Progressi nella conservazione e utilizzazione dei foraggi: l’insilamento

The history of forage conservation by ensiling follows a long journey from the Cretan antiquity to the modern age. In the middle of 1800 maize silage started to develop in Europe. From 1875 ensiling spread in the United States driven by the translation in English of the book “The ensilage of maize, and other green fodder crops.” by Auguste Goffart. At the beginning of 1900 an increase of the silo number was observed also in Italy. Prof. Samarani improved the technique of haylage in tower silos. At the beginning of 1960, the high costs and diffi culties in mechanization of tower silos, together with the development of plastic sheets, drove the development of maize ensiling in horizontal silos. From ’70 ensiling of grasses and wilted herbage in horizontal silos, and in the middle of ’80 appeared the fi rst machine to wrap bale silage