BUNKER
SILOS FACTS
• Concrete
construction with sidewalls 8 to 20 feet
• Crops stored between 50% and 70% moisture
• Packing done with tractor
• Capacity is directly related to hours of packing and weight of
tractor use
• Covered by plastic and usually weighed down with tires
• Feed removed by tractor or front end loader
• Storage loss ranges from 12% to 30%
• Bunker silos are extremely labor intensive
• Three people needed for harvesting
• The cost in covering the bunker is returned eight times in forage
savings
• The greater the number of tires means less heating, more protein,
and lower loss
• Bunker should be covered tire to tire. Only 27% of bunkers are
covered in this manner.
• Needs to be sized correctly, if face removal rates are too slow
excessive losses may occur
• Without proper compaction, covering, and face management losses
can exceed 30%
• Feeding is most convenient with mobile TMR mixer
• This spreadsheet calculates
the density of your bunker. It is related to filling time, packing tractor
weight, bunker size, and dry matter percentage.
SUMMARY
The bunker
silo when maintained according to university regulations is a viable feed
storage option. However, it is the opinion of CSI that few dairy farmers
have the labor resources necessary to store feed effectively in a bunker
silo. Before purchasing any storage system be sure to properly research
all options.