COMPARISON OF SILOS
1. Cost
A comparison of the suitability of different types of silos should include not only the initial capital cost, but also the yearly operating costs for the entire feeding system.
(a) Initial Capital Costs
Any comparison of capital costs of silos must, first of all, be based on equivalent storage capacity. Unfortunately there is no uniformly accepted standard by which capacities are stated. One common measure is volume of useable storage space. However, a major disadvantage with this type of measure is that it does not take into consideration the compaction effect on silage due to height. This puts higher, larger diameter tower silos at a disadvantage. Another measure is the tons of silage the silo will hold. This, of course, is subject to wide variations due to moisture content, fineness of chop, species of plant, method of distribution and packing, number of times the silo is refilled , etc. Great variation Can occur with horizontal silos due to the amount that can be piled above the actual height of the side-walls, or sloped beyond the ends of the walls.