where would be the best place to buy a quantity of 25kg bags , suitable to hold powder so would have to be plastic lined inside and outside similar material to rice bags would do ...ideas ?

We rear a few cattle and make some silage,we make the silage in plastic bags,with a feed sack, normally, 50 kg feed sacks on the outside ,one sack can hold 20-30 kg of silage,depending on the dry matter.

I use 2 plastic bags one new and one old ,now feeding silage we made last autumn,very little waste.

I have said before living in a big dairy area, we have most things and buy them very locally ,I am in Lopburi province,the plastic bags come from Pachon ,in Korat province depending on the thickness of the bags, a 25 kg pack is about 1500 baht.about 400 bags ,I tend to buy them by the kg ,depending on how much silage we make.

My wife's family have 3 cows. How is silage made? Is it better than grass?

Mike.

Basicly silage is fermented grass,grass kept in an airless situation where it will ferment and make silage.

To make silage decide on what you whant to use can be grass ,maize or even sorghum the crop has to be chopped ,that will need a chipper /shreader,then put in plastic bags any air in the bags is expelled, then tied so no air can get in after 7-10 days it can be feed,as I said we have some silage made last autum ,still good,just 2-4 inchs of waist on top,after settalment of the the grass in the bag .

If it is say fresh grass, it will need willting ,for 24 hours ,grass to wet you will get a bag of manuar not silage ,you get the wrong type of fermention same as sorghum ,maize can be cut and baged no problem ,maize has a higher dry matter and will not rot.

We have made maize silage and the rats loved it ,lost at least 15% ,grass silage rats do not touch it, same as sorghum silage.

Is it better feed value than grass? .Some protein and energy values are lost in the fermntation process,along with some vitamins and minerals are lost,so you could say grass as a feed value is better,but finding good quality forage in the dry season ( not rice straw),which can last for 6 months in LOS is not easy and expencive,then silage is a better feed .

For your 3 cows it would not make economical sense to invest in making silage, if you live near a dairy co-op that sells maize silage, you could buy a few bags about 45-50 bart bag.

Or, do as we re doing and feed "Gratin" ,Leucaena Leucocephala,the tree legume ,grows localy,can be feed to cattle about 6-7 kg /day to average size cattle.

Look at the FAO web sites ,will give you imfo on silage on a small scale, also look at Leucaena.

KS