Silos Are Filled With Stories

Across the Fence #305

This week the corn on the fields of the back forty behind our house, disappeared faster than Rolaids at a hot chili eating contest. Times have sure changed since the days of a one-row picker pulled behind a tractor. We thought things were really changing when we saw the first two-row picker mounted on the front of a tractor. When I think of those days, I can smell the sweet scent of corn silage, freshly chopped in the field.

We were always in school when the silo fillers came to chop the corn and blow it up into the silos. We’d hurry home from school so we could get in on some of the adventure. When we got to haul the wagons from the field to the silo we thought we had been promoted to the major league. It was fun, but scary too. It was tricky pulling the big chopper wagon filled with silage alongside the blower and stopping in the right spot.

After the wagon was in place, we pulled the silage from the back of the wagon, using curved forks, into the auger of the blower that sent the silage rattling up the pipe and into the silo. That was a dangerous job. Many farmers have lost an arm or leg, or been killed, when they got caught in the auger. It’s easy to see why farming is such a dangerous occupation. You’re always working around moving parts that can quickly entangle you and pull you in. Maybe it’s that sense of danger that added to the silo adventure when we were young.

Speaking of danger, this silo story about three of my friends from grade school at Smith, is filled with danger. One day the three girls decided to climb up the “outside” of the silo on one of their farms. They didn’t use a ladder. They climbed up the rungs around the silo. Uff da, I wouldn’t even try that. When they were near the top, the mother of two of the girls came out of the house and almost had a heart attack when she saw them. She didn’t dare to yell for fear they would become startled and fall. She walked to the base of the silo and in a calm voice said, “You girls better come down now.” I’d like to know what she said after they were safely on the ground!

I know another guy who climbed up the chute of an empty silo, and then walked around the top of that silo. That’s quite a balancing act. I think all four of those friends missed their calling in life. They should have joined the circus and performed death-defying feats on a high wire.

Silo stories have always generated comments and letters from readers. I received this note about silo adventures from Kathy in Iowa.

“I read your story in the Linn News-Letter about silos. It brought back several silo incidents, that at the time were not funny, but we can laugh about them now. My husband, Tim, and I milked between 60-100 head of Holsteins and Brown Swiss for 20 years. We have two 60-foot silos, both with roofs and silo unloaders. With that number of dairy cattle, for that length of time, we had many “silo experiences.” One of those days when the silo unloader wasn’t cooperating, Tim had to climb up the dark chute and get inside. My job was to remain below and listen for him to signal me to crank the unloader up or down, or turn it on. As he was pitching out some silage by hand, I stood back to let it fall in the bunk that I was standing in. There was a pause, then he yelled something. Not being sure what he had just said, I went under the chute and yelled up, ‘What did you say?’ Just as he started to speak again, a huge raccoon landed on my head and shoulders. I started screaming hysterically as the poor, frightened raccoon scampered off. Tim soon emerged from the chute laughing and asked me if I was OK. I shakily replied yes, then asked him what he had said when he yelled down the chute to me. He answered, ‘A raccoon is coming down!’ I can still remember the weight of it on my head and shoulders, and feel that fur in my face. I would prefer it in the form of a coonskin hat or collar.

“Both silos stand unused now. We no longer milk cows. One silo is empty, but the other has a some old silage left in it. Last fall I saw a raccoon climb up the side, onto the ladder, and duck inside the chute, probably looking for a place to hibernate for the winter.

“Keep up the great stories. Being raised on a farm that raised hogs, sheep, chickens, and dairy, has left me with many wonderful and colorful experiences. Raising our three children on the farm, has undoubtedly left them with many memories also. Your stories help me remember and make me smile. The one about the old barn is another story that really spoke to me.”

Yes Kathy, there are many stories to tell. Most of those old silos that were once filled with silage, now stand empty, but they are all filled with great stories.