Edible Bunker Silo Seal Inspired By Play Dough
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After watching his wife make play dough out of flour, salt, and cream of tartar for their kids, Larry Berger got the idea of making an edible seal for silage stored in bunk silos. Berger, an animal scientist at the University of Illinois, has been working on the "recipe" for the past five years and thinks he finally has it right.
"We are now working with an equipment manufacturer to develop an applicator that can drive over a silage pile and spray on the material," says Berger. "We have sprayed it on with a hose by hand, but it's hard to get it as uniform as desired."
His spray-on material forms an edible, even nutritious seal on the silage. It reduces spoilage from 8 to 10 in. to 1 to 2 in.
Like play dough, the two basic ingredients are ground wheat and salt. Berger went through about 40 formulations to find the key ingredients that would create a 1/2 to 3/4-in. thick barrier to oxygen. All ingredients are off the shelf, and the animal scientist expects farmers to be able to mix it themselves, possibly renting application equipment.
The sticky, paste-like material sets up quickly and is firm to the touch within an hour. While it can shed a 2-in. rainfall and handle 2-3 in. of snow with no problem, a slow drizzle over a couple of days can begin to soften the material. Berger is experimenting with using a layer of waxed paper over the seal to protect it from excess moisture.
From a nutrition standpoint, Berger expects the seal will provide from 1 to 3 percent of the animal ration on a dry matter basis. While the cost will likely be greater than existing plastic covers, some of that cost will be offset by feed value and reduced spoilage.
"We have done some work on hay bales, too," reports Berger. "We have stacked them two high on end and sprayed the flat top surface so it sheds water. If you remove salt from the diet, the cattle are attracted to the salty covering and eat it along with the hay."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Berger, 164 Animal Sciences Lab MC 630, 1207 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, Ill. 61801-4734 (ph 217 333-2006; fax 217 244-3169; email: llberger@uiuc.edu).
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Edible Bunker Silo Seal Inspired By Play Dough SILOS Silos 28-4-11 After watching his wife make play dough out of flour, salt, and cream of tartar for their kids, Larry Berger got the idea of making an edible seal for silage stored in bunk silos. Berger, an animal scientist at the University of Illinois, has been working on the "recipe" for the past five years and thinks he finally has it right.
"We are now working with an equipment manufacturer to develop an applicator that can drive over a silage pile and spray on the material," says Berger. "We have sprayed it on with a hose by hand, but it's hard to get it as uniform as desired."
His spray-on material forms an edible, even nutritious seal on the silage. It reduces spoilage from 8 to 10 in. to 1 to 2 in.
Like play dough, the two basic ingredients are ground wheat and salt. Berger went through about 40 formulations to find the key ingredients that would create a 1/2 to 3/4-in. thick barrier to oxygen. All ingredients are off the shelf, and the animal scientist expects farmers to be able to mix it themselves, possibly renting application equipment.
The sticky, paste-like material sets up quickly and is firm to the touch within an hour. While it can shed a 2-in. rainfall and handle 2-3 in. of snow with no problem, a slow drizzle over a couple of days can begin to soften the material. Berger is experimenting with using a layer of waxed paper over the seal to protect it from excess moisture.
From a nutrition standpoint, Berger expects the seal will provide from 1 to 3 percent of the animal ration on a dry matter basis. While the cost will likely be greater than existing plastic covers, some of that cost will be offset by feed value and reduced spoilage.
"We have done some work on hay bales, too," reports Berger. "We have stacked them two high on end and sprayed the flat top surface so it sheds water. If you remove salt from the diet, the cattle are attracted to the salty covering and eat it along with the hay."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Berger, 164 Animal Sciences Lab MC 630, 1207 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, Ill. 61801-4734 (ph 217 333-2006; fax 217 244-3169; email: llberger@uiuc.edu).
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