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Join us as part of AK Podcast, brought to you by Agri-King, an advanced livestock nutrition company, as we journey through the world of agriculture and livestock nutrition. Our podcast will dive into the latest technology and insights, foster curiosity, and help to build connections within the ag industry to help grow the passion for agriculture.
AK Podcast
Preparing for Corn Silage Harvest
Mike Donaldson discusses the essential preparations for corn silage harvest with Justin Monson. They cover topics such as determining when corn is ready for harvest, the importance of community engagement through chipper days, safety considerations, equipment maintenance, and the significance of kernel processing for feed quality. The conversation highlights the importance of thorough planning and meticulous execution to ensure a successful harvest and high-quality livestock feed.
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Chris Radke (00:01)
Welcome to AK Podcasts where we explore science and nutrition behind livestock care and management with the best in the brights in the business. I'm your host, Chris Radke, part of the Sales Department here at Agri-King and with me today is the Director of Field Services and a member of the Sales Management Team, Mr. Mike Donaldson. Mike, how you doing buddy?
Mike Donladson (00:18)
Well, really well, Chris, as you can tell, we're ⁓ not in the regular home studio today. I'm either in the ⁓ nutritionist protection program or maybe hunkered down in a bunker somewhere, or I could be on a family vacation. Whatever story makes the most sense to you, you go with that one.
Chris Radke (00:39)
like this, keep it mysterious enough out for us. Cool, cool. Hey Mike, who's with us today and what are we talking about?
Mike Donladson (00:46)
We've talked before Chris and I mean, summer is absolutely my favorite season. I'm not in a rush to see that end at all. But we are also getting very close to one of the first signs of fall and that is corn silage harvest. It happens at different times across the country. And we wanted to do a little bit of share a little bit of information on being sure that people are ready.
when the time is right in their world. So with us today is regional manager for Agri-King's Northern Corn Belt Region, Justin Monson. Justin works with our nutrition consultants in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois. He has experience, personal experience on many types of farms, especially larger dairy operations. So Justin, welcome to the podcast and give us a little more expanded rundown on your experiences and what your role is at Agri-King, please.
Justin Monson (01:44)
Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, I've been raised in the dairy industry right from right from the get-go. my all my grandparents milk and cows. When I was a.
⁓ seven, eight years old. we got to move from the Wisconsin dairy industry to the central Valley of California. ⁓ and really be exposed to the dairy industry, ⁓ in Tulare County and the surrounding surrounding areas. So that's where it really, really took hold into.
seeing operations in large scale. As early teens, moved back to Wisconsin as my dad moved from the Ag world into the nutrition world and ⁓ then went right back into the dairy industry. I've been here at Agri-King for the last 15 years, ⁓ serving and servicing clients all through the tri-state area here on nutritional needs and forage treatment.
Mike Donladson (02:44)
Well, as I mentioned, this podcast is dedicated to getting ready for corn silage harvest. I thought it would make sense if we broke that down into two parts, the aspects of the corn plant and when it's ready, and then having equipment ready to go and some things that need taken care of on that side. Let's start with the corn plant. Setting aside everything that goes into growing corn as far as hybrid selection, agronomy, ⁓
How do you recommend someone decides when their corn is ready for harvest?
Justin Monson (03:19)
Yeah, so.
Like you mentioned, the milk line, was ⁓ first and foremost for a lot of years, everybody, watched ⁓ it go from ⁓ pre-dent to dent to quarter milk, half milk, three quarter milk to black layer. And depending on your storage situation ⁓ would determine a lot of how ⁓ you would determine that day to go chop. But we've moved along into total plant moisture, ⁓ taking into account not just the kernel, but the whole plant top to bottom.
⁓
We've really focused on making sure we're...
optimizing our storage type and forage type, whether we're in bags, harvesters, upright silos, bunkers, drive-over piles, just making sure that we can optimize that harvest window. And you're going to be anywhere through all those storage types, know, 55% moisture up to 72, 73% moisture.
