Maize silage stands as one of the most valuable forages on UK dairy and beef farms, offering high energy, starch, and palatability. However, poor clamp management frequently causes significant dry matter losses, aerobic spoilage, and compromised cow performance. Therefore, mastering clamp management for maize silage becomes essential to protect your investment and secure more milk from forage.
Why Clamp Management Matters More with Maize
Compared to grass silage, maize remains particularly vulnerable. Its low buffering capacity, high starch content, and dry matter levels create ideal conditions for spoilage yeasts and moulds once oxygen reaches the clamp. Even when fermentation succeeds, poor feed-out practices can quickly undo all your efforts.
In fact, maize silage clamps often lose 10–30% of dry matter due to aerobic instability, especially during warmer months or when feed-out proceeds slowly. Moreover, the most digestible and energy-rich nutrients disappear first, not just the quantity.
Clamp Management: Best Practices for Maize Silage
Getting clamp management right significantly reduces losses and ensures consistent silage quality throughout ensiling and feed-out.
1. Compact Thoroughly, Especially with Dry Maize
Dry maize (over 33% DM) proves notoriously difficult to compact. Air pockets invite aerobic microbes that quickly break down valuable starch and protein. To prevent this, always fill clamps in thin layers (no more than 15 cm), roll continuously with adequate weight, and aim for a density of 700 kg/m³ or more.
2. Sheet Down Immediately to Protect the Top Layer
The longer silage remains uncovered, the more oxygen penetrates, and once it does, spoilage follows quickly. Therefore, seal the clamp on the same day it’s filled. Use side sheets to line the walls, a high-quality oxygen barrier film on the surface, heavy-duty top sheets, and plenty of weight (gravel bags, tyres), especially along shoulders and seams. Additionally, netting and gravel bags help hold everything tightly in place.
For extra protection, apply SiloSolve OS to the top layer and shoulders before sheeting. This oxygen-scavenging treatment inhibits up to 98% of spoilage yeasts and moulds, retains up to 6.6% more dry matter in the exposed top layer, and protects silage quality where losses tend to be highest (Mastroeni et al, 2025). Think of SiloSolve OS as insurance for the top of your clamp—the area most exposed to air, heat, and weather.
3. Strengthen Maize Clamp Management with SiloSolve FC
Managing maize silage clamps remains challenging, especially with high dry matter content, slow feed-out rates, and increased risk of spoilage during warmer months. This is where SiloSolve FC adds real, measurable value to your clamp management.
SiloSolve FC’s patented Oxycap® Technology improves aerobic stability by up to 218 hours, reduces dry matter losses, enhances starch digestion by up to 12%, and preserves protein by up to 5% (Institute of Animal Science, 2015; Saylor et al., 2020). It also inhibits spoilage yeasts and moulds, while suppressing harmful post-harvest mycotoxins (Gallo et al. 2018).
Feeding trials show that cows fed total mixed rations containing SiloSolve FC-treated grass and maize silage produced more energy-corrected milk and tended to eat more (Nino et al., 2023). Furthermore, it helps cows produce milk more efficiently by boosting milk lactose and improving nutrient digestion, even though they consume less dry matter (Kok et al., 2024).
Because high dry matter maize is difficult to compact and seal perfectly, even with good clamp techniques, SiloSolve FC acts as a vital line of defence. It helps maintain your clamp’s quality from harvest through feed-out, reducing losses and protecting feed value.
4. Protect the Feed-Out Face
Once the clamp opens, the battle begins anew. Maintaining a tight, clean face becomes essential. Never leave loose silage or allow air to penetrate behind the sheet. Importantly, avoid draping the plastic sheet over the silage face, as this traps heat and moisture. The resulting warm, humid climate accelerates spoilage, attracts flies and insects, and speeds spoilage across the exposed face.
Instead, move across the face quickly, minimum 1.5 metres per week in winter, and over 2 metres in summer, and use a shear grab or block cutter to keep the clamp front neat and sealed.
5. Watch for Hotspots, Heating, or Mould
Early signs of instability, such as heating, colour darkening, or visible mould, indicate active yeast populations breaking down feed value. These issues directly impact feed intake, rumen health, and ultimately, milk solids and yields.
Protect Every Tonne. Unlock Every Litre.
You only get one shot at ensiling your maize. Even a top-quality crop underperforms if you neglect proper clamp management.
In today’s margin-tight economy, dry matter losses, heating, and spoilage cost you more than just frustration; they reduce profits. Even without visible mould, you could still lose valuable energy, protein, and animal performance.
The best farmers understand the connection clearly:
- More oxygen = more spoilage
- More spoilage = less milk
- Less milk = lost margin
So, to extract maximum value from your forage, you must do more than grow a great crop; you must protect every tonne you harvest.
Great maize silage starts in the field, but it’s won or lost in the clamp.
