Anyone Started Hay/Grass Silage 2019 Yet?

[LouNY]

@LouNY-

Nice photos. Will you need to rake the field in your photos or do you simply come by with the baler next for 2 trips total: one to cut, 1 to bale? Assuming you're wrapping those bales. If so how long do you let it dry and what moisture content do you bale at?

Depending on the yield of the field will decide how we will rake, normally we will double up the windrows.
Some times on a light field we will even put 3 or 4 into one.
This has several purposes, it makes the baling or chopping go much faster. It is a lot less trips up and down a field,
which results in less ground compaction and less fuel consumed as well as saving a lot of time.
For baleage or haylage the optimal moisture is supposedly between 40 to 60%, for balage we like it closer to the 60%.
For haylage we like 45-50%.
This got baled at 65% at the start then the weather got us we finished baling and hauling in the rain and one field was close to 70% to start with.
If the bales are well sealed with the wrap even the quite wet ones will cook up, they may be more of a sauerkraut then a nice smelling baleage.

A couple of pics of the double rake setup, today we actually had one of the IH656's on the rakes.


Then some pics of the wrapper operation, because of the rain we had to move the wrapper inside,
if the bale wrap gets wet while wrapping it will not cling to itself and seal the wrap which lets air get to it and causes it to rot not ensilage.

Our bale wagon will hold up to 10 bales, we bring a load in and dump them, then using the grapple pick one up and bring it to the wrapper, while it's wrapping take the one that was just finished and go set it in the yard, come back grab another and set it on the wrapper, when the wrapper completes wrapping a bale the final step is that it dumps the bale of the back of the wrapper.

 

[woolyAcres]

Nice photos thanks. Can I ask another question? What in that hay mix? And how are you testing the moisture?

We normally take some samples and microwave it until it no longer looses weight. The old farmer here is used to making dry square bales. He then moved to dry round bales. It was only a couple years ago that we got a wrapper and started making wet(ish) bales. Waiting for the hay to be crispy dry is a hard habit to break We had a chance to bale about 5 acres yesterday but it was at 65% and we held off, then it got rained on.

You're in NY, no? Are you cutting one day and raking/baling the next or do you end up with a drying day in between?

Thanks

 

[LouNY]

As far as the moisture when fresh mowed it's about 80% a days wilt on a good drying day will have it done to close to 60 or less.
We just do a hand feel and a twist and pull test.
I have seen the microwave test procedures we have never done them.
The fields had different mixs in them, one piece had alfalfa, timothy and brome,
the others had brome and ryegrass.
We normally mow one day, then give it a drying day if the yield is good and if it has a lot of alfalfa or clover in it then bale for baleage.
If the yield is light and it's mostly grasses mow one day and bale late the next day if it's good drying weather and the ground is dry.
This we knew we where crowding it time wise but with the weather the way it's been, what else to do.
Plus all of these will be sprayed and put into corn this year, or sorghum sudan grass.
The round bales for baleage are normally our backup plan, once corn is in and we can get on our main hay fields we will be chopping for haylage.

 

[woolyAcres]

Thanks Lou!

I'm working to get the old farmer into the habit of cut today, dry tomorrow, bale the following day when heavy/wet and cut today, bale tomorrow afternoon when we've got good drying weather. But that's not what he's used to.

We normally double up our windrows. We've got a 9' cutter and rake so we roll together 2 rows and bale with a net wrapping Krone 4x4, then wrap with a table wrapper much like yours. The old farmer has kept equipment running a long time by going slowly and not making things too heavy so when it comes to wet bales we're waiting on them to dry more out of concerns for weight (loaders, wagons, baler) than for moisture. We've never actually weighed a wet bale but I'm guessing ours rarely go over 1000lbs. If we upped our moisture content, I think we could shave a day off the process (currently cut evening, dry one day, often dry another day, bale on 4th day) which would make finding windows to make hay easier and I think get better end result. But it would up the weights. Even so, I don't think we'd be much over 1200lbs.

Good luck with your hay this year!

 

[PROFarms]

Back out mowing again. First field of hay!

 

[cat fever]

Very nice PROFarms,

Looks like I'll be cutting at the end of the month or thereabouts. We did freeze about a week ago. Looking at the field I think I came out OK, not much loss at all. Last year I lost about 1/2 the field due to freezing.

 

[art]

Looking at the rakes here I would say you could gain about 3 to 4 hours on your hay to go to a rotary rake. There are pluses and minuses as to the base designs for repairs if needed but they are a big plus here with rain and most farmers using them are mowing one day and baling the next for balage.

 

[PROFarms]

Back making some late season hay in a neighbours orchard. Not much here but full of good clover!