Feeding Dairy Cattle 



A silo i6 feet in diameter and 30 feet deep will hold upwards 

 of 100 tons with some allowance for settling from the top 

 after filling. 



The yield per acre of good varieties of corn for silage on 

 good land will average eight to ten tons per acre. Therefore 

 plan for ten acres of corn if you have 35 cows, build a good 

 silo and be on a firm foundation for feeding in the winter. 



Silage is the cheapest forage that can be grown. To 

 prove this a comparison is made with hay. Silage is worth 

 for feeding, one-third the value of good clover hay. This is 

 a safe and simple way of calculating the value of silage and 

 may be shown to be true in several ways. 



1. There are 354 pounds of total digestible nutrients in 

 one ton of corn silage; in one ton of red clover hay, 1,018 

 pounds of total digestible nutrients. Therefore, on this 

 basis three tons of silage are more than equal to one ton of 

 liay. If hay is worth $12 per ton, silage is worth $4 per ton. 



2. Look at the cost of production of silage. Can it be 

 produced for $4 per ton? 



The best estimate to which the author has access is the 

 following table taken from "Feeds and Feeding" by Henry 

 & Morrison. This shows the cost well below $4 per ton: 

 COST PER ACRE OF CORN SILAGE 



Minnesota Illinois Ohio 



1^01 acres 147 acres 115 acres 



Land rental $3.75 $5.28 $3.81 



Manure or fertilizers 3.73 1.46 



Seed 1.06 .42 .28 



Labor growing and cutting crop 5.19 ) 12.26 14.63 



Labor iilling silo 4.12 J 



Twine 36 .41 .18 



Coal 42 .46 .25 



Rental of power for cutter '. 1.39 1.21 1.36 



Interest and depreciation on farm machinery 1.56 1.76 1.34 



Miscellaneous 1.13 .53 42 



Total cost per acre $18.98 $26.11 $23.73 



Cost per ton, 10 tons per acre $1.90 $2.62 $2.37 



Computed in another way, one ton of silage in the corn 

 belt will contain 5 bushels of corn at $.50, equals $2.50, plus 

 $1 per ton of putting the corn into the silo, equals $3.30 per 

 ton. This again checks below one-third the value of hay. 

 Other methods may be used in checking up and in every case 

 it will be found that silage is the cheapest roughage pro- 

 duced, considering its value from the point of succulence 

 which means health and milk with dairy cows, and food value! 



A second great point in favor of silage is the cost and 

 €ase of storage. This is shown easily by a comparison with 

 the storage of hay. A 100 ton silo 16 x 30 feet will have in it 



Page Twenty-eight 



