Vertical Silo Dimension and Cost

INPUT One Fill per Year

Number of cows to be fed 1000
Days per year to feed 365
As fed lb. per cow per day 35
Dry Matter Percent 35.0 Enter as whole %
MARR (Interest) 8.0 Enter as whole %
Percent Storage Loss 10.0 Enter as whole %
Number of silos 2
Enter Silo Dimensions
Diameter 30 Enter in feet
Height 145

INPUT Silo Unloader

Total Price (all silos) 30,000 5,000
Years of Life 20 8
Type of Salvage Value 2 2 1=SDBal,2=DDBal
Salvage Amount (IF Type=3) 3=Enter own estimate
Percent repairs 2.0 5.0 Enter as %
Percent Insurance & Taxes 1.5 2.0 Enter as %

OUTPUT
Inches fed per day 4.3

As Fed Dry Matter

Tons required after losses 6,387.5 2,235.6
Tons required before losses 7,097.2 2,484.0
Silo capacity (tons) 6,489.7 2,271.4

Dairy Management at Virginia Tech

McGilliard, Pecsok, James
Rev. 9/24/01
 Horizontal Silo Dimension and Cost

INPUT
Number of cows to be fed 1000
Days per year to feed 365
As fed lb. per cow per day 35
Dry Matter Percent 35 Enter as whole %
MARR (Interest) 8.00 Enter as whole %
Percent Storage Loss 15 Enter as whole %
lb. DM/cu. ft. silage 13 Corn = 13, Legume/Grass = 12
Number of silos 2
Enter Silo Dimensions
average width 50 Enter in feet
average height 14
average length 250

Silo Unloader
Total Price (all silos) 87,500 7,000
Years of Life 15 7
Type of Salvage Value 2 2 1=SDBal,2=DDBal
Salvage Amount (IF Type=3) 3=Enter own estimate
Percent repairs 3.0 5.0 Enter as %
Percent Insurance & Taxes 2.0 2.0 Enter as %

OUTPUT
Silo Face Area (sq. ft.) 700
Inches fed per day 17.50

as-fed dry matter

Tons required after losses 6,388 2,236
Tons required before losses 7,515 2,630
Silo capacity (tons) no losses 6,500 2,275

Dairy Management at Virginia Tech

McGilliard, Pecsok, James
Rev. 9/24/01
 Ag Bags

Ag Bag Capacity
Enter numbers in input section; default numbers currently entered

INPUT
Dry Matter Percent 35 Enter as whole %
Percent Storage Loss 7 Enter as whole %
Crop to Store Corn Corn or Legume/Grass
Enter Bag Dimensions
diameter 10 Enter feet (usually 8 or 9)
length 250
Density (lbs/cu ft) [formula] 12.4 Do not change (normally)
Number of bags 20
Number of animals to feed 1000
As-fed lb./animal/day 35

OUTPUT
Silo Face Area (sq. ft.) 79
Pound per foot of face 974
Inches removed per day 161.5
Days 1 bag will last 18.6
Days all bags will last 371.5

Capacity, tons As Fed Dry Matter

1 Bag Before Losses 348 122
1 Bag After Losses 323 113

Based on 20 bags: As Fed Dry Matter

All Bags Before Losses (all full) 6956 2435
All Bags After Losses (all full) 6469 2264
All Bags Before Losses (part fill) 6956 2435
All Bags After Losses (part fill) 6469 2264

Based on 1000 cows at 35 lb/d (as-fed):

Number of Bags Needed: 19.7

Bagger Rules of Thumb

As-Fed Winter Feeding Summer Feeding
Bag Diameter (ft) Tons/foot Feet/Day Tons/Day Feet/Day Tons/Day
8 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 2.00
9 1.25 1.00 1.00 2.25 2.75
10 1.50 2.00 3.00 2.50 4.00
11 1.75 2.25 4.00 2.75 5.00
12 2.25 2.50 5.50 3.00 6.50

Page 3
 Annual Costs

Silo Annual Costs MARR %: 8.00

Concrete Sealed Multiple

Horizontal Vertical Verticle Fill
Price ($) 122,500 264,000
Years Life 20 18 15 15
Salvage 0,1,2X 2 2 2 0
Repair % 2 2 3 3
Tax/Ins % 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
DM Capacity (T/fill or bag) 2275 2271 320 460
DM Loss (%) 15 10 5 5
Percent DM (%) 35 35 35 35
Fills/Yr or Bags/Yr 1 1 1 1.3
Unloader ($) 15,000 65,000
Years Life 10 7 7 8
Salvage 0,1,2 (x decline) 1 2 2 2
Repair % 5 5 5 5
Tax/Ins % 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Price of 1 Bag ($) 0 0 0 0
Number of Bags 0 0 0 0
Other Initial Costs 0 0 0 0
Years Life (for Other Costs) 0 0 0 0
DO NOT ENTER BELOW
Salvage Silo 14,893 31,685 0 0
AV Price 12,477 28,169 0 0
AV Salvage -325 -846 0 0
AV Repairs 2,450 5,280 0 0
AV Tax/Ins 1,838 3,960 0 0
AV Silo 16,439 36,563 0 0
Salvage Unloader 5,230 6,166 0 0
AV Price 2,235 12,485 0 0
AV Salvage -361 -691 0 0
AV Repairs 750 3,250 0 0
AV Tax/Ins 225 975 0 0
AV Unloader 2,849 16,019 0 0
AV Bags 0 0 0 0
AV Other Costs 0 0 0 0
AV Total 19,288 52,582 0 0
Recovered Tons DM 1934 2044 304 568
Recovered T As-Fed 5525 5840 869 1623
$ per Ton DM 9.97 25.73 0.00 0.00
$ /Ton As-Fed 3.49 9.00 0.00 0.00

