Silage avalanches are real, and there is no way to predict when and where they will occur. It only takes a fraction of a second for part of a silage face to silently break off and fall, and the result can be deadly for anyone located beneath it.

Silage avalanches are real, and there is no way to predict when and where they will occur. It only takes a fraction of a second for part of a silage feedout face to silently break off and fall, and the result can be deadly for anyone beneath it. Recently, there have been numerous avalanche fatalities, including an 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire, a 19-year-old young man in New York, a 30-year-old truck driver in Idaho and a 63-year-old employee in Pennsylvania.

Few farming operations invite as many different opportunities for injury or fatality as a silage program. Silage-related tragedies know no age boundary, as workers and bystanders of all ages have been injured or killed during silage harvest and feedout.

Year after year, the cost of unsealed or incorrectly sealed silage exceeds a quarter billion dollars. That’s no small change when it comes to a livestock operation’s bottom line.

From 2007 to 2011, an average of 108.5 million tons of whole-plant corn was harvested annually for silage in the U.S. The majority of corn silage was stored in bunker silos and drive-over piles. But filling bunkers and piles can pose serious risks to employees, especially those who operate the pack tractors, unless safety guidelines are put in place in advance.