The key to good silage is getting the air out of the pit or bale, reducing the potential for aerobic fermentation, which leads to the loss of nutrients and reduction of palatability.
The time honoured method of doing so, is to roll the pit as the silage comes in, but as the size and power of harvesters increases rolling, the pit will often take second place to getting the crop stacked into it.
This issue has not been left unaddressed by the farm machinery industry, which has produced various rollers to work pits over the years, but now Walter Watson Agriculture of Co. Down has brought its own answer to the problem to the market.
Silage compression
Known as the Watson Silage Compactor, the tool is a development of the company’s well-known flat roller range, to which it has added rings or collars crowned with broad teeth.
The unit is 2.5m wide, and when ballasted with water, weighs in at 3.5t, which does require a meaty tractor to lift it, but weight is an advantage in this operation, so Watson suggests that a minimum tractor size of 150hp is required.
Yet, there is more to this machine than it being just a toothed roller. There is a 500mm side-shift function will allows the roller to be used right up against the pit wall, without the tractor having to hug the side as well.
A neat little touch in this respect, is the fitting of a polypropylene roller at each corner to prevent the machine scraping along the side, preserving both machine and wall.
Packing the silage in not only increases the quality of the silage, but it also saves space.
Watson goes so far as to suggest that the compactor can increase pit capacity by between 30% and 40%, significantly increasing storage capacity, without the expense of building a new pit.
