pearl millet haylage

[lukelangford]

I'm in the process of baling pearl millet haylage, stored under a barn. It will be uncovered, however, it's baled extremely tight. I
expect the outside ring to rot, however due to how tight it's rolled, i expect to salvage 65-70% of the roll. This isn't perfect; i'm aware of that, but it's darn near free. I'm interested if anyone else has tried this and their success or failure at it.

 

[alabama]

I would like to here more. I always thought you had to keep the air away from haylage. I have been trying to find out more about grass haylage and what you have to do to store it as well as feed it. Please let me know how it works.

 

[joe]

that should be some darn good feed. I grew pearl millet a couple years ago to bale, and had a hard time getting it to dry down enough. Everyone around here bags haylage, so no advice to offer there, but please share your experience with it at feeding time. I may be concerned of it getting too hot if its stored in tight quarters?

 

[Stocker Steve]

I am trying jap millet for the first time. It is finer stemed than pearl millet. Unfortuately it has been dry so the growth so far is not what I had hoped...

Any estimates on how long it must dry before you can bale it?

 

[lukelangford]

We've done similar haylage in the past by piling it, you wind up losing the outer layer due to rot, but you do get quite a bit of good food once it seals tight. Most sources warn you aboutthe mold etc. that is produced in this, we've had no problems. Not saying it can't happen, we just haven't. So far temp on bales has reached 130f, but that's supposed to happen. I'm going to post a link to a good all around hay site, just general stuff, but good to know.

http://msucares.com/pubs/infobulletins/ib0311.html

 

[Chuckie]

We just baled 80 bales of millet last week. The millet stems are hard to dry and when we were putting it on the trailer, it smelled like silage. Can you make haylage just by baling it with a higher water content? I am not familiar with haylage. I thought it had to be treated like silage.

 

[bigbull338]

yes you can make hayledge out of pearl millet.but you have to bale it wetter.an then use a bale wrapper as soon as you can.ab get the bales wrapped an moved to storage.being careful bot to puncture the plastic.scott

 

[lukelangford]

We've just fed the last bales of unwrapped pearl millet that was baled around 40-60% moisture. Smelled like dried tobacco, the cows tore into it better than the bermuda bales. outside was rotten and moldy, they ate that too. No problems, no miscarriages, deaths or any other problems I was warned about. We'll be baling plenty come next fall.

 

[Bez!]

We always feed the bales without unrolling them - mould is a prob if they are not wrapped.

Beware of potential spontaneaous combustion from bales if they get too hot.

Bez!

 

[Bob Van]

Will pearl millet grow in New York?

It sounds like it dries like thick clover. I happened to see an old bag of Jap Millet seed at the old Feed Mill. Thought I could try it.

Any thoughts? Thanks, Bob

 

[Crowderfarms]

Will pearl millet grow in New York?

It sounds like it dries like thick clover. I happened to see an old bag of Jap Millet seed at the old Feed Mill. Thought I could try it.

Any thoughts? Thanks, Bob

Absolutely, Plant when the soil temperature is 65 degrees or warmer. It will do best in well drained soils, and does well with an application of 40-80 lbs. of Ammonia, per Acre. It does not have a heavy demand for other nutrients.