Lots of effort goes into consolidating silage properly in the clamp, but, come feeding time, how’s it best to get the material out to avoid spoilage at the face? Research from Göttingen University in Germany investigated how silage is removed from the pit can impact heating

Last year around 229,000ha of maize were grown in the UK to feed livestock and keep biogas plants running, while In Germany the crop accounts for a massive 2.25 million hectares. In order to maintain the value of the crop, compaction in the clamp is key — the better it is compressed, the less air there is in the pit — see the table ‘Air penetration depth’. Nothing new so far, but here researchers wanted to find out what effect different loader attachments have on the clamp when removing silage.