A mechanical macerator for macerating silage material, the mechanical macerator comprising: a macerating mechanism operable to macerate the silage material a nutrition sensor positioned relative to the macerating mechanism and operable to sense nutritive levels of the silage material; a ration controller coupled to the nutrition sensor, and including a processor and a memory having a ration algorithm stored thereon, wherein the processor is operable to execute the ration algorithm to: receive data from the nutrition sensor indicating the nutritive levels of the silage material; determine a desired amount of maceration of the silage material based on the nutritive levels of the silage material; control the macerating mechanism to achieve the desired amount of maceration of the silage material, wherein macerating the silage material includes high intensity crop processing of the silage material resulting in cell wall rupture and the release of intracellular solubles of the silage material, characterized in that, the mechanical macerator further comprising a macerator sensor coupled to the ration controller, wherein the macerator sensor is operable to sense an actual amount of maceration achieved by the macerating mechanism, and the processor is operable to execute the ration algorithm to receive data from the macerator sensor indicating an actual amount of maceration achieved by the macerating mechanism. a macerating mechanism operable to macerate the silage material a nutrition sensor positioned relative to the macerating mechanism and operable to sense nutritive levels of the silage material; a ration controller coupled to the nutrition sensor, and including a processor and a memory having a ration algorithm stored thereon, wherein the processor is operable to execute the ration algorithm to: receive data from the nutrition sensor indicating the nutritive levels of the silage material; determine a desired amount of maceration of the silage material based on the nutritive levels of the silage material; control the macerating mechanism to achieve the desired amount of maceration of the silage material, wherein macerating the silage material includes high intensity crop processing of the silage material resulting in cell wall rupture and the release of intracellular solubles of the silage material, characterized in that, the mechanical macerator further comprising a macerator sensor coupled to the ration controller, wherein the macerator sensor is operable to sense an actual amount of maceration achieved by the macerating mechanism, and the processor is operable to execute the ration algorithm to receive data from the macerator sensor indicating an actual amount of maceration achieved by the macerating mechanism. receive data from the nutrition sensor indicating the nutritive levels of the silage material; determine a desired amount of maceration of the silage material based on the nutritive levels of the silage material; control the macerating mechanism to achieve the desired amount of maceration of the silage material, wherein macerating the silage material includes high intensity crop processing of the silage material resulting in cell wall rupture and the release of intracellular solubles of the silage material, characterized in that, the mechanical macerator further comprising a macerator sensor coupled to the ration controller, wherein the macerator sensor is operable to sense an actual amount of maceration achieved by the macerating mechanism, and the processor is operable to execute the ration algorithm to receive data from the macerator sensor indicating an actual amount of maceration achieved by the macerating mechanism.