Cover silage with potato steam peels

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Joost van de Wijgert
Joost van de Wijgert
Sales Manager
Co-products
21 April 2022
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Spring is here and that means harvest season is just around the corner. In addition to good quality forage in the silage, it is very important to store and preserve your crop. Proper silage retains the maximum nutritional value of the feed. In order to maintain this maximum value, a ‘compressive’, airtight cover is often used (e.g. a tarp with sand or car tyres on top). You can, however, use another type of feed: potato steam peels. Potato steam peels are a very suitable product to easily cover your silage.

Labour efficiency

Covering a silage with potato steam peels is extremely labour efficient. The steam peels are sprayed over your silage by our driver. Afterwards, there is no need to cover the silage with sand, tyres or other sealants. This does not only save a lot of time and effort during ensilage, but also during the unloading. There is no need to remove any sand or tyres, the feed is directly accessible.

 

Do you want to cover your silage with potato steam peels? Joost is happy to explain the process to you!

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What are the advantages for the silage?

Reduced pH value

The acids that can be found in potato steam peels will lower your silage’s pH value quicker. This makes buying expensive silage agents virtually unnecessary. Lowering the pH value of the silage will improve its preservation. This will limit the development opportunities of undesirable micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi. In turn, this will ensure that there is less mould and spoilage, which will have a positive impact on the nutritional values. 

Preventing high humidity levels

High humidity levels can significantly reduce the quality of the feed. It has a negative impact on the dry matter content of the silage, the taste and the digestibility of the feed. This will result in a lower feed value and feed intake. High humidity levels occur when yeasts and acetic acid bacteria become active in the silage.  These organisms can become active when there is a presence - and continued flow - of oxygen in the silage. It is therefore important to properly roll over the silage as this increases the density and reduces the presence of oxygen. Covering the silage is also crucial. Potato steam peels are very suitable for this. The potato steam peels form an airtight layer over the silage. The weight of this airtight layer also creates the necessary additional pressure on the silage. But above all, the lower pH value limits the possibilities for undesirable micro-organisms to develop, which means that humidity and heating of the silage is greatly reduced or even prevented. Additional silage agents are therefore often no longer necessary. 

Extra starch in the feed 

Potato steam peels are a starchy product. By covering the silage with potato steam peels, you can add starch to your feed without having to use any extra storage facilities. To easily remove the peels, the potatoes are steamed. The steam treatment ensures that the starch is properly broken down and becomes an easily digestible source of energy.  

cover silage with potatos steam peelings

 

In short

All in all, using potato steam peels ensures a better use of your feed by means of a higher nutritional value and less feed loss because of humidity. Not to mention, the tasty product is labour efficient as you do not have to do anything extra when adding or taking out silage. 

 

 

Questions?
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Are you curious about the possibilities for your silage? Get in touch with Joost!


Joost van de Wijgert
Sales Manager Feed
jvdwijgert@looop.company

+316 53 19 21 89

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Joost van de Wijgert productmanager Ruminants