Page 128 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Sealing of the silo is the most important part of silage making to ensure anaerobic
fermentation. Sealing of the silo has to ensure that no air goes into or comes out of
the silo and with no water seepage into the silo. A polythene sheet is placed on top
of the compacted material. The polythene sheet may then be lined by a layer about
15 - 20 cm straw or any dried forage. The seal is completed by a layer of soil on
top. Properly made silage is ready for use after 45 - 60 days. Where sacs are used,
the neck of a sac should be twisted and then tied or taped. It is then doubled over
and retied or re-taped. Forages ensiled in small bags, for example, should be stored
inside a second bag because a thin plastic can be easily punctured. Furthermore,
non-punctured stretched plastic can allow entry of air. The aim is to avoid too much
air to enter, leading to very poorly fermented silages.

(e) Feeding out the stored silage
In feeding out the stored silage, you should check whether the ensiling was
satisfactory or not. This can be detected by colour and smell. The well-preserved
silage is green, yellow, or pale brown whereas dark brown silage is generally poorly
preserved. Similarly, well-preserved silage has a sweet, tobacco smell whereas foul
and rancid smells indicate the presence of butyric acid from poor preservation.
Unless the forage has been chopped very short and well compacted, air can enter
silage stacks very easily at feeding out. For large silage storages, the whole surface
layer of the stack should be removed every day to a depth of at least 20 cm. If the
silage is fed after two days, at least 30 to 40 cm should be removed. Stack widths
should be designed to ensure that it takes no longer than two or three days to feed
the entire feeding surface layer.

Remove the covering material on top of the stack as required to prevent air moving
back into the stack under the top seal. If the silage is warming once opened, it is
starting to deteriorate and lose yield and quality. If steam is rising from the stack or
if the silage becomes very hot, aerobic deterioration is extreme and the feeding rate
must be increased rapidly, unless the problem is due to air entry via other means.

Activity 5.4
1. Visit your school or nearby farm and observe the type of feed fed to the animals
(hay, silage, concentrates). Describe its quality with respect to the type of
animals kept.
2. Prepare a visit report and present it in class.
3. (a). Prepare hay and silage by using proper forages found in your locality.
Record all the proceedings in your portfolio.
(b) Assess and evaluate what you have done in 3(a).

Student’
Student’s Book Form Twos Book Form Three
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