You’d never eat this - why should your cattle?

How Oxygen Steals Nutrition from Your Silage
Why controlling oxygen is the first step in protecting your herd’s health and your bottom line

We spend a lot of time talking about oxygen — and for good reason. In the world of silage, oxygen is the enemy. The more oxygen you allow into your pile or bunker, the more nutrition you lose. It’s that simple.

Let’s start with what happens right after harvest. When fresh forage is chopped and stored, there’s a race against time to get oxygen out. The forage is still alive and breathing (a process called respiration), and as long as oxygen is present, it continues breaking down sugars — sugars your cattle need. This “burning up” of valuable energy means that before fermentation even begins, you’ve already lost part of the feed’s nutritional value.

And it doesn’t stop there.

If oxygen remains in the silage mass, or sneaks in later through the top or sides, bad microbes like molds and yeasts wake up. These organisms thrive in the presence of oxygen and start decomposing your silage. What’s left behind is rotted, slimy, unpalatable, and dangerous to feed. Even a few bites of spoiled silage can disrupt the delicate balance of a cow’s rumen, causing intake problems, lower milk production, and costly vet bills.

It’s no secret that rotten silage ruins digestion. And it’s avoidable.

The key is to get the oxygen out — and keep it out.

That begins at harvest with correct chop length, dry matter, and packing. These practices limit the amount of air trapped between particles and create the right conditions for fast fermentation. But even the best-packed pile needs one more thing: a true oxygen barrier.

That’s where Sealpro® Silage Barrier Film comes in.

Unlike ordinary plastic, Sealpro is a multi-layer oxygen barrier film that clings tightly to the surface of the silage, reducing oxygen permeability to a fraction of what regular covers allow. By blocking oxygen from entering during storage, Sealpro preserves more of the original nutrients — the energy, protein, and fiber you worked hard to grow and harvest. That means better feed, healthier animals, and higher profits.

We’ve seen the difference on farms across North America. When oxygen is controlled, farmers report more stable feed, less shrink, and fewer herd health issues. And that’s the goal: more. better. safer.

We believe in helping farmers protect what they grow. Because every ton of silage matters. And every bite your cow takes should build her health — not break it down.