Thinking about getting set up for silage hay.

Equipmentpro99 · Mar 23, 2014

Hey everyone, I do alot of custom haying in north Arkansas and am thinking about getting set up for hi moisture hay. Im thinking if it is higher quality than dry hay i could get all my own hay put up earlier, then have more time to put up all my customers dry hay. I know the extra cost, like the wrap, and wrapper etc just wondering about other pros and cons. Any knowledge in this area is appreciated. Thanks!

RickB · Mar 23, 2014

Tube wrappers require lots of room for bale storage, bales be fed out consistently once the tube is open, and use lots less plastic than individually wrapped bales. Individual wrapping allows stacking, individual feeding/sale/delivery, but uses more plastic. Figure 20+- 4x5 bales wrapped individually per roll of 30" film. Moving wet bales out of the field wrapped or not takes more time than dry hay because of the added weight unless you use VERY HD wagons/trailers. Weight per silage bale is about double that of dry hay same size.

Equipmentpro99 · Mar 23, 2014

I have several big trucks and trailers so the extra weight isn't a problem. Im probably going to use a tube wrapper because i will be hauling all the hay about 5 miles (at the furthest) to one place to wrap and then feed out daily to beef cows. I might still use a single bale wrapper for 50 or 100 bales just to sell/give away to some of my customers to get them talked into doing some hi moisture hay.

zionview · Mar 23, 2014

Our neighbors went to high moisture round bales a while back. The extra weight is significant. A 1,000 lb. bale at 12% moisture has 880 lbs. dry matter. At 60% moisture, that same bale would weigh 2,200 lbs.(lbs. dry matter divided by % dry matter= actual lbs.-880/.40=2,200). I assume the weather had a lot to do with their decision. PA is humid in the summer. They rent a tuber and store all they can bale as silage. They use a 4640 Gehl skid steer and a FWD John Deere to move them. Do you have access to a wrapper or tuber you could rent to try it?

Equipmentpro99 · Mar 23, 2014

I have already found someone to wrap my hay on a trial basis. If i end up wanting to do alot more hi moisture hay i will get a tube wrapper. But i want to try it out and see how it works for my operation before i invest that kind of money. Im not really worried about the weight, all my equipment can handle at least 3k pounds, and im not even going to be hauling it that far.

RickB · Mar 23, 2014

What do you have for a baler?

Equipmentpro99 · Mar 23, 2014

I'm purchasing either a John deere 468 silage special or a regular 468 and adding a silage kit.

tessiers · Mar 23, 2014

We don't have the equipment to make them but I prefer high moisture to dry hay. My animals seem to grow better on it and I feed less grain with the high moisture. I have had mine wrapped by a custom operator, and sold dry hay and bought high moisture, in the end it is cheaper for me to just feed out the dry we make, although I hope to have the proper equipment someday. The way it was explained to me is the high moisture makes it more digestible, allowing the cattle to get more out of the same dry matter. Don't know a lot of details other than in my experience our cattle grow faster. I also like the fact that they are easier to store and feed. We place ours in a row right beside our drive, very close to the feeding paddock and easy to keep clear of snow.

Equipmentpro99 · Mar 25, 2014

I've heard that cows gain better on hi moisture hay, but i know its just like dry hay there is good hay and bad, depending on the type of grass and how it is put up. My reasons for wanting hi moisture hay is to have my hay put up before my customers need their dry hay put up, free up barn space for my second cutting hay ( if im blessed with a second cutting ) and to get the best forage for my cattle. One thing im wondering is how long it will keep in a tube? I would hate to have any go to the bad with all that money invested in it. I guess if i know i will have extra i could just buy more cows..

