82 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin the length of 

 time during which silage is fed is about 200 days or seven 

 months. For a feeding period for this length of time a 

 silo should be no less than thirty feet high. Some of our 

 best dairymen are feeding silage during the summer months 

 when pastures are short. 



In fact, for the highest production o± milk we really 

 have only a period of about six weeks during May and 

 June that we do not need silage. In building a silo it is 

 always better to build higher than 30 feet so that not only 

 sufficient silage for winter feeding can be stored but also 

 for summer feeding when needed. A ten foot silo will be 

 about right for 12 head of cows and young stock and for 20 

 to 25 head of cows and young stock a 14 foot silo will be re- 

 quired. 



Crop for the Silo 



There is no better crop to put into a silo than ordinary 

 field corn. It is always best to use the largest variety of 

 corn that will mature in a given latitude. 



Fifteen or twenty years ago when the silo first came 

 into general use it was a common practice for dairymen in 

 the northern part of the state to use a large, late variety 

 of southern corn as a crop for the silo. While this variety 

 of corn made more tons of silage per acre it did not make as 

 much total dry matter per acre as would have been the 

 case had a variety of corn been planted that would have 

 matured. Corn planted for the silo may be planted a little 

 thicker than it is planted for grain only, but it should not 

 be planted so thick that it will not develop good sized 

 ears. In planting a crop for the silo the aim should be to 

 produce the maximum amount of total digestible nutrients 

 per acre. Silage made from immature corn also contains 

 more acid than when the corn is nearly matured. In plant- 

 ing a crop of corn for the silo it is a good practice to plant 

 some cow peas or soy beans with it. More tons per acre 

 can be produced by so doing and the beans or peas will fur- 

 nish protein to balance the silage. 