Obviously on the the dryer side that 55 to 62 percent moisture and in uprights and oxygen limiting storage options with harvesters and sealed units. Bags being that 62 to 68 and bunkers and drive-over piles you know 65 to 7273.
So we're watching that whole plant, not just the kernel as we have in the past, not disregarding it, but we need to make sure we're getting it before it gets too dry.
Mike Donladson (04:59)
Your Region is one of the most proactive that I'm aware of in Agri-King about having actual organized chipper days. I know you've maybe take us through how you set your equipment up. I think it's fascinating the way you have a chipper that goes right into the receiver hitch on your pickup and maybe take us through A to B to C of how you run those through your world and what you're providing your clients and prospects.
Justin Monson (05:26)
Yeah, I would say 10.
At least 10 years ago, maybe up to 12 years ago, I purchased my first wood chipper in 2012 when we had a fairly extreme drought in southern Wisconsin. And we were really trying to hone and focus in on what nitrate levels may be. And the most efficient way to get samples through the lab ⁓ was to pre, get them broken down so it was more easily sampled, get a better, an automated sample to get into the lab so that
wood chipper came in handy. But 10, 12 years ago, we really, really honed in and started hosting a chipper days ⁓ in Lafayette County. And we get anywhere from 40 to 75 samples of corn stalks from prospects, clients, neighbors, even folks that we don't work with directly that we give them that early insight. ⁓ We usually try to focus in on that third week of August ⁓ just to get an idea. And some of these clients were, and prospects were
chipping before and after ⁓ this day just to keep monitoring how their corn is progressing. ⁓ But yeah, there's three, four of us. We set up the wood chipper. ⁓ We run three, four stalks of every variety from different fields ⁓ through the wood chipper, sample that. We save one sample that goes to the lab for full analysis ⁓ just to see where things are at. But basic dry matters, ⁓ we're running four or five air fryers at a time.
and running those for 30 to 35 minutes, depending on how wet ⁓ we feel the sample is to get it dried down efficiently. ⁓ So it's a big undertaking. We have a client that's a gracious host, ⁓ lets us steal their shop for the day. But I think it's a great service ⁓ that we've provided and it's just great to get to talk to everybody to see how the mad
rush of all harvest through the summer is kind of came and provide everybody with lunch and get them a dry matter on their corn silage.
Mike Donladson (07:36)
It's got
to be kind of a fun, almost county fair atmosphere, I would think. Anytime you get, you know, what must be 30 to 50 farmers together and start looking at who's wetter, who's drier. Are there any people that come away absolutely shocked about either how close or how far away their corn silage really is?
Justin Monson (07:56)
that we've we've definitely had some some operations show up there like we're we're a month away. It's not even close. And you peel you peel that husk back and you're looking at the total plant and you cook it down and you run it through the lab. And they're like, we should have been chopping instead of eating a sandwich at you at Chipper Day. So we've we've had folks that have have definitely left and went home and start chopping, ⁓ you know, in some of these years where corn really, really gets pushed. ⁓ But yeah, it's it's a great, great atmosphere. It's kind of a common
Mike Donladson (08:11)
Yeah
Justin Monson (08:26)
come and go as you please, drive your samples off, we take their information down and get it back to them as fast as we can. We're usually coordinated to make sure that we can get those samples in the lab that same night so we have samples off the next day. But yeah, it's always a good time to get around everybody in the community.
Mike Donladson (08:47)
I think it's kind of interesting. Sometimes older, more experienced people like myself might look at some of the equipment that we're using to take off corn silage and be like, oh my god, how are they, how can you justify that million dollar chopper or all this equipment? But the reality is it doesn't matter how much corn you have to chop. The window doesn't change. You've got the same amount of time to chop.
500 or 5,000 acres as you did 50. From a, guess this will be a little bit of an agronomy question. Do you tend to recommend your people choose different maturity days to try and stagger harvest out? Or is that usually not really make any difference in the end and you just go with the best hybrid?
