Bale Grazing Style - Winter

[toughntender]

That's the problem with corn silage, it's really tough to beat on a per pound of dry matter cost. It just yields too much compared to grass/alfalfa. Also, energy is the most limiting nutrient in a pasture situation, and corn silage is very high in energy. I also like the rotational/ cover crop/ double crop possibilities with silage ground. Perennial pasture is great, and cost competitive only if your land costs are really low. I am in a row crop area and have been fighting high land costs my whole career. Sorry did not mean to hijack the thread.

 

[C-Ranch]

Most guys around here have 4x5 balers, and cut the bales off at 50-52" or so. Gives about a 1400lb bale.

Single wrapper is easier to resell bales, as you can take them one by one rather then opening a string of them. Inline is faster and can be done with one guy. (my older single needs an operator to run it and one guy loading and stacking bales) Singles can be stacked in a smaller area, tubes take ground space. Inline uses less plastic.

Have been making baleage for over 20 yrs, any specific questions, ask away.

Good Info....What do you use to stack your bales with once they have been wrapped so they don't get torn?

 

[ddd75]

they rent the wrappers around here for 100 / day. maybe look around for a place to rent one.

 

[tntblaster11]

I'm definitely going to try an inline out next year.

C-Ranch, I have a bale grabber for the loader... google it you'll see lots of pics.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Yes bale grab or bale squeeze they are called. Mine is near identical to this one

http://www.farm-king.com/imgs/allied_by ... queeze.jpg

One thing that helps is having a big enough tractor with strong hydraulics (and front remotes makes life easier). Baleage is heavy, so to have a sufficient tractor lifting them helps, as you can be gentler with the bales.

I also have a mchale slicer for feeding, loader mounted. Allows me to open bales and split them amongst a couple of feeders per bale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO9ROnn3ynM

I enjoy the slicer a lot. I also believe it to be easier on the cattle, new age balers bale so tight that cows have to work to pull them apart. With the slicer they just dig in and start chewing.

 

[C-Ranch]

Thanks for the info gentlemen...Neat set up and looks like it works pretty slick.