Dry Matter (DM) is important to silage harvest success. Here’s an easy way to check and record those stats, before and during harvest.
Why should we bother?
You get one chance to make sure a whole year’s worth of forage is harvested at just the right time. What if your future self could go back and see what was happening during harvest on a particular day? Could you learn from what the DM’s were running and the results you got?
Forages made at the correct DM ferment faster and better - testing them alerts us to potential pitfalls that can be fixed with a Magniva inoculant or by waiting to harvest. Weather changes DM throughout the day; let testing help you make decisions. And the old squeeze-in-hand isn’t always accurate.
Forages pack better when they’re in the right DM range, and packing density is a key factor in forage success. Common sense tells us that when forages are too dry, there’s more opportunity for oxygen to spoil, rot, and mold; even open the door up to mycotoxins. We especially see this in the outer three feet of piles and bunkers. Use Sealpro® to block oxygen coming in, but remember that the oxygen that’s in the pile due to bad packing is going to stay there. Getting the DM right is necessary. Getting the pile sealed in a timely manner (within 12 hours, max) is critical too, but that’s a topic for another newsletter…
Of course, checking DM is nothing new, but using an air fryer makes it easy and - dare I say - fun! So simple your fifth grader could do it (sounds like a great job). All you need is:
An air fryer (we tried the smaller 2 quart version for it’s space saving)
A post-it note to label the basket
Watch the video, try the process a few times to get comfortable with the steps, and air fry away! Be sure to ask any one of our distribution agents for help.