Justin Monson (09:38)
I would say ⁓ first and foremost it's going at least on our end on the nutrition side what we have to have to use as an end product. ⁓ Harvest type whether you're a pull type ⁓ operator if you're pulling wagons if you're filling uprights filling bags the
The way you're harvesting and the way you're storing is going to have a bigger determination on how you need to stagger, if you need to stagger. ⁓ I've seen more and more, like you said, larger equipment, bigger bags, bigger bunkers, bigger piles, that the staggering of hybrids, unless you have multiple sites, ⁓ but if it's all coming to the same place, I don't see it being as big. ⁓
⁓ of a thing today with the technology in these plants. It definitely gives us a little bit bigger window than it did say 15, 20 years ago where when corn started to fire you had to get after it. ⁓ Now it does give us a little bit of leeway but dealing with, if you're having a custom harvester ⁓ come in, you only get him for a certain window of time and he's on to the next. ⁓ So you have to make sure everything is ready then. ⁓
to go ⁓ because it might be a week, two, three weeks before they can get back. Depending on weather and breakdowns, if you staggered ⁓ and your stagger was off, ⁓ you're going to be dealing with a whole different animal as far as corn silage goes.
Mike Donladson (11:13)
I think one of the things, ⁓ and you mentioned uprights, bags, drive over piles, bunker silos, and we certainly work with all of them and you can make great feed in all of them. ⁓ Maybe the one real difference is with bags, you're not quite as subject to packing issues as the crop gets drier, because you do have the ability to adjust the tension, at least address it a little bit with.
with uprights, certainly uprights, with piles and bunkers, ⁓ it's kind of a, sometimes you'd like the last corn you harvest to be at the bottom and instead it winds up at the top. ⁓ What's your advice to somebody about needing to start early to avoid finishing too late? I mean, do you give up a little bit on the front end to try and make sure nothing gets too, too fired?
Justin Monson (11:52)
Mm-hmm.
Yes and no. You can end up with just as bad of a problem if you're going out there and you're making 74, 75 percent.
moisture corn silage as far as juicing goes and nutrient loss. So it's, it is that conundrum of, know, do I have 50 acres to chop or do I have 2000 to get put up? And when do we start? How many harvesters do we need? How many of everything do we need to make sure that we can get it done efficiently? In most situations, I'd like to start at a point over optimal.
so we can finish a point or two under optimal and still be in a good window. ⁓ Yeah, I don't want to start a drive over pile at 68 and get done with a ⁓ 20,000 ton pile six days later and we're at 60. That would be an ugly thing to have to deal with. Not insurmountable. We could still get it done and handled, but ⁓ yeah, I would definitely want something little wetter on top to make sure we can get that pile sealed.
Not so much the packing, we can get the packing done, but just make sure that we can get that top seal down and ⁓ have good forage throughout the season.
Mike Donladson (13:28)
That makes good sense. Before we move into the equipment side, and I want to give credit where credit's due, I think it's because of your background on larger farms. You've been one of the leaders at Agri-King in addressing aspects of safety, especially as it pertains to feed out, and especially to putting silage in. It was years ago you outfitted all your people with high vis vests. I there is a lot of really big equipment moving really, really fast.
What are some of the things that you want to remind people about from a safety standpoint going into corn silage harvest?
Justin Monson (14:05)
Yeah, I think the high high vis is ⁓ a pivotal thing. But I think first and foremost is it is awesome watching ⁓ these operators as they're making these piles when they're trying to fit, you know, 1800 acres of corn onto one pile on a concrete pad. ⁓ It is it's it's really cool to watch ⁓ on the on the flip side. Those individuals that are doing that work, they are focused on getting that done in
in the most efficient and best way possible. So they're not looking out for any observers, consultants, what have you. If you're on foot and you're not sitting in a seat behind a wheel, you're putting yourself in harm's way, whether it's on a pile, a bunker, moving all the equipment in and around bags and silos and blowers and whatnot. It can definitely be a dangerous situation. So first and foremost,
Anybody that's in or around any of that equipment needs to make sure they're making eye contact with an operator, with the operator that's going up the pile, coming back the pile. If you don't make eye contact with them, don't proceed towards that point of action. ⁓ Just so don't get yourself ⁓ in a bad spot. ⁓ Whether you're taking a sample or doing whatever you might be doing, make sure everybody's got eye contact so everybody knows that you're there. ⁓
But wearing that high vis is pivotal, especially running all night, running early mornings, the lights low as it is. Make sure somebody can see you. Even as simple as parking, ⁓ make sure your truck or vehicle is plenty out of the way. ⁓ Take those few extra steps to make sure that everything, equipment, yourself, ⁓ everybody's safe and out of harm's way.
