Covering Bunk Silos is a Thankless Job

If you have ever worked very hard on a special project that turn out well, then you probably have an appreciation for how farmers feel when they harvest crops after a good growing season.  Favorable weather has helped local farmers get a good start on fall harvest activities and mother nature for the most part, has played a benevolent role during this year’s growing season too.

Warm fall weather has helped field crops like corn and beans dry down naturally, saving effort and energy in getting these crops to correct moisture levels.  Mud-free soils make it easier and safer to drive harvesting equipment and trucks on fields.  Finally, working outside in nice weather is just much more enjoyable than working outside in miserable weather.

Soybean harvest is underway in Western New York and the warm fall weather has provided an opportunity for a fourth hay cutting.  Grain corn harvest is still a few weeks away.  Many dairy farms are working on, or have completed harvest of their corn silage.  Harvesting corn silage is probably the single biggest chore of the year on these farms.  With yields ranging from 15 to 30 tons per acre, all of this silage must to transported to the silo, blown into upright silos or packed and covered on bunker –style silos.

It takes a lot of management to coordinate chopping capacity, trucks, wagons, packing tractors, fuel deliveries, workers and equipment repairs to keep the process going smoothly once it has started.   Keeping all the equipment running during harvest is a major feat in itself.    It is not uncommon for a farmer to drive hundreds of miles to pick up a critical part for a chopper or combine if the local dealer doesn’t have one in stock.

One of the most important and most reviled tasks in finishing the harvest of corn silage is covering the huge horizontal (bunk) silos with plastic and used tires.  If properly packed by heavy tractors running continuously on the piles as the silage is delivered to the bunk, corn silage will have a density of  45 lbs per cubic foot.  This density aids in the anaerobic fermentation process that preserves the silage nutrients.  Covering the silage with plastic and weighing it down with used tires is now a common practice to preserve these hard-won nutrients.  The plastic prevents oxygen and water from entering the silage pile where the feed can be spoiled by mold and aerobic bacteria.  The tires keep the seal tight and prevents the plastic from blowing away.

Placing hundreds of heavy, muddy, smelly and water soaked tires on top of these big piles can only be done by hand, two at a time.  Some farms have purchased tire side walls for the task.  These at least eliminate the retched and heavy water that accumulates in tires.  Although it is a thankless job, covering bunk silos is key to providing dairy cows with high quality feed.  It is part of an agricultural system that brings us the most abundant , safest and least expensive food supply in the history of humankind.

Local Conditions
Early reports on soybean yields are excellent, with farmers harvesting 60 to 65 bushels per acre and moisture levels between 13 and 15 percent.  Reports on corn silage yields have ranged from average to excellent.