MEDIA RELEASE
CONTACT: Rick Jones, Engineered Storage Products Company, Inc., rljones@engstorage.com, 815-756-1551; or, Jon Anderson, OPEN ROADS, janderson@openroads-bgdn.com, 414-227-1000 ext. 4.
THIRD GENERATION FARM RETURNS TO HARVESTORE
CHILTON, Wis. (July 2008) Back in 1956, Ernest Ditter put up two Harvestore? structures on his father?s Holstein farm. Years later, the Chilton, Wis., dairy producer remained loyal to ?Big Blue? and put up a third one. Ditter believed that Harvestores were the best option for storing feed.
As the farm grew, Ernest?s son Ron and his daughter-in-law Jodi turned to plastic bags for their expanding feed storage needs. While they thought they were saving money, they quickly discovered that plastic bags couldn?t store high quality feed as well as a Harvestore can.
?While bags do work, Harvestore structures store feed better and have less risk,? admits Jodi Ditter. ?With today?s high feed costs, we can?t afford any risks. Compared to plastic bags, a Harvestore preserves the feed better and there is less waste.?
Ditter also explains that bags can get messy. ?We often bring up stones or mud while unloading, contaminating the feed. Plus, we?ve had two bags rip. The first one ripped because of a manufacturer?s default. We had to re-bag all the feed. For the second one, the hot sun hit the seam on the bag just right and it busted open. Again, we had to re-bag 150 feet worth of feed. We?re also always worried about overfilling the bags and hail damage.? She figures it costs them about $575 for a 10x250 foot bag itself and that much or more to fill it (labor and equipment), for a total of almost $1,200. ?When starting with already high priced commodities and then adding the risks and costs of working with plastic, buying a Harvestore makes real economic sense,? comments Jodi.
The Ditters also noticed that feed from the bags gets stale when it?s exposed to air. ?When we first open the bags, the feed smells fresh, but after a week or two, it gets stale. With Harvestore structures, the feed always smells fresh.?
Located between two major cities (Green Bay and Milwaukee), Jodi Ditter says it is becoming much more of a hassle to dispose of their plastic storage bags.
Last year, the third generation farmers made Ernest proud. With the help of their local authorized dealer, Lakeside Systems, the Ditters turned back to Harvestore, adding a fourth blue structure to the two-farm operation. And they have plans to put another one up later this summer.
Located in Chilton, Wis., the Ditters milk 170 Holsteins with a rolling herd average of 23,000 pounds of milk. Ron and Jodi manage the operation with the help of their daughter, Renee, and son, Jeff. They also have one full-time employee and farm 443 acres of alfalfa, wheat and corn. ?No matter what type of feed, if we follow ESPC?s guidelines for moisture content and chop length, we always get quality feed out. Our feed consultant runs monthly analyses, and the Harvestore feed is always of high quality,? says Jodi.
Harvestore Structures on Ditter Farms, Chilton, Wis.
Tipping the scales further, new technology now makes loading and unloading a Harvestore just as fast as plastic storage bags, notes Jodi. Since the family purchased a new XL 400 unloader, they are able to take 300 to 400 pounds of haylage out per minute. They like the new unloader so much, they plan on buying an XL 200 for their newest Harvestore structure arriving next month.
Along with haylage and silage, the Ditters also look to high moisture corn as a useful feed ingredient. They know that proper moisture content and processing method are essential to obtaining the corn?s added energy value. That?s why they prefer to store their high moisture corn in a Harvestore. ?My father-in-law, who put up the first Harvestores back in 1956, told his farming friends that one day he would store ground ear corn in a Harvestore. They laughed at him,? says Jodi. ?In 1970, he showed them all when he converted his 17x40 Harvestore to successfully store high moisture corn.?
?My father-in-law was a man ahead of his time. He was always looking for a better solution and he found it in a Harvestore,? says Jodi Ditter.
Greg Anderson, Nutritional Consultant to Engineered Storage Products Company, says many of the dairies that turned to plastic bags or concrete bunkers are discovering that Harvestores provide a higher nutrient value. ?It doesn?t pay to switch,? advises Anderson. With the first-in, first-out forage flow, Anderson says Harvestores offer the most consistent quality and value.
Jodi Ditter agrees. ?As long as we keep the Harvestores maintained, they truly offer better lifetime value for our feed storage. Sooner or later, we would like to get rid of all the bags.?
Harvestore structures are manufactured by Engineered Storage Products Company (ESPC) of DeKalb, Ill. ESPC is the leading manufacturer of glass-fused-to-steel structures in North America, including the well known Harvestore and Slurrystore? brands. For more information, call 815-756-1551.
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