Silage Bags vs. Wrapping

[Atgreene]

I've never tried doing silage, but with our non stop rain this year I'm considering trying some silage bales and buying the bags to put them in. http://www.farmbagsupplystore.com/balebags.html Anyone tried these, how'd they work? They say they can be re-used, not sure how that will work when it's -20 and 3' of ice and snow on them. Seems like they may only be a one shot deal.

I hate to go out and buy $10,000 in wrappers and equipment for 150 round bales, but I need to start rethinking dry hay if we can't get any dry weather. :bang:

Opinions are appreciated, first hand accounts even more-so.

 

[Banjo]

First you should see if any one around there does custom wrapping. Here they do it for about $5/bale. You can wrap it high moisture or dry...either way. I have done it dry, but not wet.

 

[regolith]

What Banjo said. The wrap will do a better job of excluding air.

I've worked on a farm that used the bags. You can still get decent silage. When reusing the bags the bales on the outside of the stack got two bags, with the outer bag being a new one. That wouldn't be very practical with only 150 bales since they'd all be fairly close to the outside of the stack.
It's animals and birds that make most of the holes, not the weather. Any bags with obvious holes were discarded, not reused. They got plenty of snow on them though the temperatures weren't so low.

 

[Atgreene]

I haven't been able to find one for hire, especially for so few at a time. I've been looking to rent one, but still no luck.

 

[Banjo]

Every place is different I know, but here the NRCS bought one a few years ago and they contract with an individual to do all the custom wrapping for farmers. They like to have about a 15 roll minimum. Buying one of those things new is pretty pricey.

 

[jasonleonard]

Atgreene.... all I can say is" hang in there", it has rained for 13 straight days here in PA . Looks like it is going to rain for another 5 days, if not more.
I make a few hundred rolls of hay here in 2 or 3 crops. Took off to a good start on first cutting , got 250 rolls made, but then the monsoon set in. It looks like I will be baleing first cutting at the same time as second cutting (on the fields we did get made early).
On the bright side..corn , soybeans, and pastures look amazing here now.
My neighbor used those bags and they seemed to be a joke. Too many problems with holes from birds and mice. I would love to buy an in-line wrapper, I just hate to spend that kind of money for something I might only use a couple days a year.

 

[Atgreene]

I've got just a few acres down right now, looks like we'll make it by the skin of our teeth before we get more rain. Still have 50 acres + that we havent made a first cut yet.