What is silage?

Last weekend, Double D's was a busy place.  We were harvesting silage and putting it in our silo.  So what is silage and how is it made?

Silage is a form of feed for cows.  It can be made from many different types of forages, or plants, such as corn, oats, sudan grass, and alfalfa.  At Double D's we usually harvest alfalfa silage.

Alfalfa field ready for harvest at Double D's

Silage can be most closely compared to sauerkraut.  It is anaerobically fermented to preserve the nutritive value and taste of fresh alfalfa.  For anyone that has ever made kraut before, this process of feed harvest and preservation will make perfect sense.  The overall goal of making silage is to encourage certain types of bacteria to digest the silage and produce acidic byproducts.  These byproducts lower the pH of the silage until the pH is so low that no bacteria can survive.  This effectively preserves the silage and provides Double D's cows with nutritious food throughout the year.

The first step in producing high quality silage is mowing the alfalfa just before it is ready to blossom.  At this time the alfalfa is very high in nutrients like protein.




Rob Laibe mowing an alfalfa stand.

The second step is to let the alfalfa dry slightly in the field until it reaches 60-70% moisture content.  The alfalfa looks wilted when it is ready.

We then chop the alfalfa into small pieces using a tractor and chopper.  The chopper blows the chopped alfalfa into a wagon.



Kim running the tractor and chopper.  Notice the chopped alfalfa being blown into the wagon.

When a wagon is full it is shuttled down to the silo where it is blown up in to the silo.  While the silage is being blown up the silo, we sprinkle an inoculant of beneficial bacteria onto it to facilitate the fermentation process.



Katie enjoying the view while shuttling wagons.

Rick and Dewey unloading chopped hay from the wagon. The silage
blower is a giant fan that literally blows the chopped hay up a chute to
the top of the silo.

Once the chopped hay is in the silo, it begins the fermentation process.  The sheer weight of the silage on itself causes so much compression that oxygen quickly disappears.  Fermentation is usually complete after a few weeks and silage can be fed to the cows throughout the year.

Our silo, which is 50 feet tall, can hold 200 tons of silage!

It's milking time!

At Double D Dairy we milk our cows three times a day.  Because cows are constantly making milk, we have to keep the milking times evenly spaced out so the cow (and her udder!) have a predictable schedule.  This reduces stress on the cow and reduces the chance for an udder infection, or mastitis.  Our milking times are 6 a.m., 2 p.m., and 10 p.m.  Rick and Kim do most of the milking, but other people help milk to give them a break.  Brett Spencer, our FFA student employee, and Susie relieve Rick and Kim of their milking duties during the week.

Susie and Brett milking in the parlor

During the weekends, in addition to Brett and Susie, Katie, Rob Laibe, and Jake Flagg also milk the cows.

Jake taking a siesta before the 2 p.m. milking

Katie and Laibe milking

With all these different people milking, Double D's needed a written milking protocol so that every cow gets milked the same way, every time, every day.  Here is how we milk our cows at Double D Dairy:

Step 1)  Keep the cows calm and eating!  A happy cow is a productive cow.  Being mean to our cows is like shooting ourselves in the foot.  Milking is a relaxing time for our cows and they enjoy coming into the parlor and getting treated like queens.

#76 smelling her stall before she decides to walk in

Step 2) Dip the cow's teats with pre-dip solution.  The pre-dip we use has a low level of hydrogen peroxide in it.  The dip must remain on the teat for 30 seconds for it to work.  This kills the bacteria that are on the cow's teat and keeps the milk coming out as clean as possible.

Rick dipping a cow's teats and letting the dip set

Step 3)  After waiting 30 seconds, we wipe the teats off with a clean disposable paper towel until the teat is completely clean and dry.  We then wait another 90 seconds before attaching the milking unit.  This extra time allows the cow to completely let her milk down into her teats.

A milker unit attached to a cow.  The bottom hose is the milk hose.  The top hose is the pulsation hose.  This is responsible for rhythmically shutting the vacuum off to the teat to give the teat a chance to fill with milk again.

Dorkie being milked.  Dorkie gives 90 pounds, or about 10 gallons, of milk a day!

Milk going from the hose to the glass pipeline above.  The glass pipeline then goes to the milk house and to the milk tank where it is immediately cooled to 37 degrees Fahrenheit.

Happy cows= a full milk tank!

Step 4) When the cow is done milking, we carefully take the milker unit off and put the unit on the next cow. We then post-dip the cow's teats. This dip contains iodine, which keeps bacteria from getting through the cow's teat into her udder.

Photo courtesy of GEA Farm Technologies

Once the cow is dipped, she is free to go outside and do as she pleases until it is time to milk again.  A cow's daily activities include...

eating silage... 

eating hay...

relaxing in the barn....



and enjoying their pasture!