From the Farm Friday : n u m b e r 5

The farm was more active this week because it was time to chop corn.

Before the corn is ready to be harvested there is a certain amount of it that will get chopped and not combined - the purpose: cattle feed {aka silage}.

Up until a few years ago the chopping was done primarily by the guys on our farm but we now hire it out. This saves so much time, what used to take multiple days now only takes hours out of one day.

The chopping machine takes the entire corn crop {green parts and all} and chops it up and spits it out, different from the combine that will just keep the kernels come harvest time. The trucks dump the corn {silage} onto a pile that happens to be in our yard. Once dumped in the yard it is packed down with tractors to help form the pile and lock in the freshness! The heifers in the yard are already so excited, they know their fresh feed is being prepared!

Steve & his dad packing the pile

This huge pile {56 acres of corn / 1200 tons} will now be incorporated into the diet of our cattle when they all come home for the Winter.



*Farm Ladies be sure to linkup with any post from the week