6 Best Silage Tarps for Maximum Feed Protection

You’ve spent months growing, chopping, and packing your forage, putting in long hours to create high-quality feed for your animals. The last thing you want is to peel back the cover months later and find a spoiled, moldy mess on top. Protecting that investment comes down to one critical, often overlooked tool: the silage tarp.

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Why Quality Silage Tarps Matter for Feed

A silage tarp does more than just keep rain and snow off your pile. Its primary job is to create an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment, which is essential for proper fermentation. When oxygen gets in, it fuels the growth of yeast, mold, and bacteria that consume valuable nutrients, reduce feed quality, and can even make your animals sick. A cheap, thin tarp that tears easily or allows oxygen to seep through is a recipe for disaster, leading to significant feed loss at the surface and shoulders of the pile.

Think of a quality silage tarp not as a cost, but as an insurance policy on your feed. The money you save by preventing even a few inches of spoilage across the top of your pile almost always pays for the higher cost of a better tarp. This is especially true for hobby farmers, where every bit of homegrown feed counts towards reducing winter expenses. Choosing the right cover ensures that the feed you pull out in February is just as nutritious as the day you packed it.

SiloStop Max: Ultimate Oxygen Barrier Tarp

If your goal is to eliminate as much spoilage as possible, SiloStop is the industry standard for a reason. This isn’t just a sheet of plastic; it’s a specialized oxygen barrier (OB) film designed to be virtually impermeable to oxygen. While standard black-and-white tarps slow oxygen transfer, SiloStop’s unique material composition stops it almost completely, resulting in significantly less spoiled feed on the top layer of your pile.

This tarp is for the farmer who prioritizes feed quality above all else and understands the high cost of waste. It’s perfect for high-value forages like alfalfa or for anyone feeding animals whose performance is directly tied to feed quality, such as dairy goats or finishing beef. The upfront cost is higher, no question, but the reduction in spoilage and improvement in feed palatability often provides a clear return on investment. If you can’t stand seeing a single forkful of feed go to waste, SiloStop Max is the best protection you can buy.

Raven Dura-Skrim: Reinforced for Durability

The biggest threat to some silage piles isn’t oxygen transmission—it’s physical damage. Raven’s Dura-Skrim series is built to withstand abuse, featuring a heavy-duty scrim reinforcement grid laminated between layers of polyethylene. This grid acts like rebar in concrete, dramatically increasing the tarp’s resistance to punctures and tears. Whether it’s from deer walking across the pile, stray equipment bumps, or the constant stress of wind, this tarp is made to hold its ground.

This is the right choice for anyone with a high-traffic bunker, a pile built on a rough surface, or for farmers who need to walk on their pile frequently. It’s also an excellent option if you have issues with birds or other pests trying to peck or claw their way through the cover. While it may be slightly heavier and less flexible than non-reinforced options, its toughness is unmatched. If your tarps always seem to end up with mysterious rips and holes by spring, the rugged construction of Dura-Skrim is your best defense.

Up North Plastics Sunfilm: A Versatile Choice

Sometimes you don’t need a highly specialized product; you just need a reliable workhorse that gets the job done without any fuss. Up North Plastics Sunfilm is that product—a widely trusted, all-around performer that balances cost, durability, and effectiveness. It’s a standard black-and-white polyethylene film that provides excellent UV protection and a solid barrier against the elements.

This is the go-to tarp for the hobby farmer with a straightforward bunker or pile who needs dependable protection without overspending. It comes in a huge variety of sizes and thicknesses, making it easy to find the perfect fit for your specific needs. While it doesn’t have the near-zero oxygen permeability of a dedicated OB film or the extreme puncture resistance of a reinforced tarp, it performs its core function exceptionally well. For a proven, no-nonsense cover that you can count on year after year, Sunfilm is a smart and practical choice.

Bunker PPO: Two-Step System for Less Spoilage

The Bunker PPO (Plastic Plus Oxygen barrier) system offers a clever compromise between standard tarps and high-end, single-layer oxygen barriers. This two-step approach involves first laying down a very thin, flexible OB film that clings directly to the surface of the silage, effectively vacuum-sealing it. Then, you cover that with a traditional, durable black-and-white tarp for UV protection and physical defense. This combination provides the spoilage-reducing benefits of an OB film at a more accessible price point.

