New Zealand beef producers are bagging silage to reduce spoilage by up to 30%, increase nutrient value and improve herd health.
In New Zealand, the most fundamental beef cow feeding strategy remains the use of pasture, which is considered the lowest-cost feed resource. However, even operations that make full use of pasture must have a supplemental feeding strategy. This is where silage comes into play. Providing silage is generally considered essential to address nutritional deficiencies caused by seasonal variations, adverse weather conditions, or inadequate diets.
However, traditional silage storage methods often fall short, allowing oxygen exposure and spoilage to erode the value of carefully grown grass and corn. As a result, many producers are turning to bagged silage, which tightly seals forage, protects nutrients, and reduces losses while improving feed quality and consistency. There are also many other benefits to being able to manage feed in individual sealed packages.
Creating and Storing Silage
Silage is a preserved, high-moisture feed made from fresh green fodder crops that are compacted and stored in airtight conditions to undergo controlled anaerobic fermentation. This fermentation process, driven mainly by lactic acid–producing bacteria, stabilizes the feed, prevents spoilage, and retains much of the crop’s nutritional value.
The process of making silage involves harvesting the crop at a high moisture content, chopping it into small pieces, and then tightly packing it into a storage structure, such as a silo, pile, pit, or bunker. The airtight conditions help promote anaerobic fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, which preserves the forage and prevents spoilage.
However, one of the main obstacles in producing silage in piles, pits, or bunkers is the considerable risk of spoilage and loss, which can amount to as much as 30%. The problem with these conventional methods is the excessive exposure to oxygen, which leads to rapid deterioration of silage.
“Large piles [in pits and bunkers] constantly degrade over time due to oxygen exposure. In contrast, airtight bagging encloses the silage, leaving only a small area open. This stops the continual degradation of feed quality and ensures optimal freshness and longevity,” says Steve Cullen, President, Versa Corporation, a global leader in agricultural silage bagging and handling that serves New Zealand.
This is spurring New Zealand beef producers to increasingly utilise silage bagging equipment that packs chopped forage tightly into a bag, removes excess air, and seals it so the forage can ferment under controlled anaerobic conditions.
The rapid fermentation that takes place within the bag promotes stronger nutrient retention per hectare and keeps the Total Digestible Nutrients at its maximum, supporting improved herd health. This process reduces the risk of molds and butyric acid while increasing lactic acid levels, enhancing feed digestibility and extending bunk life.
Increased Nutritional Value Means Increased Weight Gain
Higher-quality feed provides more usable energy for weight gain. In breeding herds, incorporating silage can help maintain optimal body condition and support the nutritional requirements necessary for good fertility.
Silage can be fed to calves as young as three months, but some supplementary concentrates are required. Superior silage can also be fed to weaners and feeder cattle to maintain the growth rate of young cattle to ensure they reach a satisfactory weight-for-age by the start of the finishing period.
Supplementation of cows grazing pasture with high-quality silage can also reduce the incidence of grass tetany, a disease of livestock caused by magnesium deficiency.
One key to producing and preserving high-quality bagged silage is superior packing. Proper packing of silage is crucial to effectively preserve it. With proper silage packing during bagging, the oxygen is removed almost instantly, and fermentation begins promptly.
Fortunately, silage baggers have been available for many years, and the equipment has continued to improve. Among silage bagging equipment, packing is approached in various ways, which can affect productivity. The first bagging system (1976) utilises a cable system with a heavy net backstop. With such a system, after each bag is filled, the cables must be rewound and the backstop moved to the next location, a cumbersome process. Also, this system wastes a lot of space between bags.
For greater efficiency, Versa Corporation created an innovative Internal Density® System, a cable loop density system that uses a single adjustable cable inside the bag and a heavy-duty density belt system under the bag that facilitates the adjustable packing of silage bags, much better than the industry norm, which minimizes air pockets and spoilage while maximising storage capacity.
“The goal is to firmly pack the bag without over-stretching the bag while the machine gradually moves forward as the bag fills,” says Cullen.
Today, the process of creating bagged silage for cattle ranchers is relatively simple. Farms can dump the chopped feed in the machine and start bagging. Capacities generally range from 2 to 14.5 tons of bagged silage per minute depending on the machine model size.
With silage an essential means of feed management for New Zealand cattlemen, the use of bagging is now becoming an industry best practice. Those who take advantage of this cost-effective, superior technology will promote the health and production of their herd as well as the efficiency and profitability of their operation for many years to come.
For more information, call (800) 837-7288 or visit versacorporation.com.