In November last year Hebler, with the help of two staff, installed the cover over the farm’s 25m by 12m silage pit, housing 100 tonnes of grass silage.
He recalls that it was a windy day but putting the cover on “was a breeze”.
“It was blowing gale, but we put it up without much hassle,” he told Dairy News.
Hebler, who milks 400 cows, says the biggest change he noticed is that that he uses fewer tyres to cover the silage stack- 600 compared to just a handful now.
“At first, I was a bit nervous and ended up using tyres around the parameter perimeter but now I realise I don’t need to use those many tyres.
“I’m only using tyres around the joins overlaps now.”
Hebler says the Firestone Eco Silage Cover helps keep silage losses to a minimum and is resistant to Pukeko and rat damage.
It has a 10-year warranty and there is no need for annual recycling of silage cover.
“It’s very durable and we can walk on it without risk of damage: and any damaged portion can be easily fixed with a patch.
“There is also better air tightness resulting in less damage to silage quality.”
Firestone Building Products, recently bought by Holcim, has been selling its premium synthetic rubber membrane liners into the silage market in Europe for several years, predominantly in France.
Cosio Industries, authorised agents and distributors of Firestone Building Products for New Zealand, has been distributing the premium lining membranes to the dairy effluent sector in NZ for over ten years.
Cosio Industries lining category manager Vaughan Podbielski says it was a logical step to release the product range into the silage market.
He says there are numerous key similarities and benefits for the NZ market when compared to the overseas market.
“Whereas most traditional silage covers have a thickness of ~120- 150 microns with a life expectancy of 12 months and are considered single use and need to be disposed of correctly, another indirect cost, Firestone Eco Silage Covers are ~1140 microns thick and come with a guarantee of 10 years but are expected to last well beyond this.”
He says Firestone Eco Silage Covers are chemically inert and the ability to re-use them for more than ten years makes them an extremely sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative.
“While traditional silage covers can be collected and recycled through several service providers, this is not as environmentally friendly as not having to recycle in the first place due to the cost and carbon requires collection and recycling.”
He notes that some of the plastic products collected in NZ for recycling are actually sent offshore for recycling processing. Re-usable Eco Silage Covers can be reused for 10+ years.
“One of the biggest advantages is the significant time and labour saving of adding and removing tyres since far fewer tyres are required on Firestone Eco Silage Covers.
“Due to the heavier weight of the membrane, tyres or sandbags are only required on the edges and overlaps. No more throwing of water filled tyres and no more damage to silage covers from throwing tyres on the pile late at night.”
Podbielski says the flexibility and elasticity of the rubber membrane (comparable to a tractor tube) ensures it confirms exceptionally well to the silage pile as the silage settles over time.
“This creates an excellent seal accelerating fermentation which reduces spoilage, improves silage quality, and reduces secondary fermentation.
“Since the thick durable membrane is synthetic rubber, it can be walked on easily without the risk of slipping or damaging the cover.”
