What are the steps for making silage?

Answer 1

harvesting the succulent plant residues from its sources chopping the residues to small pieces at maximum 2 inches

storing the pile into airtight containers for 21 days

opening the silos at the end of the fermentation time (after passing 21 days).

taking the silage to feed animals

Answer 2

Most silage is made from green corn, barley, wheat, etc. or even grass grown for hay. The forage is cut in the morning and put into swaths, then in the afternoon a machine called a forage harvester collects the forage, cuts it up into small pieces and blows it into a wagon built to collect this cut, wet forage. When the wagon is full, it is hauled to a designated area where the forage is dumped in a pile. This process repeats over a day or more, depending on the size of the field that is being harvested. The designated are could be a hill where a pile is being made from the ground up, a large silo, or a cement bunker built for the purpose of holding such forage.

A large four-wheel-drive tractor with dual wheels and a front-end loader is used to move the various piles (which are not placed all over the place, but placed so that they help with the building of the main pile), together into one big pile. The operator also drives the tractor up and down the pile to pack it down and push out all the air pockets that are more than likely to accumulate during the piling process. If the forage is being put into a large silo (a tall vertical building that is shaped like a rounded-off cylinder), the weight of the fodder being piled into the silo is enough to help pack it down. In such buildings, gravity is the assistant in packing down this forage.

Once the pile is large enough, either in a big-enough pile or it has filled the bunker where it is being stored, the pile is completely covered in plastic. The type of plastic that is used is a thick polyethylene material that does not allow any air to go in or out of the material. The plastic is twice or thrice as thick as a plastic shopping bag, and durable enough so that it doesn't tear easily. The reason for covering this pile in plastic is to allow no oxygen to enter the pile. If there is oxygen on or in the pile, then it will spoil and rot.

Silage is made by anaerobic fermentation of the the moist feed that is piled, packed and covered. The fodder that is harvested is quite often around 30 to 40% moisture, enough to allow bacteria to populate and help with the fermentation process. Fermentation doesn't occur after the pile is covered, it occurs right after it gets piled in the silage wagon and continues upon being piled and packed together. The forage itself is allowed to set for several weeks or months before being uncovered and fed to cattle.