Byers Forage Harvesting and Bagging was established in 1983.  The business started with 1 forage harvester, 3 forage wagons, and a silage bagger.  The business chopped approximately 2,000 tons of silage in its first year.  The equipment lineup today includes 5 John Deere Self-propelled forage harvesters that have a combined capacity of 1,905 horsepower.  We have five rotary corn heads that can chop corn in any direction and have a combined width of 70 feet.  In addition, 7 silage trucks, 11 forage wagons, 5 silage baggers, a bagger tender, 3 trailers, and 7 support trucks are in the equipment lineup.  We will chop several crops during our annual summer run such as rye, triticale, alfalfa, oats, and wheat.  The annual fall run is devoted exclusively to corn silage.

We operate five silage crews for the corn silage season.  Our goal has been to be progressive and make aggressive technological advances as needed.  All of our forage harvesters are equipped with kernel processors.  Kernel processors, similar to a roller mill, provide premium silage processing by damaging the kernels of corn and grinding up the pieces of cob.  This additional processing allows for better animal intake and nutritional utilization as well as avoiding leftover pieces of cob in the feed bunk.  Furthermore, we have equipped all four forage harvesters with liquid inoculators.  The most accurate and uniform way to apply inoculant is at the forage harvester where the most constant crop flow is taking place.   We exclusively use Pioneer brand inoculants that have various products engineered for its individual crop.  Silage inoculants cut the fermentation window down from 3 weeks to approximately 4 to 5 days.  The narrower window allows for less heating and thus more preserved nutrients for the animal as well as prolonged bunk life.

Consistency and reliability has been crucial in allowing our business to grow.  We have a solid base of key personnel who are instrumental in allowing us to accomplish a vast amount of work in a short period of time.  Meet the outstanding crew members of Byers Forage Harvesting and Bagging:

• Ron Byers - Founder and overall operations manager
• Dan Byers - Truck crew leader
• Bob Skinner - Bob has been a full-time employee with us since December 2002 and serves as our veteran truck bagger operator.
• Doug Earp - Doug has been with us for 16 years and serves as the Fall corn silage truck crew leader.
• Elmer Hawk - Elmer's tenure spans 16 years and he helps with various tasks such as driving a silage truck, moving equipment, and locating parts.
• Tom Hoben - Tom, a crew member for 10 years, is the leader of our Fall 6710 wagon crew.
• Brian Byers - Brian is the crew leader of a 5830 wagon crew and has helped us the past 5 years.
• Kenny Byers - Kenny serves as a traveling repair technician and has been on our forage crew the past 4 years.
• Mark Gillen - The past 7 years Mark has managed our cattle operations during the Fall corn silage season.  This allows us to focus 100% of our time to our customers during that time period.
• Brad Ackman - Brad serves as a Fall truck driver and has been with us for 3 years.
• Chuck Byers - Chuck helps as Dan's truck bagger and has been with us for 2 years.
• Kim Phillips - Kim serves as a 5830 wagon crew leader and has been with us for 2 years.
• Del Emory - Del serves as a 5830 wagon crew leader and has been with us for 2 years.
• Jim Lee - Jim has been with us for 2 years and assists as a truck driver.
• Mike Whiteside - Mike helps us part-time and fills various roles such as a truck driver and bagger operator.  He has helped us the past 3 years.
• Tom Gerding - Tom helps us full-time and helps as both a bagger operator and a truck driver.  He has been with us for 2 years.
• Mark McCann - Mark has been on the forage crew for 2 years and serves as a wagon bagger operator.
• Ed Cundiff - Ed helps part-time and has helped as a wagon bagger operator for 1 year.
• Jeff Peel - Jeff also helps part-time and has helped as a wagon bagger operator for 1 year.
• Pat Thomas - Pat serves several roles as a bagger operator and assisting with other maintenance work.  He has been a part of our crew for 1 year.
• Chris Faudree - Chris has been a member of our forage crew for 1 year and assists as a bagger operator.

The core members of our crew are vital to the success of our business and we appreciate their dedication and sacrifice on our behalf.  The other pages of our website contain further information related to our current coverage area, video footage of our operations in action, the advantages of bagged silage, silage vs. hay cost scenarios, and a photo gallery.   Contact Ron or Dan if you would like to receive pricing information or have further questions related to silage and our services.