Avoid contamination by manure use or from soil-borne bacteria splashed up with rains or by raking. Store the bales quickly excluding the oxygen as soon as possible. Monitor bales to maintain a continuous seal. Size the storage structure to allow efficient, quick feed out. Use good quality plastic to produce a sealed environment.
Weather conditions are the prime reason that most people try the round bale silage system.
The quality of the material produced, the use of existing equipment and the ability of scheduling harvesting operations to reduce the weather risk have increased the popularity of the system. It offers flexibility and the ability to store forage quickly if required. These reasons will increase the use of round bale silage in the future. It will be fed in more operations for longer periods of the year. Greater attention to the silage-making process will be needed to maintain the quality of the feed with these increased demands.