Mike Donladson (15:59)
I think one of the most frightening things I've seen recently as far as harvest was ⁓ I was riding along with someone hauling wagons and for some unknown reason, someone felt the need to go into the standing corn and they had two choppers running. mean, they were going to have 40 feet of corn off in a matter of minutes. And where is a guy standing in 12 foot tall corn? Which way do you run? just...
I almost wanted to jump out of the cab and run over and grab him except that I'd have been in the corn. But just like, what the hell are you thinking? This is absolute stupidity.
Justin Monson (16:37)
Yeah, it's
something out of a horror movie. Yeah, don't go into standing corn if there's equipment running. Stay off the sides of equipment as it's moving. If a chopper is sitting there, you climb up, get in, sit down, shut that door. The door's there for a reason. It's a safety feature if nothing else outside of keeping chaff and whatnot out of the equipment. But it's, yeah.
Make smart decisions, put yourself in a good spot, not a bad one.
Mike Donladson (17:11)
And you know, for the people who are filling uprights or running bags, it may be not quite so many variables, but they put themselves right next to PTO shafts and the temptation to reach over something you shouldn't reach over. ⁓ There's a lot of, no matter what you're doing when you're using this kind of equipment, you've got to be careful.
Justin Monson (17:34)
Yeah,
it can go bad in a quick hurry. Very, very quick hurry. Yeah, multiple PTO shafts, multiple aprons running, a lot of hydraulics, a tractor on the front of a bagger that's in neutral that you just never know, you know, especially with electronic transmissions, it's gonna jump. Yeah, you just never know. So you just always gotta be alert and always gotta make sure you're putting yourself in a good spot.
Mike Donladson (17:51)
No, it's gonna, it's, yeah.
Yeah. Well, moving on to the equipment side, I mean, there's certainly farms that are in a position to, they use, you know, two self-propelled for hailage and then bring in a third or a fourth. I mean, there's some, there's some choppers that sit around with nothing but the corn head on them. But by and large, we've used these choppers now for three, four months on hailage as they're making the switch to corn silage. And we'll come to the kernel processor in a minute, but for the rest of the machine.
what are some of the areas that you'd remind somebody to, okay, you've been making halage, now it's gonna be corn silage, we've gotta do this.
Justin Monson (18:37)
Yeah, the first and foremost, make sure that somebody's got a relationship with a chopper technician, whether it's a consultant, whether it's people there on the farm, or if they have somebody on staff, that that's their main job. Just make sure general maintenance is completely gone through. Make sure knives are tight. Make sure they're good to go. Make sure all the greasers are taking grease.
the vacuum on the fan screen for the radiator is clean. Make sure the radiator is cleaned out and blown out. ⁓ Just all things equipment wise that can be, ⁓ you know, those little things that keep the downtime at a minimum. Next thing would be any harvest slab moisture equipment on the chopper. You've been running in spring grains, haylage all year or even sitting from last year if you just have a corn silage unit.
making sure that that is calibrated for this year's crop and this different crop type. Cause even if you calibrated your harvest lab for rye, the first thing you chop the second week of May, come the third week of August and you got to start dipping into some corn silage, it's not the same material. It's not gonna, it's gonna give you a reading, but it's not gonna be an accurate one. So make sure you're utilizing the chopper tech and anybody that's involved with that harvester unit.
