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<blockquote data-quote="cowtrek" data-source="post: 262746" data-attributes="member: 2847"><p>Mostly equipment deficiencies would be my guess. Not much silage done in this area. Only silage I've seen was a guy the other side of Wharton toward Garwood doing some bunker silage. Otherwise nearly everything here is put up as dry hay, except dairies and some big stocker outfits I guess. Be hard to find a silage cutter/bagger hauler or packer too. </p><p></p><p>I saw a lot of corn up near Shiner and Hallettsville that had grown between 3-4 feet high and had made nubbins, certainly not worth $3/gallon diesel to combine but with the rain we got up there last month had grown a whopping good crop of coloradograss and crabgrass in it nearly 3 feet tall in places; suppose it's scavenging off the fertilizer meant for the corn. I was lusting over those fields because if it were me, I'd cut that stuff in a heartbeat, let the grass dry down to 20% and bale it all. The grass should eliminate any risk of nitrate poisoning from the drought stressed cornstalks, the cows would eat the leaves and upper stalks with the grass and pick the whole ear corn out to boot. Can't get much better hay than that IMHO. I've baled whole ear corn before and other than making more noise as the ears bounce through the pickup and baler roller it worked really well. Cows loved it. They won't usually eat the hard fibrous root end of the stalk but everthing above the ear and all the leaves usually disappear. We roll them out so any stalks left behind rot down rapidly. </p><p></p><p>There's some soybeans near here that look pretty bad, thinking about talking to the guy about baling those. I baled soybeans of my own in 96 after the cotton crop failed. We had Trifluralin and Cotoran down already and I wasn't sure that sorghum-sudan would even germinate or grow, but soybeans can tolerate it. We hoped we might even make a bean crop and salvage part of the year anyway, but we flat planted it so we could bale if it didn't make grain. It was almost too late when we planted so the grain part didn't work out; maybe 10-15 bushels to the acre I'd have guessed but they were 2-3 feet tall and lush with some escaped Johnsongrass in it and a little crabgrass and so we cut it all and baled it. We put it in sleeves because we had to store it outside and even two years later, those cattle would turn down fresh bahia mixed hay and RUN to those soybean bales, even though they were kinda ratty by then. They loved it! </p><p></p><p>If you've got plenty good hay, that's great and glad for ya, but if you don't and need hay don't turn your nose up too quick at some of this 'poor man's hay' because it can get you by, even surprise you. Just don't pay alfalfa prices for it. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Good luck! OL JR <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="cowtrek, post: 262746, member: 2847"] Mostly equipment deficiencies would be my guess. Not much silage done in this area. Only silage I've seen was a guy the other side of Wharton toward Garwood doing some bunker silage. Otherwise nearly everything here is put up as dry hay, except dairies and some big stocker outfits I guess. Be hard to find a silage cutter/bagger hauler or packer too. I saw a lot of corn up near Shiner and Hallettsville that had grown between 3-4 feet high and had made nubbins, certainly not worth $3/gallon diesel to combine but with the rain we got up there last month had grown a whopping good crop of coloradograss and crabgrass in it nearly 3 feet tall in places; suppose it's scavenging off the fertilizer meant for the corn. I was lusting over those fields because if it were me, I'd cut that stuff in a heartbeat, let the grass dry down to 20% and bale it all. The grass should eliminate any risk of nitrate poisoning from the drought stressed cornstalks, the cows would eat the leaves and upper stalks with the grass and pick the whole ear corn out to boot. Can't get much better hay than that IMHO. I've baled whole ear corn before and other than making more noise as the ears bounce through the pickup and baler roller it worked really well. Cows loved it. They won't usually eat the hard fibrous root end of the stalk but everthing above the ear and all the leaves usually disappear. We roll them out so any stalks left behind rot down rapidly. There's some soybeans near here that look pretty bad, thinking about talking to the guy about baling those. I baled soybeans of my own in 96 after the cotton crop failed. We had Trifluralin and Cotoran down already and I wasn't sure that sorghum-sudan would even germinate or grow, but soybeans can tolerate it. We hoped we might even make a bean crop and salvage part of the year anyway, but we flat planted it so we could bale if it didn't make grain. It was almost too late when we planted so the grain part didn't work out; maybe 10-15 bushels to the acre I'd have guessed but they were 2-3 feet tall and lush with some escaped Johnsongrass in it and a little crabgrass and so we cut it all and baled it. We put it in sleeves because we had to store it outside and even two years later, those cattle would turn down fresh bahia mixed hay and RUN to those soybean bales, even though they were kinda ratty by then. They loved it! If you've got plenty good hay, that's great and glad for ya, but if you don't and need hay don't turn your nose up too quick at some of this 'poor man's hay' because it can get you by, even surprise you. Just don't pay alfalfa prices for it. :) Good luck! OL JR :) [/QUOTE]
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