everything you need to know about forage silage
The Pilgrim invites you to (re)discover, throughout the seasons, agricultural work in order to understand a demanding profession and its transformations. Ensiling fodder, for example, is an essential conservation method for cattle breeders.
Bogging, an ancestral practice
History of silage: from the Neolithic to modern corn
- Neolithic period. With the settling down of the first farmers, techniques for harvesting fodder (haymaking) developed.
- Around 1850. Appearance of grass silage in the United States and Europe.
- Around 1970. Development of corn silage.
- Around 1980. The hay is stored in the fields in round bales (plastic wrapping).
Why use corn for cattle silage?
Corn cultivation has benefited from the mechanization of agriculture over the past century. Its silage was thus developed to provide a richer feed for cattle. The harvest is early, because it is carried out before the grains are ripe. This diet is supplemented with soya or rapeseed.
Silage today: preserving fodder for winter
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