Corn silage (again)

Dr. Walt · Aug 23, 2013

I didn't want to hijack M Nut's Post.

Would cubing Corn silage the same way that Alfalfa is cubed be beneficial?

I'm a Miner not a Farmer, but I live in what used to be an agricultural community (were now the bedroom community for Las Vegas, NV - UGG!).

Thirty years ago we had a cubing plant where all the local farmers would bring their bales of Alfalfa. The bales were chopped and fed through the press where the Alfalfa was extruded in 1 inch square cubes; which were then stored in large piles under long, tall steel awnings.

Some Farmers used cubes for their animals & some did not, but the cubes were also sold to the general public, either in bulk (truck loads) or in bags.

I noticed that there was virtually no spoilage and very little waste. I still have cubes that I bought 30 years ago (in sealed steel drums) that are just as fresh today as they were when they were made.

Doc

El Toro · Aug 23, 2013

We bought some of those cubes for the deer. They wouldn't even look at it. If snow had been on the ground they may have changed their mind. Hal

Don-Wi · Aug 23, 2013

One thing there is that corn silage is very wet. Don't know how that'd work out, but it probably wouldn't be good.

Donovan from Wisconsin

gtractorfan · Aug 23, 2013

The problem was you bought those cubes for the deer. If the cubes weren't for the deer they would have eaten them.

Dick2 · Aug 23, 2013

Corn silage with all of that moisture would ferment. I had occasion to watch when the silage settled and fermented in a concrete stave silo at the neighbors. The pigs hung around the silo and drank the juice leaking out of the silo.

Watching a drunken pig is kind of hilarious. They squeal almost constantly and stagger around with their head cocked at an unusual angle - and they bump into things or each other.

Mike (WA) · Aug 23, 2013

Pretty sure the cubing process only works for dry material- uses heat and some kind of added material to glue it all together. You'd have to make the silage, let it ferment, then dry it- and I don't think anything would eat it when you're done, because the juice is what gives corn silage its palatability.

Dr. Ed · Aug 23, 2013

Cubing alfalfa works because it has high protein. A little water is added to very dry alfalfa which then forms a kind of glue which holds the cube together. If you have tried to cube weedy alfalfa hay you will find that it will not cube. Corn silage would be the same plus it would never get dry enough, 10% or below. Good idea, but just won't work.

Dr. Walt · Aug 23, 2013

A sincere THANK YOU to all of you that replied.

When friends & neighbors have given me old, dry corn stalks for my critters (sheep, goats, & pig) I've always just tossed the entire stalks into the pens (and they disappear quick); but having seen large amounts of Alfalfa cubed, I was wondering if it would be beneficial for those of you that have large acreages of corn. I can see now from your answers why it wouldn't be beneficial or even feasible.

Thanks again for the replies.

Doc

Nebraska Cowman · Aug 24, 2013

Corn could be cubed. But the expense would outweigh any benefit. It would be a high roughage low protein feed. Of course protein, and or energy could be added. But cubing requires high amounts of heat energy to remove moisture and that makes production to costly to be feasible. There was work with cubing hay in the fields in the 60s and several companies built cubers (John Deere and Lundell come to mind) But horsepower requirements were large and that takes a lot of fuel. Also ground speed went way down. Just was not a practical solution. Sure, you get some waste with silage piled on the ground but storage costs are nearly nil which outweighs the loss.

Corn silage (again)

Dr. Walt

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El Toro

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Don-Wi

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gtractorfan

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Dick2

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Mike (WA)

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Dr. Ed

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Dr. Walt

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Nebraska Cowman

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