haylage, tube or individual wrapper?

[smokey road cattle]

after feeding poor quality hay this winter due to excessive rain fall last year looking for a alternative way, any suggestions?

 

[Buck Randall]

How many cattle are you feeding and how cold are your winters? Line wrapping is generally more cost effective and easier, but you'll have spoilage if you can't feed it fast enough, especially if your temperatures are getting much above freezing.

 

[Son of Butch]

Welcome to the boards Smokey.
Where are you located?

Alternative way.... can't logically offer a different way without knowing facts of what you've done in the past and why. The resources you already have and what is available to you locally determine what is cost effective.

How many acres are we talking? Thinking of buying more equipment? Or is there a reliable local operator doing custom work? Is selling the low quality hay and buying better hay an option? How often do you have excessive rain fall like last year?

Using preservatives would be my first suggestion, if you didn't use it last year.

 

[farmerjan]

@Jeanne - Simme Valley where are you????? She feeds almost exclusively wrapped hay since they seem to get way too much rain when they are ready to make hay..... We only wrap the sorghum-sudan if we can't get it made dry.... and this past year we wrapped and it smells real good and the cattle don't seem to want it.... normally they eat it like crazy....
Have no experience with wrapping dry hay as some do for keeping....

 

[farmerjan]

@smokey road cattle .... if you click on your name in the upper right and go down to account details, go down to location and put in your general area/state/something like that.... then we will have an idea of your area. Some answers are more "area or state" specific for members....
Welcome to CT.

 

[smokey road cattle]

How many cattle are you feeding and how cold are your winters? Line wrapping is generally more cost effective and easier, but you'll have spoilage if you can't feed it fast enough, especially if your temperatures are getting much above freezing.

150 hd brood cows 6 bulls 20 replacements normally feed 5-6- 900 lb rolls a day dec. jan. feb with ryegrass,oats ,and clover beginning in jan

 

[smokey road cattle]

Welcome to the boards Smokey.
Where are you located?

Alternative way.... can't logically offer a different way without knowing facts of what you've done in the past and why. The resources you already have and what is available to you locally determine what is cost effective.

How many acres are we talking? Thinking of buying more equipment? Or is there a reliable local operator doing custom work? Is selling the low quality hay and buying better hay an option? How often do you have excessive rain fall like last year?

Using preservatives would be my first suggestion, if you didn't use it last year.

excessive rain two yrs in a row. 100 acre, feed 600 4x6 rolls a year .and sell 5-600 rolls a year. would like to be able to cut 28-40 day grass instead of 60-100 day old grass

 

[Silver]

I don't know how it would keep down there. We inline wrap at least 1000 bales a year, this year we fed out year old baleage and it was really good. But I am up north if that makes a difference.

 

[smokey road cattle]

since i cut some acreage away from home and are a one man operation the individual wrapper may be more compliant time wise and hauling

 

[smokey road cattle]

I don't know how it would keep down there. We inline wrap at least 1000 bales a year, this year we fed out year old baleage and it was really good. But I am up north if that makes a difference.

thanks , do you pick a five or just an icon image?

 

[Silver]

thanks , do you pick a five or just an icon image?

I do have a 5, a good old Ibanez, and I picked it for years but gave up and took up the guitar instead. Now that I'm getting the hang of the guitar I'd like to go back and see if I can improve.

 

[smokey road cattle]

I know this is a cattle site but it sure is enjoyable to pick a tune on my goldstar g12 while watching the cows graze and I think they like it too

 

[WFfarm]

I think the inline wrappers are more expensive than the individual ones. You'll have much more flexibility with the individuals, like moving them, selling them, or mixing what bales you are feeding at one time. Are you looking at just trying to reduce waste after you bale, or trying to reduce the time from cut to bale?

 

[smokey road cattle]

just trying to put up higher quality feed

 

[RDFF]

With the amount that you're feeding, I'd probably opt for the inline wrapper... most economical. However, not sure how the heat/humidity of Florida will affect them. And as has been said, if you're wanting to "sell some", the inline isn't real "friendly" toward that, especially if you're thinking "baleage". I'd expect that you'd have to sell them off of your site while still in the tube to somebody who either rewraps (not likely to happen...), or somebody local that can take them as they needed them...

Most wrapped bales up here in MN are linewrapped anymore... and most get made as baleage. If not wrapped, made as dry hay with netwrap. Tough getting it made right here though too, with all the rain we get. Had about 50" OF RAIN last year during the "growing season"... almost 60" the year before. Most of that fell during "haying times". I used to have my whole farm in hay.... now I make hay when the sun shines, AND when it rains, by grazing it as much as I possibly can. I'll be making some hay though this year too. (Uugh!)

 

[BFE]

Still feeding two year old line wrapped wet grass/clover hay, no problems. Seen lots of rain and 90 plus days since it was put up. Not as many 90 degree days as Florida, but enough to know it will keep as long as it's sealed tight.

 

[Atimm693]

Individual wrapping adds complexity to handling, and costs more per bale.

Tube wrapping is fast and cheaper, but you can't move them, or leave them open for more than a few days, especially if it's warm. You will also get some waste on the ends.

We line wrap 5-700 silage bales every year, and feed 3-8 every day through the winter. Some go in a mixer, some are just unrolled.

If you want to make baleage, you'll need a good size tractor to handle them. Our 4x4 wet sudan or alfalfa bales are around 2000lbs each.

 

[WFfarm]

Individually line wrapped...

 

[smokey road cattle]

Individual wrapping adds complexity to handling, and costs more per bale.

Tube wrapping is fast and cheaper, but you can't move them, or leave them open for more than a few days, especially if it's warm. You will also get some waste on the ends.

We line wrap 5-700 silage bales every year, and feed 3-8 every day through the winter. Some go in a mixer, some are just unrolled.

If you want to make baleage, you'll need a good size tractor to handle them. Our 4x4 wet sudan or alfalfa bales are around 2000lbs each.

what% moisture are you wrapping those at?

 

[Atimm693]

what% moisture are you wrapping those at?

30-60% depending on weather. Our baler does not have moisture meters, and I don't probe them, so I don't have an exact estimate.

We will bale either the same day if it's really hot, or the next in wetter/cooler weather. Then the race is on to get them hauled and wrapped. I worry about too dry more than too wet, the wetter they are, the easier they process through the mixer.