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-   -   October 23, 2008: Shucklage (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=18509)

Nirvana 10-23-2008 01:46 PM

October 23, 2008: Shucklage
 
Not everyone works in a cubicle! :headshake Part of my yearly work load is to put up feed for the year for our cows. This is what is called shucklage. This stuff used to be the waste product of seed corn production until some realized it makes a high quality cheap feed. We were early converts.

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...shucktruck.jpg

The trucks are first filled with picked ear corn and taken to the Pioneer plant where the majority of the seed corn kernels are "shucked" by a special machine. The leftover product of shucks and corn has an added innoculant {fermentation product} and is sold as shucklage for a cheap feed source. It runs about $14 a ton. We feed around a ton a day, they usually bring us around 500 ton. 30 or more trucks will bring this "shucklage" to our farm. Once it gets here it has to be pushed into a pile like a huge loaf of bread and it is run over and compressed. Finally thousands of gallons of water are added to the top to assure fermentation. My husband is driving the payloader I run the bobcat! ;)

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p.../scoopload.jpg

glatt 10-23-2008 01:50 PM

How do you unload the truck? Is there something inside pushing it out?

Nirvana 10-23-2008 01:54 PM

They have like a conveyor belt system and the truck drivers do the unloading. Very kewl and noisy!

Nirvana 10-23-2008 01:59 PM

To compare the cost of hay which has less protein than shucklage; a large round bale of hay is $60-$80 we would need to feed one bale a day and supplement corn @ $4 a bushel @ 2 per day and we only have 30 cows!

newtimer 10-23-2008 02:07 PM

You look like you're well-bundled on a clear day in October. How far north are you?

glatt 10-23-2008 02:22 PM

And the cows eat that stuff. Amazing.

Nirvana 10-23-2008 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtimer (Post 496754)
You look like you're well-bundled on a clear day in October. How far north are you?


It was about 30 some degrees for awhile in the morning and the wind was vicious yesterday! I am in northern Indiana.

HungLikeJesus 10-23-2008 02:35 PM

I think that's called a walking-floor trailer.

http://www.wilkensmfg.com/2008%20Wil...ck-trailer.png

Pico and ME 10-23-2008 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirvana (Post 496770)
It was about 30 some degrees for awhile in the morning and the wind was vicious yesterday! I am in northern Indiana.

Hey Nirvana, I'm from northwest Indiana and now live in north central Indiana. We are nearly neighbors.

TheMercenary 10-23-2008 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirvana (Post 496743)
They have like a conveyor belt system and the truck drivers do the unloading. Very kewl and noisy!

I always wondered about that. We have tons of trucks down here with wood pulp/chips on them and I never could figure out how they got the stuff out.

Nirvana 10-23-2008 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pico and ME (Post 496800)
Hey Nirvana, I'm from northwest Indiana and now live in north central Indiana. We are nearly neighbors.


Well howdy neighbor!:)

Bullitt 10-23-2008 04:30 PM

They're also known as live-bottom trailers. We used those in Wyoming at the wood pellet manufacturing plant to offload unprocessed sawdust from the sawmills. They're kinda slow, but much easier than using a shovel as you might imagine.
http://www.troutriverindustries.ca/p...ction=Capacity

Aliantha 10-23-2008 05:59 PM

Cattle love anything to do with corn. I know my dad always gives his corn shucks to the his cows, so it doesn't surprise me that they'd market the commercial quantities as feed.

Nirvana 10-23-2008 06:06 PM

I looked at the last trailer and they are "walking trailers"! They unload in 15 min or less.

WillieO 10-23-2008 06:23 PM

In Central California, across the road from where I work there is a David and Son's Sunflower Seed Packaging plant. The trucks of bulk seeds come in, get unhooked from the tractors, hoisted up on one end with a giant crane and the seeds come sliding out! Kind of weird looking, but much simpler than a truck with a built in conveyor belt. Maybe because the sunflower seeds are very light weight, a whole truck is easy to lift?


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