RickB · Mar 25, 2014

My experience with individually wrapped bales is after about a year things start to go south even in the best of conditions. I can't see how bales in a tube would last any longer. Bird/rodent damage,, UV degradation, etc are your enemies.

art · Mar 25, 2014

High moisture is more tender on the mouths of the animals so they enjoy chewing on it longer. In our area trying to get dry hay is a problem but hi-moisture is easier on the time. Many farmers mow and harvest the same day rather then having to wait a couple of days to dry the hay.

slowzuki · Mar 25, 2014

Here the guys making balage cut in the morning, ted once at noon, cut for the next day in the afternoon, rake at 4 or 5 pm, bale and wrap that night. They can start their first cut on time where us dry hay guys are stuck idle. They can even get it put up with 2 cloudy days and some tedding.

Easily get in 3 cuts where the rest of us dry hay guys struggle to get in 2.

Equipmentpro99 · Mar 27, 2014

slowzuki said:
Here the guys making balage cut in the morning, ted once at noon, cut for the next day in the afternoon, rake at 4 or 5 pm, bale and wrap that night. They can start their first cut on time where us dry hay guys are stuck idle. They can even get it put up with 2 cloudy days and some tedding.

Easily get in 3 cuts where the rest of us dry hay guys struggle to get in 2.

Thats what im wanting to do is get my hay up faster and hopefully get an extra cutting. I've been baling dry hay for 13 years and i hate having to wait on hay to dry, the weather to break, etc... I always put up hi quality hay (when the weather cooperates) and my cows do great on it, but if hi moisture really is better than dry hay, i might be able to feed them less, sell more of my dry hay or have a few more cows.
Has anyone done a test on hi moisture and dry hay from the same field to compare tdn?

tessiers · Mar 30, 2014

We keep ours for 1 season only. Have fed a few older ones in a pinch but there is definitely more waste. Cut as soon as dew is gone and bale by nightfall. I don't think your ganna feed any less grass, about the same volume, more tonnage. I have baled and fed both from the same field but I don't test content so no number there. It is definitely easy to make, weather is the thing, they can all predict today, 3 days is a little harder to judge.

zionview · Mar 30, 2014

High moisture hay will be somewhat higher in protein, due to handling it at a higher moisture. There is less leaf shatter and loss, particularly in legumes. Two more reasons cows seem to do better on silage: it is more palatable at a higher moisture, and the fermentation process is equivalent to being partially digested for them. The last eight years we had dairy cattle, we fed no dry feed to the lactating cows, only corn silage, haylage, and high moisture corn until it ran out, then dry corn. We fed a total mixed ration and I noticed the cows could eat more pounds dry matter in a day eating fermented feed. That translated into more milk production at a slightly higher cost of making feed. I don't know if the higher intake of feed will pay with beef, or not, but you will love making higher quality feed on a much higher percentage of your crop!

southerndeere · Apr 1, 2014

If its to high of moisure cut it an chop it for silage has always worked for us

Equipmentpro99 · Apr 8, 2014

Well after looking at the extra cost of equipment, wrap etc I'm just going to stick with dry hay for now. Bought a really nice 467 JD with 5k bales, never has been rained on! In afew years i might look into putting up hi-moisture hay or silage. I might start off chopping silage and put it in a pit, it sure would be cheaper than buying a wrapper, silage baler, and the wrap.

farmer2009 · Apr 9, 2014

Had a client that was chopping corn for silage to put in a pit. Had a 150hp tractor chopping 1 row at 1mph said chopper was eating tractor. Had a guy come in and do it custom had a self-propelled chopper 6 rows at 7 mph. But I think he said he was running 640 hp.

A neighbor was putting up haylage (silage in a bale) decided to go to blowing it into bags. Bought all equipment used it one year learned he could roll it and wrap it faster. Haven't seen silage wagons at his place since first of the year. Will see what he does this year.

RickB · Apr 9, 2014

farmer2009 said:
Had a client that was chopping corn for silage to put in a pit. Had a 150hp tractor chopping 1 row at 1mph said chopper was eating tractor.

That is absolutely absurd. The chopper must have been very, very much out of adjustment AND dull. You can't grow corn big & thick enough to make 150 HP work hard cutting 1 row at 1 MPH with a properly adjusted machine. You might get some of these folks to buy in, but I've cut wayyy to much silage to swallow that.