Page 4
 Annual Costs

Bagger
70,000
10
2
3
1.5
122
7
35
20
15,000
10
1
5
1.5
450
20
0
10

7,516
10,432
-1,120
2,100
1,050
12,462
5,230
2,235
-361
750
225
2,849
9,000
0
24,311
2269
6483
10.71
3.75

Page 5
 Cost Estimates

Approximate Silage Storage Costs

Base Cost $/additional ft Unloader

Vertical Concrete
20 x 60 20000 300 8000
26 x 60 29000 450 8000
30 x 60 35000 550 9000
30 x 120 112000 800 32500
40 x 120 176000 1300 34500

Vertical Oxygen Limiting

20 x 60 45,000 750 9,000
26 x 60 67,750 1,130 10,000
30 x 60 93,300 1,550 22,000

Horizonal $/cu ft
10 x 30 x L 0.55
12 x 40 x L 0.45
12 x 50 x L 0.35

Bagger 30000-75000
10 x 150 (bags) 370
10 x 200 470
10 x 250 610

Vertical Oxygen Vertical

Limiting Concrete Horizonal Unloader Loader
Repairs 1.0 1.0 1.0 5.0 8.0
Taxes/Ins 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.5 0.5
Years of life 20 20 20 7 10
Salvage (%) 0 0 0 0 30

Horizontal $/T
AF T Stored Vertical Cost $/T Vertical Cost Horizontal Horz/Vert
500 32,000 64 18,000 36 56.3
1000 47,000 47 31,000 31 66.0
1500 67,000 45 33,700 22 50.3
2000 79,000 40 39,000 20 49.4

Page 6
 Cost Estimates

3000 110,000 37 52,000 17 47.3

Page 7
Bunker Silo Wall Height (feet) = 12

Bunker Silo Maximum Silage Height (feet) = 12

Silage Delivery Rate (T AF/Hr) = 39

Silage Dry Matter Content (decimal) = 0.3

Silage Packing Layer Thickness (inches) = 6

Packing Tractor - Each Tractor Tractor Weight (lbs)

============================================================================
Tractor # 1 50000
Tractor # 2 0
Tractor # 3 0
Tractor # 4 0
Proportioned Total Tractor Weight = 30000
Number of Packing Tractors = 1.00
Proportioned Average Tractor Weight = 30000
Average Silage Height (feet) = 12.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Packing Factor = 339.7

Estimated Average Dry Matter Density (lbs DM/cu ft) = 13.5

D:\spreadsheet\excel\bunkdens3.xls
 Spreadsheet to Calculate
Average Silage Density in a Bunker Silo
Brian Holmes(1) and Richard Muck(2)
Biological Systems Engineering Dept.(1) and
US Dairy Forage Research Center(2)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
7-Apr-99

Values in yellow cells are user changeable

Tractor Packing Time (% of Filling Time)

=============================
60
0
0
0

Green cells are intermediate calculated values

Values in pink cells are results of calculations

Density greater than 14 lbs DM/cu ft is recommended

Density greater than 28 lbs DM/cu ft is unrealistic
Estimating Forage Needs
No. of Days 365
No. of Cows 1000
Include Heifers N
Calving Interval N/A 13.2
Heifer Mortality Rate N/A 12%
No. of Heifers 0
Cull Rate N/A 35%
No. Heifers Needed 0
Excess Heifers 0
Body Weight 1400
Forage % of BW (Do not include losses)
Forage lb/d 20.5 (Enter # if % of BW blank)
Field Losses: Forage 1 2%
Forage 2 5%
Forage 3 0%
Forage 4 0%
Storage Losses: Forage 1 15%
Forage 2 15%
Forage 3 0%
Forage 4 0%
Feeding Losses: Forage 1 2%
Forage 2 2%
Forage 3 0%
Forage 4 0%

Forage 1 Forage 2 Forage 3 Forage 4

Percent of Mix Fed 60% 40% 0% 0%
Yield (Tons DM/A) 10 5 0 0
% DM 35% 35% 0% 0%
DM (Tons) Consumption 2,245 1,497 - -
Total DM (Tons) Consumption 3,741

Forage 1 Forage 2 Forage 3 Forage 4

Amount to Grow (Tons DM) 2750 1891 0 0
Amount to Store (Tons DM) 2695 1797 0 0
lbs/animal/day (DM) 12.3 8.2 0.0 0.0
lbs/animal/day (as-fed) 35.1 23.4 0.0 0.0

Acres of Forage 1 275

Acres of Forage 2 378
Acres of Forage 3
Acres of Forage 4