Q. How do I collect a sample of my silage to send to a lab?
A. The objective when collecting a silage sample for laboratory analysis is to safely obtain a representative sample of all silage that will be fed. This is important because silage varies considerably across the feeding face of the storage structure.
The following eight steps are the best way to collect a sample using a subsample from a pile of feed that has been:
1. Defaced from the entire structure — including at the bottom of the pile or bunker face.
2. Pushed into a central pile, off a safe distance from the silo.
3. Either mixed with a loader bucket or briefly mixed in the mixer wagon and discharged.
4. Walk around the pile, collecting forage with a scoop, or using your hand in a scooping motion, to collect forage from at least 10 locations.
5. Place the forage into a five-gallon bucket.
6. Dump the collected forage onto a clean, dry surface and mix it with a scoop shovel.
7. Divide the forage pile into quadrants by drawing lines in the forage pile with your finger.
8. Subsample with your scoop from each of the quadrants and submit this sample for analysis.
Use a scoop or grab all silage particles with your hand.
Be careful to minimize microbial activity during handling and shipping. For example, it helps to squeeze the air out of the sampling bag, keep the sample cool and ship express, preferably with ice blocks in the shipping package.
For additional information on sampling silage, visit www.qualitysilage.com or follow the Quality Silage Experts on Facebook.
Sincerely,
The Quality Silage Experts
