Bunker silos can do just that. U.S. agricultural economic studies have shown top-unloading concrete stave and bunker silos have a similar total annual cost for a dairy farm. However, bunker silos can provide considerable time-savings for daily feeding chores.
Many producers are concerned about using bunker silos due to higher storage and ensiling losses.
Losses reported for different silage systems in various research papers vary from three to 25 per cent. Some even mention up to 70 per cent losses. The large variation is not due to the system, but the management that goes with it. Dry matter losses in a well-managed bunker silo typically range from 10 to 15 per cent. For a similarly managed tower, losses range from two to 15 per cent.