilities should be sited on land that is: easily accessible (e.g. close to the feed pad if you have one) and relatively flat at least 45 meters from any farm dairy at least 50 meters away from waterways, open drains or dams, and the catchment areas of bores; further away if the land is steep, soils are coarse textured, or ground water may enter sensitive waterways well away from gullies or other places where run-off catchment water can flow into the storage area.Silage leach ate should never enter waterways as it is highly toxic to aquatic life.

Construction The walls and floor of a silage bunker must be capable of withstanding the hard knocks of tractors and other machinery as well as resisting corrosion from leach ate. Concrete with a water/cement ratio less than 0.4:1 should be used. A concrete floor should be 125 mm thick

Low cost bunkers

Low cost bunkers can be made cheaply from square straw bales or wooden sleepers. Contamination can occur with stones and soil if feed is loaded directly onto dirt.

Cement bunkers are the most expensive option but minimize wastage, and if designed well, drain well. Adjacent bunkers reduce the number of walls required.. Ensure floor slope aids drainage.

Concrete bunkersThe silage bunker floor should be watertight and extend out beyond the bunker walls. Construct a nib wall along the sides. This will keep freshwater out and leachate in.

Silage bunker construction construction method uses a heavy duty reinforced concrete floor with concrete tilt panel walls, either 1.8m or 2.4m high. The lean the walls out slightly at the top, meaning that when the silage shrinks in the stack, it maintains contact with the walls. This reduces the risk of spoiled feed by minimizing the air gap that could otherwise form here.The juices that leach out from feed can be very aggressive on concrete, resulting in corrosion and damage to the concrete surface.

Bunker roofs should be high enough to allow sufficient

working space for front end loaders and for unloading semi-trailers. Eaves could be considered to provide protection from rain.

Covered bunkers

The bunkers can be covered with a sliding metal-roofed structure. The sliding roof is pulled back to allow a tip truck to tip the feed or into the bunkers, and then close it afterwards to keep weather off the contents.

The "commodity sheds" are made from precast concrete walls that form bins generally 8 1/2 ft. high and 12 to 14 ft. wide.. A roof is build which slopes down from front to back, leaving an opening in front that's high enough for a semi truck to back up into the shed and dump its load.. Width and length of the bins depends on herd size, but most farmers build sheds with 4 to 8 different binsCommodity sheds

The following criteria for commodity shed design:

1. Slope bays outward so rain and snow melt don't flow into the storage bays.2. Pour the concrete floors after the walls have been poured. This prevents water from leaking into an adjacent bay when cleaning between loads.3. Design the commodity shed to have two more bins than you think you need. This allows you to rotate feeds, clean bins between loads and pre-mix commodities if desired

Advantages Handle any feed Versatile in filling Speed of unloading and filling mixer Disadvantages More shrink expected open to weather open to rodents over feeding spillage Loader needed

The most common type of on-farm feed storage is the upright vertical silos. Most are metal but can be wooden, concrete, or of other materials. Tower silos

In this type storage silos are cylindrical structures, typically 10 to 90ft. (3 to 27m) in diameter and 30 to 275ft. (10 to 90m) in height .Tower silos containing silage are usually unloaded from the top of the pile.

Concrete stave silos are constructed from small precast concrete blocks with ridged grooves along each edge that lock them together into a high strength shell. Concrete is much stronger incompressionthantension, so the silo is reinforced with steel hoops encircling the tower and compressing the staves into a tight ring. The vertical stacks are held together by intermeshing of the ends of the staves by a short distance around the perimeter of each layer, and hoops which are tightened directly across the stave edges.Concrete stave silos

Low-oxygen silos are designed to keep the contents in a low-oxygen atmosphere at all times, to keep the fermented contents in a high quality state, and to prevent mold and decay, as may occur in the top layers of a stave silo or bunker. Low-oxygen silos are only opened directly to the atmosphere during the initial forage loading, and even the unloaded chute is sealed against air infiltration.Low-oxygen tower silos

Advantage Less shrink expected More accurate feed out (less over feeding) Space spacing Self unloading Disadvantage Not compatible with some feeds Time to fill bin and mixer Need auger or blower

Bag silos are heavy plastic tubes, usually around 8 to 12ft (2.4 to 3.6m) in diameter, and of variable length as required for the amount of material to be stored. They are packed using a machine made for the purpose, and sealed on both ends. They are unloaded using a tractor and loader . The bag is discarded in sections as it is torn off. Bag silos require little capital investment. They can be used as a temporary measure when growth or harvest conditions require more space, though some farms use them every year

Bag silos

Kinds of silosStack siloSimplest type of silo.A plastic sheet of 0.1 mm thickness is spread over the ground, and similarly chopped silage materials on the sheet are entirely covered with a plastic sheet. Proper tread pressure and complete sealing are required.

Pit/Trench siloA trench silo can be built by simply digging the ground, but it is better to place plastic sheets inside to prevent loss.A trench silo whose interior is coated with concrete can be used for a long time

Fenced silo (framed silo)The frame is made of bamboo, wooden, iron materials, etc., the shape of cross section may be circular or rectangular. and inside is sealed with plastic sheets.