VACUUM SILAGE PIT

Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition

Seán Duffy, a Transition Year student from Virginia College, who showcased a Vacuum Silage Pit explained: “My project runs on the basis that farmers have invested so much money and time into their silage production and that one of the key factors that influences silage quality is the removal of air.

“The current method that most farmers use is compaction. They drive heavy machinery over their silage pit in an attempt to remove air. This method works, but my theory is that you could use a vacuum source and apply that to your silage pit to remove even more air and hopefully overall, in the end, improve silage quality,” he explained.

“The goal would be to speed up the fermentation process, which in turn would reduce loss of nutrients in the grass and therefore lead to better fermentation and better silage quality,” added Seán.

Asked about his inspiration for the project. Seán said his grandparents were farmers and his father is involved in agricultural engineering.

Seán concluded by paying tribute to his teacher Matthew Hynes for advising and assisting him throughout the project.

A debt of gratitude is also owed to dairy farmer Andrew Wright, known for Farm Theory on YouTube.