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Pit Silos for the Storage of Atlas Sorgo Grain and of Soft Corn¹

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station

Abstract

Newly-threshed Atlas sorgo grain, and chopped and unchopped heads from the same sorgo crop, were stored separately with and without water in a series of pits. Chopped and unchopped, soft, snap corn also were stored in pits. Each pit was 4 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep. The pits were dug in silty clay loam and silt loam soil which was at its maximum field moisture holding capacity. Each pit was lined with a single thickness of burlap. These studies at the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station were supplemented by observations with sorghums in similar pits at the Colby and Garden City substations. The feeds were placed in storage for 8 months, beginning on or about November 28. Chemical analyses were made of samples of feed before and after storage. Temperatures of the feeds and of the soil were recorded during storage. Some observations were made on the feeding value of the resulting concentrates for dairy heifers. Storage periods of 7 and 9.5 months, respectively, were used at the Colby and Garden City substations.

The principal conclusions drawn from these studies are summarized as follows: 1. Sorgo grain, sorgo heads and soft corn can be stored with moderate losses as feed in pits in the ground for periods of at least 8 months after the end of the growing season. 2. Flooding sorgo grain is unnecessary and may be objectionable when using this type of storage. 3. Chopping and flooding with water promoted better packing and less heating of sorgo heads in small pits. 4. Chopping promoted better packing and less heating of soft snap corn in small pits. 5. The proportionately large losses encountered from spoilage in some of the small experimental pits used in these studies probably can be reduced to much lower percentages by using larger storage pits, and by feeding during the same season.

¹ Contribution No. 158, the Department of Dairy Husbandry. Contribution No. 75 the Department of Agricultural Engineering.