⁓ to make sure everything's up to date and on par to go into ⁓ a fast and furious corn silage season.
Mike Donladson (20:10)
It kind of surprised me for as long as I can remember, combine fires have been, I mean, never common, but combines burn. And in the last 10 or 15 years, as we've seen more and more and more self-propelled choppers, think chopper operators are starting to learn some of the things combine people have always been aware of as far as how easy it is to let chaff and dead leaves build up.
Justin Monson (20:21)
Hmm.
Mike Donladson (20:39)
And if you do have that bearing that wasn't taking grease and it gets a little bit warm, ⁓ I don't mean it's a pandemic, but you see a lot of burned up choppers these days compared to years ago.
Justin Monson (20:50)
Yeah,
yeah, whether it's an onboard air compressor or leaf blower or what have you, just making sure, make sure any spots that can hold chaff get blown off daily, nightly. It's also going to increase the life of that machine. Not having feed that can hold moisture and rust and get around the wire harness that doesn't need moisture on it all the time. And just all the little things. ⁓ My grandfather always said dirty equipment always breaks down.
clean equipment doesn't. ⁓ Because any time you'd have a tractor that break down, it's like, ⁓ it's always going to be the dirtiest, nastiest one. ⁓ So make sure your stuff's clean. ⁓ And if it's clean and blown off, can see that stuff earlier. You see that stuff sooner.
Mike Donladson (21:21)
I like that.
Yeah
Yeah,
I've even known some people now that are using the, I don't really know what the purpose is. The guy I helped race, we use it to tempt the tires, but that infrared gun that you can shoot temperatures with and use that on the different bearings and parts of the machine to detect any differences. So let's go now to the, maybe the big topic when it comes to choppers and corn silage.
and that is kernel processors. Now, if you don't have a, if you're maybe a pull type without a processor, you're gonna nick your kernels by adjusting your length of cut. That's relatively simple. But for the last 10 to 20 years, 15, 20 years or longer, kernel processors have been very, very common when it comes to making corn silage. So we know we're getting that kernel cracked.
as long as the processor is set up right. And I know it leads to, especially if someone's got a custom operator coming in, a processor that's set up right is going to cut capacity. I mean, you're taking tons and tons of feed and putting it through a gap smaller than this. So it's going to cut your capacity. It's going to increase your fuel usage. But at some point, you know, I might say this a couple of times.
We're trying to make high quality livestock feed. We're not just moving piles of gravel across a yard. We're not just moving material. We've got a bigger purpose. What are your guidelines first for getting a kernel processor set up correctly?
Justin Monson (23:14)
I mean, there's between aftermarket and ⁓ manufacturer ⁓ processors that come already in the choppers with the choppers from the dealerships. ⁓ I would first and foremost set them up exactly the way the specs say to set them up. ⁓ Like you said, our goals, every kernel's broken open, at least broken open ⁓ some.
But yeah, I'm gonna default to manufacturer recommendations on all of that. ⁓ One to two millimeters. The bigger thing is as you're going through and that total plant moisture might not change, but if you do get into some kernels that are maturing faster and it's a little bit harder ⁓ versus something a little bit softer, you're gonna have to adjust. You can and we'll adjust to make sure that we're getting all those kernels opened up. On the cut length, ⁓
As you said, ⁓ that 19 millimeters at three quarters of an inch ⁓ is where most of our producers are getting their stuff set up at. ⁓ Wetter, you can stretch it out a little bit. can go out to 22 millimeters or seven eights ⁓ somewhere in there. If it's a little bit wetter, can keep that material sized a little bit longer, because it's going to pack if it is a little bit wetter. Inversely, as it dries out, you're going to have to slide it down to that 17. ⁓
range closer to half inch. But also keep in mind back to our storage type, not so much in blowers. going to crack some hole kernels in blowers. It's mechanically going to do it. Not all of them, not like the processor initially would. But the blower is going to crack a few. Once we get into bags, that is another process. So if you start with half inch cut length corn silage going into a bag and it's getting mashed up again,
⁓ We are going to reduce that particle length ⁓ going through that that mechanical bagging process not always a bad thing ⁓ But it is something to be aware of that when you're going to feed out and you're like my corn sides I didn't cut it that fine. It's we we put you know 250 300 horse on the front end of a bagger and we hogged You know ton and a half a minute through through those teeth. It's it's going to mash it up some more ⁓ So just got to be aware of that make sure make sure we're not
Mike Donladson (25:23)
Yeah.
