The pile of silage at the dairy has grown immensely the past 10 days. They’ve started covering it with plastic and tires to protect it and help it ferment.

The tractors are still packing.

You can see the plastic and tires better here.

The buggy just emptied onto the cement and the tractor will start pushing it onto the pile.

There’s getting to be a traffic jam as the silage gets full. It’s as long as it will probably get, but they can make it higher on this end.

Richard took this picture earlier of both tractors near the top.

 

 

 

Shooting the silage into the buggy.

 

You can see how the corn gets pulled into the chopper. He’s taking 10 rows of corn at a time.

 

He’s turned around and ready to go up the next 10 rows.

 

The chopper fills one buggy while the second empty one drives alongside ready to switch with the full one.

 

This is after the chopper driver has filled the one buggy and the second is now next to him being filled. I will put up video in the next post so you can see the “dance” they do to accomplish this.

 

Here’s just some of the buggies and semi’s that have traipsed through our barn lot this week. It takes a lot of equipment to get the job done.

 

 

 

 

 

The corn is ready for silage-making.

 

 

 

The crew came last Wednesday and started chopping our corn for silage for the dairy cows. Two choppers, eight “buggies”, and five semi’s. It’s been a busy place! Remember, when you chop the corn for silage they chop the WHOLE plant. When you “combine” the corn, you just take the kernels of corn. In the picture below, the “buggy” is following the chopper that is blowing the silage into it as he “opens up” the field. Once the chopper has gone all the way through the field and then turns around the buggy can drive alongside him.

 

 

 

 

The chopper takes 10 rows of corn at a time. Here he is getting ready to open up some more rows.

 

 

Now he starts to blow the silage into the buggy behind him.

 

 

Here’s what silage looks like up-close.

 

 

It started to pour rain while they were chopping but you can see both chopper spouts and the wagons they were blowing into.