Method for making silage corn straw feed

Simply put, silage corn stalk feed is fresh corn stalks that are cut short and compacted and piled in a sealed and airtight silage facility. It is fermented by anaerobic microorganisms, mainly lactic acid bacteria, and is a feed that is rich in nutrition and has good palatability, making it very suitable for cattle and sheep breeding. So what is the specific method of making it? Let’s learn more about it below.

1. Material selection

To make high-quality silage, you must first choose good corn stalks , and choose corn stalks with a green part as the raw material for making silage, and harvest the stalks immediately after harvesting the grain.

2. Cut short

Use a straw chopper to cut the corn stalks into 2-3 cm long segments. The moisture content of the cut corn stalks should be appropriate. The test standard is the first item of the technical requirements for corn stalk silage mentioned above. After cutting, fill it as soon as possible to avoid affecting its nutritional content.

3. Silage pit preparation

Silage pits are the most commonly used silage equipment, which are generally divided into two types: one is a rectangular silage pit; the other is a circular silage pit, but in actual applications, circular silage pits are more common. After preparation, clean the silo carefully and remove all residues inside the silo; clean the area around the silo, install the hay cutter, and prepare the compaction tools ; the silo should not face west or south.

4. Filling

First, lay a 10-15 cm thick layer of straw or soft grass mat on the bottom of the silo, and then fill the silage materials in layers. Every 15-30 cm layer must be compacted, and special attention should be paid to compacting the edges around it. Repeat this process and fill in layer by layer.

5. Sealing

After the silage raw materials fill the cellar, the raw materials should be 50 cm higher than the cellar, then compacted, and then sealed with plastic film and covered with 50 cm thick soil. Cracks will appear during the sedimentation process, so they must be discovered and sealed in time. After 40-60 days of fermentation, it can be fed to livestock.

6. Management after opening the cellar

First, the material collection surface must be kept clean to reduce air retention and prevent secondary fermentation. Secondly, after taking out the material each time, it should be sealed as soon as possible to reduce air retention and prevent aerobic deterioration.

In general, silage made from corn stalks has very little loss of nutrients and can retain 90% of the nutrients of the original corn plants. It is a high-quality feed that cattle and sheep like to eat. Moreover, its production cost is low, so farmers are advised to master the following production methods, which can effectively reduce breeding costs.