Will Wilson shares his experience on managing silage clamps to reduce losses

1. Managing silage clamps to
reduce losses
ADBA Operator Group
Will Wilson, ARK Agriculture

2. ARK Agriculture
• Silage clamp and silage covering specialists
• Supplying patented sloping walled silage clamps,
oxygen barrier sheets and accessories across the UK
• 30 years of German design experience in silage clamps
• 60 clamps in the UK storing over 2m+ tonnes of silage
WE SPECIALISE IN BUILDNG AND COVERING SILAGE
CLAMPS

3. Silage clamps - The current situation
‘In silo losses vary between 5-20%’ AHDB, maize silage Factsheet no1.
‘Clamp silage losses are often as high as 25%’, Irish Examiner, 2016 .
‘Egg et al.(1993) state that ensiling has been shown to conserve 93% of the crops gross energy
when good practices are followed. On the other hand, poor silage management practices in all
phases have been associated with energy losses as high as 40%,’ Cranfield Post Graduate
research project 2016
‘River pollution caused by silage clamp effluent costs Devon farmer £9,500 in fines’
Environment Agency, 2018.
Questions -
Is your AD plant performing to expectations?
What happens if you are losing 10% of your feedstock DM in the clamp?
What happens if you lose 20%? Are you SSAFO Compliant?

4. Silage clamp waste – keeping it simple

5. The silage quality jigsaw
Silage
clamps
Operator
safety
Pollution
Sheeting
Contractor
and
machinery
(filling)
Capacity
Emptying
the clamps

6. How to fill a silage clamp
• Talk to your contractor
• Clamps should be clean and dry before you fill them. Check all drains for blockages
• Silage should not be brought into the clamps faster than it can be compacted.
The golden rule is 1/3 (for grass) and 1/5 (for maize) of the weight of the
silage brought into the clamps per hour should be on the clamps in
compacting machinery, e.g. 100 tonnes of maize per hour arriving in the
clamps = 20t minimum weight of compacting machinery on the clamps
(2x 10t tractors). Think about trailers arriving.
• Silage should be compacted into the clamps in layers no thicker than 20cm.
Compacting machinery should not exceed 2-3mph.
• A silage clamp should never be filled higher than 6m. This can be less
depending on the specification of the walls / unloading equipment. The
smaller and lower the silage face the better the silage.

7. How to cover a silage clamp
• Side wall sheets, gravel bags, cling film oxygen barrier top sheets, and gravel bags should be
ready 3 days before you intend to use the clamps
• Try to cover clamps ASAP – but safety comes first
• Ask for advice from experts to make the sure that you get the sizes and design right
• Top tips for covers -
• Buy more, smaller, sheets that don’t need cutting
• Lay sheets with overlaps away from the wind
• Try to match the joins through the netting and the top sheet overlaps
• Double up gravel bags around the outside of the clamps
• Left to right gravel bags on every join or at least every 10m
Most importantly – NEVER WORK ALONE, STOP IF IT’S UNSAFE

9. How to empty a silage clamp
• Silage faces are areas of significant waste (heating, dark spots and smell)
• Feed out rates are important and should be over 2m a week (min)
• The less area exposed to oxygen the better, more clamps and a clean
straight face is the best way to achieve this
• Silage should be cut or raked out of the clamps
• Once removed from the clamps the silage begins to lose energy - 1% DM
an hour
• Buckets are good for capacity but bad for quality
• Overhangs are dangerous and clamps should not be overfilled

11. Pollution and the EA
• Regulations - SSAFO 2010 Includes rebuilt clamps
• Annual silage clamp inspection – drains, bases and walls
• Talk to the EA - go to them with answers
• Replace clamps – start fresh
• Re-engineer clamps – new base (asphalt)
• Make better silage – less leachate

13. Please get in touch
www.ARKagriculture.com
Get in touch by email or phone
Sales@arkagriculture.com
01787220560
Speak to me after the talk