ANN 111: Principles of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

TOWER SILO

• Tower silo are round, cylindrical with a varying diameter (6 to 10m), placed above the ground and the height varies from 6 to 10m or more.
• Tower silos are made of wood, reinforced concrete or sheet metal.
• The advantage of using wood is that silage acids do not affect it.
• A chopper blower is necessary for filling up the silo.
• Silage at bottom one third will be over compressed with butyric acid smell emanating from it.
• The silage at the center will be of good quality, whereas it will be often dark and over heated in the top.

Advantages: Material can be well preserved with no wastage. The mass itself applies pressure & acts as air seal to lower layer. Wilting & sealing are not important as in pit silo. Minimum dry matter loss. Disadvantages: Very expensive. Chopper blower is required to fill silo. Emptying is very laborious. The silage gets dehydrated, in dry hot places.