Justin Monson (25:39)
cutting too fine and then going into a bag and mashing it up some more. ⁓ But yeah, cut length is definitely going to be ⁓ storage type driven, ⁓ feed out driven, and moisture ⁓ dry matter driven. So the wetter it is, we can stretch it out a little bit longer. The dryer, we're gonna have to tighten it up ⁓ just to make sure we can get that compaction ⁓ that we need.
Mike Donladson (26:01)
You mentioned kernel processing, scoring, and from the nutrition side, it's certainly something that we look at when we're feeding a herd of cows or evaluating forages. ⁓ But you mentioned maybe an eight day window, you've got thousands of tons coming in. What's your people's recommendation for evaluating that during harvest instead of afterwards being able to say, well, next year we really need to set that down tighter. We've got way too much.
We're looking at this silage in March saying we wish we had something different. What are we gonna do during harvest to try and avoid that wish I had situation?
Justin Monson (26:37)
Yeah, whether it's an aggregate consultant or any consultant or somebody on farm, ⁓ especially if there's one chopper, I think three, four checks a day throughout the day of running is going to be sufficient to make sure that something's not out of adjustment. ⁓ We went from one field to the next, changed to hybrid, ⁓ where we need to be aware of any changes in that direction. ⁓ If you have multiple units, then making sure that you know which
which chopper's coming in and which chopper filled which truck ⁓ and checking them both equally. Because yeah, we're making that commitment at the end of August, beginning of September for feed that we have to feed for the next 12 to 14 months. It's gotta be right the first time, because there's no additional processing we can do on that forge without completely changing ⁓ the physical nature of it. ⁓ So yeah, we need to...
need to stay on top of it, but three to four times a day would be sufficient to make sure our chop length is correct, make sure our kernel processing, make sure we have one whole kernel per 32 ounce cup. And you can get a cup from one of our consultants, you can get one from the gas station. Just go in and after you get done drinking your soda or whatnot, dump the cup out and save that 32 ounce cup.
If you can fill that up and if you can stay under a whole kernel, a couple halves, but we want every kernel, every kernel nicked ⁓ is the go-to.
Mike Donladson (28:13)
Well, one of the other pieces, and at some point we've got to admit this is an Agri-King podcast and we've got a vested interest in certain parts of putting up great feed. You do an incredible job in your region of servicing the applicators and controllers that put Silo-King onto feed. As you're getting ready, as you're switching from haylage to corn silage, what are the things that you want to be sure you account for with that applicator?
Justin Monson (28:44)
I mean, first and foremost, just making sure that it's whether it's whether it's our applicator, a ⁓ water soluble applicator that a custom harvester is utilizing ⁓ or producer that we have is utilizing, ⁓ making sure they're clean, ⁓ hoses are good and up to date, pumps are running correctly, make sure they're calibrated correctly. ⁓ That's first and foremost, just make sure everything's operational and going into the season.
on a good note.
Mike Donladson (29:16)
Well, one of the things that, ⁓ and choppers keep getting bigger and there's more capacity. ⁓ I remember years and years ago as combine hoppers started to get bigger than the gravity boxes that was hauling grain away from them. And you had a massive chopper, or I'm sorry, you had a massive combine, congratulations, but you only had one.
165 bushel wagon and a 250 bushel bin on the combine. And, you know, we didn't have a system. We had an incredible combine and nothing to support it. As you're putting together a true system to get corn silage or any silage off, what are the pieces that you're going to look at as far as even how far you've got to haul, how many wagons or trucks you need, and especially that aspect of packing weight when you're coming into a bunker?
