Baleage pictures

[BFE]

Second bale in the tube

 

[BFE]

First bale with endcap. A little rot but not much.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I LOVE baleage. In NY, it's the only way to put up early hay (1st wk of June).
Did you take net wrap or string off already? My "guy" puts up in-line wrapped bales, net wrapped. I don't dare take plastic & net wrap off until the bale is over the feeder. Wastes too much - like in your picture.
We don't use an end cap. "IF" I have any dry bales or even baleage left over, I use them for the endcap. Cap bale is still edible. I usually put it off in a hedge row but they eat all of it. If we don't have any left over - we just wrap the outside of the 1st bale. It gets pretty mushed, but I put it over the fence and they eat most of it. 2nd bale is good to go.

 

[libertygarden]

 

[BFE]

This is wheat and a little clover put up the first two weeks of May. Yes net wrapped and inline. I normally set the bales down and put the feeder over them but even if I don’t they clean up anything that hits the ground.

We have quite a few baleage questions here so I thought some pictures of the end product would be helpful.

 

[BFE]

View attachment 23714

Nice hay barn

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Yes, love the barn. I have no such thing.

 

[libertygarden]

Two barns were on property when I bought it. The metal tin says "made in Japan." It's at least form the 60's

 

[BFE]

I like wheat/rye/triticale baleage because it makes great hay early and I can plant a cash crop behind it. I farm small and like to get the most out of every acre.

I think where baleage would really shine is with stubble hay following wheat harvest. The cows will pick around most of the wheat stubble and eat the clover. The baleage process should soften the stubble and make it more palatable.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Baleage makes WEEDS edible - LOL LOL Softens everything and makes it taste good.

 

[libertygarden]

If you're buying hay to store for winter, is it better to buy in spring (first cut) or wait to the end of summer? I know this year I would have saved at least 40% if I had bought in spring before the prices shot through the roof in TX due to the drought. However, I don't know if hay bought in early spring loses a lot of its nutritional value by winter.

 

[BFE]

If you're buying hay to store for winter, is it better to buy in spring (first cut) or wait to the end of summer? I know this year I would have saved at least 40% if I had bought in spring before the prices shot through the roof in TX due to the drought. However, I don't know if hay bought in early spring loses a lot of its nutritional value by winter.

Around here you won’t lose much nutrition off the first cut by winter feeding but second and third cut are always higher in nutritional value then first, third being highest all things being equal. There’s normally not much of a third cut if any at all unfortunately.

Myself, I would rather have 2/3 or more laid away early in case of a drought or shortage. It’s never cheaper than right out of the field with more potential crop yet to come.

 

[BC]

If you're buying hay to store for winter, is it better to buy in spring (first cut) or wait to the end of summer? I know this year I would have saved at least 40% if I had bought in spring before the prices shot through the roof in TX due to the drought. However, I don't know if hay bought in early spring loses a lot of its nutritional value by winter.

Buy early. If you store it in a barn, it will be as a good as it was when you put it in the barn. Just make sure you buy good hay. I had some bermuda square bales we put up one year that tested 14.4% cp. On a whim, I entered a sample ten years latter in our county's hay evaluation clinic that had been stored in a barn. It tested 14.2% cp.

 

[Travlr]

Buy early. If you store it in a barn, it will be as a good as it was when you put it in the barn. Just make sure you buy good hay. I had some bermuda square bales we put up one year that tested 14.4% cp. On a whim, I entered a sample ten years latter in our county's hay evaluation clinic that had been stored in a barn. It tested 14.2% cp.

I've bought old hay for half price or less and fed it with good results. Some even given to me because someone wanted space in their barn for new bales. The first time I used it was more or less to provide wind breaks and bedding and I was surprised the cows ate it at all because they were getting fresher hay. It cut my feed bill a lot. Got to be careful the hay has no mold in it, but otherwise it seemed fine.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Baleage makes WEEDS edible - LOL LOL Softens everything and makes it taste good.

Just because they eat the weeds doesn't make them nutrious.

I'd rather have good quality clean dry hay over weedy baleage anyday.

 

[libertygarden]

I just realized that baleage refers to fresh cut hay wrapped air tight, not hay bales. I apologize for posting about hay bales and asking questions. Did not mean to hi-jack the thread.

From what I've read baleage has a limited shelf life. How long can you keep it before feeding. Is it a late summer thing for an early winter?

 

[BFE]

I just realized that baleage refers to fresh cut hay wrapped air tight, not hay bales. I apologize for posting about hay bales and asking questions. Did not mean to hi-jack the thread.

From what I've read baleage has a limited shelf life. How long can you keep it before feeding. Is it a late summer thing for an early winter?

Don't worry about it, good discussion going on here all around.

I've had baleage for 2 years that looked and smelled just as good as year one. Once it's ensiled it keeps good, the uncovered end bale at year two looks better than the end bale picture above. Air is the enemy until it's turned to silage, but not as big a deal after it seems. Never had any past 2 years.

 

[BFE]

Just because they eat the weeds doesn't make them nutrious.

I'd rather have good quality clean dry hay over weedy baleage anyday.

I had some clover a few years back that had waterhemp in it. We wrapped it up, I was bummed out until I researched its nutritional value. Young waterhemp is nearly as good as or better than the clover! Lots of late grass hay fields around here gets taken over by foxtail. The heads irritate horses mouths but no problem for cattle. Its nutritional value is way up there compared to other grasses. Sometimes weeds work out. Ironweed, not so much.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I was going to also comment on the weeds. Lots of, if not most weeds, have a good food value IF cut early. I wasn't talking about going out and cutting someone's garbage weed field, although I have seen some crappy fields cut during droughts around here just for something to feed.
And I agree on baleage keeping. I just finished 100 bales put up in June 2021 and working on the next 100. Thank God I had that left over, because we didn't put up enough this summer with our drought for my winter supply.
I have never fed any from 2 years prior. I sure think inline wrapped bales would be fine for at least another year.

 

[Atimm693]

I just realized that baleage refers to fresh cut hay wrapped air tight, not hay bales. I apologize for posting about hay bales and asking questions. Did not mean to hi-jack the thread.

From what I've read baleage has a limited shelf life. How long can you keep it before feeding. Is it a late summer thing for an early winter?

Once it's wrapped, years as long as you can keep the coons and stuff from tearing up the plastic.

Once you open a bale, you have anywhere from a day to a week or more depending on temperature before it will spoil.