This system is perfect for the farmer who wants to significantly reduce top-layer spoilage but isn’t ready to invest in a premium all-in-one product like SiloStop. It’s a fantastic way to upgrade your feed protection strategy. The main tradeoff is the extra labor involved in applying two separate sheets, which can be tricky on a windy day. However, if you’re ready to take the next step in preserving feed quality, this two-tarp system delivers outstanding results for the cost.

Farm Plastic Supply: Reliable and Affordable

For many small-scale operations, budget is a primary concern. Farm Plastic Supply has built a reputation on providing solid, no-frills silage tarps at a very competitive price. They offer standard-grade black-and-white polyethylene films that are reliable and effective for general use, often with the convenience of easy online ordering and direct shipping. This makes them incredibly accessible for hobby farmers who may not have a large agricultural supplier nearby.

This is the ideal choice for the farmer on a tight budget, for covering smaller or temporary piles, or for anyone who just needs a good, basic tarp without paying for premium features. You won’t find advanced oxygen barrier technology here, but you will find a dependable product that keeps the weather out and helps facilitate fermentation. When you need to protect your feed without breaking the bank, Farm Plastic Supply delivers exactly what you need: a functional, affordable solution.

Tytan International: High Puncture Resistance

Tytan silage tarps are engineered with a clear focus on toughness. Made from advanced resins, these films are known for their exceptional puncture and tear resistance, even at thinner gauges. This makes them particularly well-suited for covering coarse forages with sharp, stalky material, like corn silage or sorghum, which can easily poke holes in less durable tarps from below.

Choose Tytan if your primary battle is with physical damage from either the forage itself or from external threats like pests. If you’ve had issues with birds pecking holes in your cover or rodents chewing through the edges, the enhanced durability of a Tytan tarp can save you countless hours of patching and prevent pathways for air and water to enter. It’s built for challenging conditions. For peace of mind against physical threats, the superior strength of Tytan is a worthy investment.

Choosing the Right Silage Tarp Thickness

The thickness of a silage tarp is measured in "mils," where one mil is one-thousandth of an inch. While it might seem like a small detail, choosing the right thickness is a critical decision that balances cost, durability, and ease of handling. The most common thickness for a standard outer cover is 5 mil, which offers a good blend of strength and flexibility for most hobby farm applications.

For longer-term storage (over a year), piles built on rough ground, or bunkers that will be walked on frequently, stepping up to a 6 or 7 mil tarp is a wise investment. The extra material provides a greater margin of safety against punctures and UV degradation over time. On the other hand, the thin oxygen barrier films used in two-step systems are typically only 1.5 to 2 mils thick. Their purpose isn’t physical strength but to cling tightly to the forage surface, so they are always used underneath a standard, thicker protective cover.

Best Practices for Securing Your Silage Pile

Even the world’s best silage tarp is useless if it isn’t held down properly. Wind is your biggest enemy, as it can lift the tarp, billow air underneath, and ruin the anaerobic environment you worked so hard to create. The goal is to apply uniform, consistent weight across the entire surface and create an airtight seal around the perimeter.

Here are some key best practices:

• Use tire sidewalls or gravel bags. Avoid using whole tires, as they collect stagnant water, become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and are heavy and awkward to handle.
• Overlap seams correctly. If you need to use multiple tarps, overlap them by at least 3-4 feet, ensuring the upper tarp lies over the lower one like a shingle to shed water.
• Seal the edges completely. Pile soil or sandbags tightly along the entire perimeter of the bunker or pile. This prevents air from seeping in around the bottom.
• Weight the entire surface. Place your weights in a grid pattern across the top, close enough that the tarp doesn’t flap or billow in the wind. A well-weighted tarp should be in constant contact with the silage surface.

Extending Tarp Life and Preventing Damage

A silage tarp is a significant investment, and a few simple steps can help you protect it and extend its useful life. Before you even lay the tarp down, walk the area and remove any sharp rocks, sticks, or stubble that could cause a puncture from below. Prevention is always easier than repair.

Once the pile is covered, be vigilant. Keep livestock away from the pile with sturdy fencing, as their hooves can easily cause tears. If you spot a hole from a bird or rodent, patch it immediately with specially designed silage tarp tape. A small hole can let in a surprising amount of air and water, leading to a large pocket of spoilage. When you’re done with a tarp, clean it, let it dry, and roll it tightly for storage in a place safe from sunlight and rodents.

Ultimately, selecting the right silage tarp is about matching the product’s strengths to your farm’s specific needs and budget. It’s not just a cover; it’s the final, crucial step in preserving the value of your feed. By making an informed choice, you ensure that all your hard work in the field translates into high-quality nutrition for your animals all winter long.