Silage balers?

[AKfish]

First off - don't know apples about round balers. There weren't very many around when I was a kid and when I came to Alaska nearly 40 years ago there wasn't hardly a single one!

Anyway, I'm wondering about how silage balers work.

There was alot of corn silage and some alfalfa/clover haylage put up where I lived before moving north. So, I 'get' silage that's cut and packed in a big pile or 3-sided bunker and after a few months fed to beef and dairy cattle.

Can't figure how a silage baler makes a bale that is 'sealed' or anaerobic to make real silage that doesn't mold and spoil. Appreciate the information and any first hand knowledge.

AKfish

 

[RickB]

Silage balers have different and heavier components that are designed to handle the weight and moisture challenges that come with baling wetter, heavier crops. The sealing and controlled fermentation you are wondering about is accomplished by wrapping the bales in translucent or opaque stretch plastic film in a separate process after baling. This is done either individually or together in long rows. Google bale wrapper or round bale wrapper for examples.

 

[Tx Jim]

I'll add to what Rick stated that most silage bales are baled at a smaller diameter than dry hay due to the extra weight of the bale. I think the hay is baled at around 65% moisture. Some baler models such as JD,Krone & McHale bale and wrap on the go.

 

[DT86]

This video gives good information on the practices recommended by U of Kentucky.

http://youtu.be/1LXUiLd4FCg


Most folks around here seem to have went towards using "inline" wrappers, although there are still plenty of the single bale wrappers around.

Inline wrapper.

http://youtu.be/5ho-Lev2gsU


Self-loading (not all of them are) single bale wrapper.

http://youtu.be/111qPXGXEw0



I helped a friend wrap some of his hay this summer. He did the baling and I fed the wrapper.

 

[DT86]

I meant to say that he wrapped some of my hay this year and am currently feeding 50:50 dry and wrapped hay. The cows tend to migrate to the wrapped.

While I have helped others in the past wrap their hay but this is my first year feeding any. One thing I have noticed is that if there is a hole in the plastic you may as well dump the roll over the hill and get another one. The hay will be black and have mold near the hole, not something the cows willingly eat.

 

[AKfish]

OK, so there's a few more steps to the whole process - after the bale rolls out the back of the baler. And, it looks like those steps are pretty steep - cost wise! Yikes!

Heck, I don't think I could turn that 'Green Thing' on my 20 acres. Might coulda if I swung it around the 2 1/2 miles to the other 20 acres!

Showed my wife the video of the inline wrapper... told her that it 'required' an excavator to operate - she was not amused?!?

So, DT is the whole bale spoiled or just where the hole and black mold is located? I've fed lot's of the brown/black crust from the top and edges of the silage pile to cows and never seen any ill effects. But, I've also heard of botulism and sick horses/cows from baleage-haylage, too.

Thanks.

AKfish

 

[DT86]

Only a single bale I've unwrapped so far with a hole, I'd say there was about 30-40% loss. Now out of what is wrapped, there will be far less spoilage overall than a equal amount of bales which have only been net wrapped and stored outside

You need to price the wrapper itself before you try to talk her into the excavator. :shocked: