These are often historical in nature, constructed during the experimental age of silos, when farmers sought alternatives to wood, but before concrete and glass/steel silos became the norm. Some of these are quite attractive and unique. You might also see vintage silos of masonry construction, such as stone or brick. The wooden silos that still exist look quite beautiful and interesting-fascinating pieces of a moment in rural history that quickly disappeared. That’s likely because such shapes are easier to construct out of wood. Sometimes, they’re more octagonal or polygon-shaped than round. Wood silos were popular up until around 1900, when they began to be replaced by other materials that were more resistant to deterioration from silage seepage. Read more: Here are 4 ways to use silage tarps in vegetable production.
You can fins tower silos built using many different construction methods, some of which went in and out of style over the years. Silage can also be a fire danger.īut this hasn’t prevented tower silos from achieving widespread use. This can present a danger to anyone entering the silo for maintenance or inspection. Some silos, particularly glass/steel silos, are very effective at keeping oxygen levels to a minimum. The very fermentation process that preserves silage can create gases that are unhealthy and hazardous to humans. Also, the contents of early square silos suffered from extensive spoilage in the corners.īut round tower silos aren’t without their downsides. For one thing, a circle is strong, especially when reinforced by steel bands the way most silos are.Īll the weight of the grain in the silo (think of it as a form of pressure) pushes outward on the sides and tries to spill in all directions. Round silos are beneficial for several reasons. Plus, they’re iconic symbols of country life. Like lighthouses dotting a shoreline, tower silos have something of a charming appeal.Įven people who don’t know their use instantly recognize them. The round tower silo is what most people have in mind when they think of a silo. It wasn’t until the late 1880s that John Steele, a member of the Wisconsin legislature, constructed the first round tower silo, dubbed the “Steele Silo.”Īgricultural scientist Franklin Hiram King of the Wisconsin Experimental Station furthered the innovation with his “King Silo” in 1891. Let’s take a field guide approach and examine some of the modern (post-1900) silo types you might discover while exploring rural America.įarmers experimented with silage for a few decades in the 1800s, mostly using pits or square structures constructed inside existing barns. Over the years, there have been a number of different solutions to the silage storage unit: the modern silo.
In theory, the fermentation process and the silo will protect the silage from rot. Storing the silage in the low-oxygen environment of the silo encourages anaerobic microbes to ferment the forage product, but in a way that ruminants-including sheep, goats and, significantly, cattle-can still digest. But farmers put silage up fresh, so the key to long-term silage storage involves keeping oxygen levels to a minimum. When farmers make hay, the key to preservation is to ensure low moisture content and to keep the hay dry. You need a way to keep the silage from spoiling. This fact has made it possible for dairy farmers to keep cows in reliable milk production even during the winter.īut one caveat exists. They’re also responsible for one of the more important inventions in the history of modern agriculture: silage.ĭeveloped through experiments in the 1800s, silage is essentially a foliage crop-perhaps an entire corn stalk, perhaps an entire alfalfa plant, perhaps something else-that has been finely chopped and then stored while the moisture content is still high, somewhere near 60 percent.īecause of the moisture content, silage maintains a higher energy and protein level than dried forage (hay). Silos do much more than just hold dry grain or seed. And the word “silo” actually comes from the Greek word “siros,” meaning “a pit to hold grain.” Roman records indicate that pits stored grain in northern Africa. The same is true of those from ancient Greece, the Middle East, and North and South America. Indeed, remains of ancient Egyptian storehouses are still in existence today. The most famous ancient account of this idea is probably the biblical story in Genesis 41, in which Joseph advises Egypt to stockpile grain so that it may survive the seven years of predicted famine. F or millennia, agricultural civilizations have realized that the ability to store excess grain produced by bumper crops provides a safety buffer against lean years, or even just a long winter.
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