Busy Weekend

This weekend will mark one of our busiest of the year.  We will be harvesting about one-third of our planted corn for silage.  This silage serves as the main winter ration for our animals (cows and pigs).  The silage is the entire corn plant chopped up and stored in a silo.  We have a trench or bunk silo.  It is a trench with dirt banked on each side.  We chop the corn into wagons that unload out the side.  We then drive through the silo unloading as we go.  Once unloaded we pack it with a tractor.  It is great driving practice for youngsters as it is back and forth lots of times.  This part is very important, though, as unpacked silage will spoil.  If air is allowed into the center the silage will go bad.  Once it starts to mold good luck stopping it.  So, we pack constantly.  Stopping only to unload.  We will get about 30-35 loads in which is plenty to go us through a hard winter.   We will spend Friday night, all day Saturday, and part of Sunday chopping.  We will pack the rest of the day Sunday and Monday and cover it on Monday night.  It will then ferment (yes turn into alcohol) and stay fresh until December when we open it up and begin feeding.  The cows will get silage in the A.M. and hay in the P.M.   What we do not feed will be put back into the soil in the spring.
    We have two fantastic looking calves on the ground right now and probably another one on the way tonight.  This fall calving season is new to us but should work to our advantage.  We have grown our calves on great pasture all summer long.  After our calves are born and we have our momma cows making milk we will be feeding silage.  Silage is filled with protein to make lots of milk.  Calves drink lots of milk.  That math works out great.  In the spring our calves will be ready for the greening pastures and rapid growth.  They will be ready to butcher around the following January/February.  Thus they are really only feeding in the barn for one winter.  Most of their growth will be pastured.  At least that is how the plan looks on paper.  We will analyze it next year to see if that is how it works out.