Sila-Max^© Silage Conditioner

FAQs

How man ton does a bucket treat?
1 bucket treats 200 ton.  For easy calculating, you can mix one bucket with 4 buckets of water, giving you 200 pints.  One pint of this mix treats a ton.  High moisture grain, double the rate, so that a bucket treats 100 ton.  This prices out at $.95/ton for corn & alfalfa, and $1.90/ton for small grains.

How much Lactic Acid can your silage conditioner produce?
Acid will preserve a silage pack.  Ours produces a content of 7% to 8% lactic acid, which is very high.  Non-treated silage will only have a 1% acid content.

How well should I pack my silage? 
Heat causes bleeding in silage if not packed well enough.  You want to pack well enough get the air out, since the bacteria that produce the L form of lactic acid are anaerobic.  However, be careful not to over pack, as it can rupture the cellular structure.

Alfalfa: 

At what percent bloom should I cut my alfalfa?
We want 10% in the bloom.  For the best results, back off the crimping bar, lengthen out the cut and let the chopper follow the swather. 

How long a cut works best?
We want the knives set to 5/8” to ¾” cut, the knives should be sharp, with the sheer bar adjusted close.  If moisture is high, you can take every other blade out, for up to a 2” long cut.

Can I cut at a higher moisture, before 10% bloom?
If you choose to cut before 10% bloom, you can windrow and let layout in the hot sun for no more than 2 or 3 hours, then pick up.  However, this is not recommended, since once the alfalfa is cut, bacterial activity takes off.  These other bacteria will keep the L form of Lactic Acid from dominating the pack, which it needs to do to get a good fermentation.

Hint:  If you use our fish fertilizer on your alfalfa, it is not nearly as stressed and doesn’t bloom all at once.

Corn & Sorghum

What dent do you recommend for corn and sorghum?
Cut at one tenth dent on the butt end of the ear.  Lengthen out the cut to 5/8”.  This puts the plant in a range of approximately 75% moisture, where the nutrients are most available and most easily digested.  If the corn is dented past one tenth dent, there is a rapid build-up of lignum in the plant. 

Can I cut at a higher moisture?
You can start cutting at a higher moisture if you lengthen out the cut.  We can cut at up to 80% moisture.  If you have to chop earlier when the moisture is higher, apply 1 and ½ pints per ton to keep the pack from becoming rancid.  Do not apply more than this, as it can pickle the pack.

High Moisture Corn & Earlage

At what moisture should I cut my high-moisture corn?
The best moisture for Sila-Max treated high moisture corn is 40%, this is where it feeds out 100% like dry grain.  But…you can’t get the corn off of the cob until the moisture is down around 32%.  This means that we have to add moisture back in – Many feed yards will put a sprinkler on the pack every night and leave it running until morning.  And then, when they are finished, they will put the sprinkler back on for 2 to 3 days.

Do you recommend putting up Earlage?
Earlage is the best way to go if you have a snapper head available.  After putting up corn silage you can usually go right back in and put up earlage.  The rule of thumb is to put up earlage right at 3/4 dent (around 65% moisture) to full dent (around 70% moisture).  By doing this, you harvest twice the nutrients off of your field compared to high moisture corn.  Earlage put up in this range will feed out 90% like dry grain (this includes the cob and husks).

Note:  Don’t try these methods with any other silage inoculants or preservatives.  It won’t work!!