I don't, if you put a thousand acres in an upright, God bless you, that's fine. But your blower capacity is what it is. You can't bring feed in faster than the blower can handle it. But we've all seen bunkers being filled with piles of feed dumped out of wagons and trucks that haven't been touched yet. Or the tractor barely blades it up in a six inch layer before he's having to blade the next layer up. So what do you...
What do you coach somebody to do to have a balanced system?
Justin Monson (30:43)
Yeah, the, the, the for uprights and bags, it, it meters itself out because you can only put it in so fast. ⁓ and bunkers and piles are where, where we can get, we can get a little heavy handed on the harvest side, because if, if there's an open spot on the concrete, it, it can get dumped and onto the next one. Like you said, ⁓ so packing, that is actually the, we, we use a four P's, kind of mentality in
in the Region and I swipe this from one of our ⁓ dairy specialist consultants, processing, packing, plastic and preservative and that packing is pivotal. No matter what system you're in, whether you have a distributor in a silo that needs to make sure you're moving it and what have you, but on those drive over piles, those bunkers, ⁓ our ultimate goal is not so much on the delivery method.
is if we're going to get it delivered there, do we have enough weight to match to make sure we can get in that 16 to 20 pound dry matter per cubic foot density that we're shooting for or higher. But we're trying to get that 800 to 1,000 pounds of packing tractor, packing capability, per ton delivered per hour. So if we get 100 tons delivered per hour, we need 80 to 100,000 pounds of tractor on that pile.
And if we're at 300 tons an hour delivered with multiple harvesting units going, we're going to be 240 to 300,000 pounds of iron on top of that pile, making sure we can get it done, get it done correctly. And this isn't including the blade tractor, because that blade tractor is going to have, with that kind of tonnage coming in, their main goal is to get that layered nice and evenly, that three to six inches load after load after load. But then we're going to need extra packing capacity.
whether that's a pole behind sheep's foot, know, extra weights on the tractor, concrete on the three point, three, four, or two or three extra tires running to duals or triples, just making sure that we can get that packed edge to edge, top to bottom, side to side. So that 800 to 1,000 pounds is what we shoot for of tractor per ton delivered.
But matching that up, I mean, we've gotten into some spots, especially the closer you get to that pile, we need to be like, hey, we need to drop a truck off. We need to, know, so I think distance ⁓ and more and more of our clients ⁓ are hauling corn farther and farther as subdivisions pop up, as render ground pops up. So the distance to haul ⁓ and the harvesting technique is going to be the determining factor on how fast. ⁓
and how many trucks we're going to need to get it delivered.
Mike Donladson (33:41)
I think one of the hardest messages for a producer to hear is it's better for the chopper to sit for a little bit and get it packed right because they know how much they're paying by the hour and how much that machine costs. But if you're not going to be able to get it packed right, you start giving up quality so fast. I mean, so quickly.
Justin Monson (34:01)
yeah, 100%. So ⁓ it's, yeah, and not even just during the harvest, but after ⁓ the chopper's done, he's refueling, he's over getting ready to pull out to the next job. Whatever the producer has or the extra packing tractors that are there, they need to stay on that pile. They need to stay on that pile for a few hours, making sure the whole thing is sealed off. ⁓
getting it packed to that last load, you can't just blade it up and put the tarp over it. You've got to get it packed just as evenly as the rest of the pile. The last ton is just as important as the first ton. So we've got to get it all packed. So that packing tractor needs to stay on that pile until a good hour or two after that last load hits the concrete.
Mike Donladson (34:51)
One of the things I wanted to get your opinion of, and because you don't live too far, in fact, you're probably the closest regional manager to our home office. You often get pulled in to do research, so to speak, field research on some of our products. A year ago, you were among the very first to use our Silo-King corn silage ⁓ product. ⁓ You use it on several farms. We've now rolled it out to the entire country.
⁓ We're seeing really incredible things with it. I know you've had some great results. Could you give us just a little insight to the difference you see that corn silage specific Silo-King making?
