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Missaukee Mi | Currently bag all our feed on dirt, about 3000 ton of haylage and 3000 of cornsilage, in 10 foot bags with a agbag G6170. Which are obviously slow to fill and with that many bags we are getting spread out and feeding is taking longer. Its time to start considering updating forage equipment and the jump to a self propelled bagger does not seem appealing. Not to mention we've had issues with crows rats and other animals putting holes in bags resulting in significant spoilage. We are considering going to long narrow drive over piles. We are hesitant, as when the bags remained sealed we get excellent feed and have seen too many piles in the area that look like a spoiled mess. Our nutritionist actually prefers piles that are sized and packed right and thinks we could maintain quality. It sounds like a good option if filling was faster and feedout was as well
So for those who have made the switch from bags to piles, are you happy with that choice? Are they tougher to manage? Is feed out faster than before? what advantages have you found? what are the biggest challenges with piles? Has anybody switched from piles back to bags?
As for the pad, in my search the agtalk consensus seems evenly divided between concrete and asphalt. What would you recomend? I know it will vary by area but what was your cost per square foot on either? For those that have asphalt what kind of maintenance are you doing every year?
Has any one used the eqip program through the NRCS to help pay for it? what percentage did they chip in? Is it worth it? Have used them in the past for manure storage so know there is extra hoops to jump through that add additional cost but with continuing low prices hate to miss out on a chance for partial funding
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Drive over Piles / silage pad
