Silage vs. Hay

Main Difference

The main difference between Silage and Hay is that the Silage is a fermented, high-moisture stored fodder and Hay is a dried grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants.

• Silage

  Silage is fermented, high-moisture stored fodder which can be fed to cattle, sheep and other such ruminants (cud-chewing animals) or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters. It is fermented and stored in a process called ensilage, ensiling or silaging, and is usually made from grass crops, including maize, sorghum or other cereals, using the entire green plant (not just the grain). Silage can be made from many field crops, and special terms may be used depending on type: oatlage for oats, haylage for alfalfa; but see below for the different British use of the term haylage.

  Silage is made by one or more of the following methods: placing cut green vegetation in a silo or pit; piling the vegetation in a large heap and compressing it down so as to purge as much oxygen as possible, then covering it with a plastic sheet; or by wrapping large round bales tightly in plastic film.

• Hay

  Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing animals such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to smaller animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. Pigs may be fed hay, but they do not digest it as efficiently as fully herbivorous animals.

  Hay can be used as animal fodder when or where there is not enough pasture or rangeland on which to graze an animal, when grazing is unavailable due to weather (such as during the winter) or when lush pasture by itself is too rich for the health of the animal. It is also fed during times when an animal is unable to access pasture, such as when animals are kept in a stable or barn.

• Silage (noun)

  grass or other green fodder compacted and stored in airtight conditions, typically in a silo, without first being dried, and used as animal feed in the winter.

• Silage (verb)

  make silage

  “they do 1500 acres of contract silaging each year”

• Silage (verb)

  preserve (grass and other green fodder) as silage.