Justin Monson (35:33)
Yeah, across all of our blends of Silo-King, ⁓ our main goal is keeping getting that feed fermented as fast and stable as possible. ⁓ And we've continued to do that. ⁓ As far as the nutrient value goes, what we're doing with our conventional and our regular concentrate and now our corn silage specific ⁓ corn silage and grain Silo-King, ⁓ that's all been phenomenal. The bigger
⁓ The biggest thing out of this is the stability on the back end ⁓ is what we're really going for. ⁓ So still staying in our true to form, ⁓ using our enzyme and lactic acid producing bacteria to really drive that pH down fast and then to keep that stability at feed out. So yeah, we've seen some really incredible stuff. The lab's ⁓ proven some of that stuff out and I've been really excited.
⁓ watching this feed that we put up last year get fed out ⁓ into this hot stretch. It's been pretty amazing. ⁓ mean Silo-King on its own is spectacular, but this is definitely taking us ⁓ to a new level on the corn silage side.
Mike Donladson (36:50)
I know, and I've been with Agri-King for over 30 years, and there was a time when we were criticized for having one model of Silo-King that we used on haylage and on corn silage. And our response always was, we've got nothing, we've got no reason to do differently. We can get better results than anyone else is getting on either of those types of crops with that single bag. And it will still do an incredible job.
But as we were able to grow first the hay side, the hay crop side, and now the corn silage side, we've literally just found new and improved things that we can put in when we're gonna specialize that product onto a certain crop. And I'm really pleased with how the field is, the field and the farmers are taking to the idea that, okay, you guys now have something.
Chris Radke (37:36)
Thank
you
Mike Donladson (37:48)
there is a reason to use a different product on a different crop if you want to, or we still give people the option of staying with ⁓ standard Silo-King.
Justin Monson (37:57)
Exactly. We still have and will always have ⁓ some one-bag solutions for those operators that ⁓ they don't put up the thousands of tons that some other operators do. But as we moved into more more custom application ⁓ on custom harvesters ⁓ and larger operations that didn't want to handle that many bags and or want to make sure that they're using the right product on the right crop. ⁓
as we've gone to more and more concentrations of our Silo-King, yeah, splitting out that Silo-King hay for the market that we had out west and even here in the Midwest, we've utilized it tremendously with great results. And I'd echo what you said. It's the ability to have a specific type of Silo-King forage treatment program built for.
⁓ legumes and hay crops ⁓ and a corn silage specific one ⁓ is definitely opening some eyes and ⁓ getting guys that were already on board even more excited about what we have to offer and it's proving out to be a good decision.
Mike Donladson (39:12)
Well, this has been a great ⁓ source of information you've given us, Justin. I really, really appreciate you taking time to do this with Chris and I. Any final thoughts on being ready for corn silage harvest?
Justin Monson (39:26)
I mean it's the 16th of July. Most of our stuff started tassel fully about six, seven days ago, as early as the 1st of July. Some of first stuff I saw. So that's, mean, from tassel and then once we get to silk, we got from silk till harvest is that 42 to 49 days. So it's going to come up on us quick. So just stay on top of, stay on top of.
moving crops. ⁓ We've had a tremendous growing window here in the Wisconsin, Illinois, Northeast Iowa corn belt and it's going to be here quick. So stay safe and watch that corn.
Mike Donladson (40:10)
Perfect. Thank you so much, Justin. Chris, what did you learn today?
Chris Radke (40:14)
My big takeaways are Justin's safety points. Make sure you're seen, move slowly and everybody looks good in high visibility. If you like what you heard today, can find us on just about any of our socials. ⁓ And if you listen to us, please leave a review and you can find us now on our Agri-King website. And if you have any questions or follow up or something you'd like us to talk about, you can find us at podcast@agriking.com. Justin, Mike, thank you very much.
Justin Monson (40:42)
Thank you.
Mike Donladson (40:42)
Thank
you guys, appreciate it.
