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Home , Fodder, Hay, Silage

Fodder management: and making Source FAO Keywords , plant, , , hay, silage, dry area Country of first practice General ID and publishing year 3579 and 2002 Sustainable Development Goals No poverty and life on land

Summary The practice describes the preparation of 1.2 Silage making green forage (containing between 65 and In contrast to hay, silage is the product 80 percent water) for storage. obtained from wet storage. This method of storage uses the acidifying power of lactic Description , which reduces the pH to around Preparation of green forage (containing four, below which all and between 65 and 80 percent water) for ceases. This fermentation storage relies on three different techniques. process preserves forage in its wet state away from air. This ensures that minimum 1. Green forage preparation techniques dry matter and nutritional value is lost and 1.1 Hay making to avoid creating products that are toxic to Hay is obtained after dry-storage or the animal. desiccation the grass; it contains less than To obtain good silage, it is necessary to 15 percent water. use airtight (total anaerobiosis); During tedding, green forage is cut and several types of are used around the dried as quickly as possible. Drying can be world. These are tunnel silo, trench silo, done naturally (exposure to the sun on corridor silo, tower silo, etc. Clean forage is the ground aerating the forage regularly collected without soil from the earth, it is by turning it over) or artificially by active then chopped and piled. If necessary apply circulation of air. additional techniques such as pre-tedding Sun-drying requires two or three days for forage with a high water content, or use without rain. The hay must then be kept preservatives (sugar products, , in appropriate conditions (covered area). anti-moulds, etc.) to improve preservation. If, when harvesting, the grass has matured It is essential to forage at the and has already dried standing, then it is optimal time, from the viewpoint of not hay but . nutritional quality, quantity available and Hay produced on land (Sahel) has climatic conditions, and then to store it the nutritive value of straw because it is properly to reduce losses. harvested when the plants reach maturity. 1.3 Round bale silage The product obtained only meets basic Round bale silage is a maintenance needs and, in rare cases, the relatively new method of marginal production of milk and meat. TECA preserving forage. It is a TECHNOLOGIES and PRACTICES for SMALL AGRICULTURAL 1/2 PRODUCERS Livestock Production

combination of hay and silage making and season, with bales fed as early as possible has certain advantages and disadvantages Late in the season may often be a difficult over other forage preservation systems. time to dry hay in the field – increasing the Round bale silage is simply forage of a value of round bale silage. relatively high moisture content that is 2. Minimum requirements for the successful baled with a round and then stored in implementation of the practice a sealed container, usually a plastic bag. • Access to grass land that can be tedded. Both grasses and can be preserved as round bale silage if proper techniques 3. Objectives fulfilled by the project are followed. It is much easier to make good 3.1 Resource use efficiency hay silage in silos than in large round Storing forage is an effective way to bales. preserve forage for dry seasons or for Although the silage obtained can be kept winter to ensure continuous regular feed for approximately a year, baled silage is for livestock. more likely to spoil, compared to silage in 3.2 Pro-poor technology traditional silos because; (1) fermentation is Having forage available in dry seasons save less complete and (2) damage to the plastic the livestock animal from deceasing and covering results in harmful introduction of farmers from losing their capital. . Some people think that baled silage is best adapted for use late in the growing

TECA TECHNOLOGIES and PRACTICES for SMALL AGRICULTURAL 2/2 PRODUCERS