Eric, you need a couple of clean chutes for those tower silos. A clean chute is plastic tube that runs from the feed door which the feed is coming from down to the bottom into the conveyor. These are so nice especially with hay silage . No more dusty chute that you need to climb every time you need to change a door. And I knew the feed would be great under that plastic 😏
The old feed room was probably a dream come true for your dad. Now it's decommissioned and your dreams of more and better automation are on the way. A bittersweet moment. Thank you. Farmers Feed the World
Yes, first silo built last week, filled yesterday and then this morning they built two more silos! This has been so wonderful to watch as things unfolded.
I applaud you for continuing your family legacy. You would not believe the amount of family farms being sold off in my area due to the children pursuing alternate goals in the big cities. I respect your work ethic and love for your farm.
You know, Most people (including myself) think of dairy farmers and how much work it is to run a heard milking twice a day, seven days a week, and keeping the farm going. But just watching what you guys go through for a feeding is an undertaking in itself. Good video, and even more respect from me. Good video, keep them coming. 👍
Can't wait to see all of this unfold. The new silos, the new feeders, the old silos coming down, and what you will do with the space where the old silos are and the bunks. Exciting times!
Those 3 silos dominate the area. I was down at a neighboring business to your farm on 6/7/24 working on some of their fire suppression equipment. I made the turn off 322 on to white oak road, looking up and saw the three new silos. I thought I know those silos!
I think you’re telling us that when it comes to silos, you’re all set until the 13th Generation is on the ground!! I can’t even imagine what the farm will look like then. As much as you’ve grown over the past few years since we’ve been watching - your descendants will probably have a very technology-based operation running, and maybe their own milk plant on site with your name on the label 👍🏻👍🏻 Breezy on the ground, 50 MPH on the top of the silo!!
I felt like I was right along with you. Excellent camera work in some dodgy quarters. Your plan to modernize equipment and keep the farm competitive is so admirable. Great job - from someone who loves cream. Thanks 😊
Good to see not much spoilage under the plastic - will be interesting to see how well the unloader cleans the walls! Moving the feed room marks a major change!
I know you’re a busy man this time of year but sure miss watching every week like we used to last year and the year before it’s good to see you. Those new silos look really neat boy are they big? I can’t wait to see your house set up.
In the 1960's we had six silos and that is exactly how we covered them with plastic. You would think by now they would have come up with something to pour on the top as a preservative, or a cover that was a giant flat balloon that you can add water to keep it in place and that sealed better.
It's always bittersweet when something you've been working with literally all your life changes. It's like the life is draining out of the old feed room with it all quiet and empty. 😢
Congratulations on the first feeding out of the new silo. I'm looking forward to seeing you load and feed out of the other two. Keep that wholesome dairy coming - 1/2 & 1/2 for my coffee, cheese, 2% for potato soup and latte, and powdered to put in the oatmeal when I go backpacking.
Happy to see your new investment being put to work. Hope it makes your job easier and more efficient. The three new towering silos are impressive. I have learned a lot about farming from your channel and really appreciate it. Thanks till next time.
Eric, this has been a great series of building the three HUGE new silos. I believe you plan to automate much of this feeding and mixing, and I hope you will give us a full explanation of how everything will work and hopefully how it will save you man-hours and improve the feed overall, thus maximizing milk-fat production. Thanks!
11:50 - I was one of the ones asking that question and assumed the right answer but other viewers were nice and answered/confirmed. Thanks for your response today - You seem to be having a good season so far.
This is so neat to see this all coming together big guy. Can't wait to see the smile on dads face haha Then you will have more video's coming with all your free time ; )
The new silo system is looking good. I am excited to see the robotic feed system being installed and working. I was a bit surprised to hear that you are removing the old silo and Harvestore silo’s. Did you consider converting the Harvestore silos into grain storage. But then again “high moisture corn” may no longer be considered an efficient feed source for dairy cows. I was just thinking back to when I was dairy farming in the “80”s” HMC played a very important role in maintaining the butterfat average for our milking herd. We Stored the corn in the Harvestore at around 21-25% moisture. Sent it through a roller mill. And the cows loved it. And Even if you did not want to store high moisture corn. I believe they now make kits to convert Harvestore silos to storing dry corn and beans. No doubt you have already put a lot of thought into your new feeding system. I am just always interested in seeing the latest feeding methods. Thanks for always explaining everything so clearly. I appreciate your videos very much! Have a blessed week!!
If you have the spout shooting out the lower part of the door then you can let go longer before doorchanges- especialy withought a cleanchute plastic in it.
You're getting the new feed system closer, looks like it's working pretty good. Good luck with the rest of the transition, I hope all goes well. Have a nice evening!
Not that you need any for exercise as your fitness level is crazy good, but bunker could be a basketball court, pickle ball or ball hockey. As the Hill Street Blues Sarg would say “let’s be careful out there”
Your a good man Charlie Brown/Eric always enjoy your work. Your Dad is awesome lots of knowledge and experience. Your young assistant was not mentioned by name but good you had an extra set of hands. Stay safe and get some rest.
In the late ‘70s my grandfather built his last silo. It still stands today on my farm as a monument as to what was. It is 30’ x 100’. It’s a massive thing to look at.
You should do a video of the gestational cycle of a cow. Starting with the age you start the breeding, when you move them to the barn with the pregnant heifers, when you bring them back to the pre-fresh barn, how long they are milked after calving, etc. You should also explain the additional nutritional needs they need at each stage and when you take them off of each additional nutritional supplement. Also, you could throw in the medications given to each cow and at what time of their pregnancy each is given. What criteria do you use to decide that a cow it not producing up to their maximum and what parameters used to decide when to sell versus to keep them for another milk cycle.
Other than the color, the unloader looks like a Jamesway Volumaxx 4. The cover was a good idea, but running the blower was just plain smart! I got gassed once, obviously survived, but it wasn't fun. Great video!
Keep an eye on that blower Eric that you don't get dry buildup inside the blower with that dryer fluffy feed on top. I have had to put out fires with a garden hose by stuffing the hose into the discharge chute on the unloader. 1 customer it was so bad it stalled the blower and burned the belts off...watch you unloader amps that they don't get progressively worse
i wonder how many mt. dews you can fit in those 3 bad boys. they look nice man a good monument to you and your family's hard work. God Bless you brother
Thanks as always for a great interesting video of what is going on with your farm, and so much less man power working your silos for feeding looking good,
Just watched the vids of you filling this silo. I always wondered how it was done and how was emptied, now I know. We don’t have these silos here in Scotland
Out with the old and in with the new. Bittersweet, yes, but much better than the alternative, which is the old abandoned setups that are becoming more and more prevalent. The cherry on top is that the new is also upright silos just new and more modern. Cheers to the next 40-50 years😊
This may be a bit extreme but if you park the feed trailer at the side like you did the second time instead of opposite the feed shed you cut the amount of turning you have to do in half which will make the tyres last a little longer. Every little helps.
Beautiful Silos! You've done an excellent job on them! I don't know how you can be around all that hay without sneezing your brains out! haha! have an extreme allergy to grass. When I was tested in my 30s grass was the first one to react on my skin. I worked at a golf course mowing grass every day..lol. I still mow grass. Sinuses always give me problems!
2 layers plastic & tire to tire contact seems to work for bunkers around here zone 3b thing is corn silage layers need to be consistent moisture if there's a dry layer between 2 wet layers it can spoil a problem in drought years very dry high ground wet green low ground with harvestore ive seen spoiled haylage when inoculant is not used but that stuff is expensive & wonder if its good for cows
When I was a kid my dad put up a 14 x 50 silo for feeding dairy cows. One of my jobs before filling the silo was to get a bucket of mud and seal the edges of the doors. That saved spoilage. We didn't have a distributer - just blew the silage in. When the peak of the silage got about five doors from the top my brothers and I would go to the top of the silo and jump onto the pile and roll to the bottom. Good times.
I’m surprised the silos didn’t come with two chutes , all the new silos going up in my area have two chutes , one is a mini chute just for the feed too come down and the other one is just for climbing
looks like a leaf blower would help you in this room. if the stuff in the bottom would work for other animals you might get someone to come in and clean the bottoms out for free/feed for goats/pigs/chickens or whatever.
Another great video! We have 3 stave silos and always wanted to put a camera in the haylage one because it will be fussy sometimes. The Camara you are using looks awesome. Any chance you could share what one you are using in that new silo. Thanks
OK let me try this again. You grow the feed for your cows, then you mix all this stuff for the cows, then you load this mix and dump it out for the cows. I watched the cows eat it but there is obvious left overs because cows don't know they need to finish there plates before they leave the table. What happens with the remaining feed? I had know idea how much work goes into feeding cows or any other farm animals until i just watched 5 of your videos. I'm very much impressed on how you people work.👍👍👍👍👍🍻
