Silage ? Sorry I'm green.

[Petercoates87]

Hey everyone. So a field I am using for hay is soon ready for a second cut but between work and the weather I can't get enough good days together to cut it to bale. I was thinking bout trying to do silage I guess. My plan was to cut the short grass bring it home the next day and put it into a "bin" made of pallets traps and plywood. When storing slightly green hay around here the old school way was to toss a bit of salt over each layer of hay. I was thinking about doing the same thing. Is this right what I'm thinking about? And of course cover the top with a trap. My cows won't be home from pasture til rhe end of october so giving it to them green isn't an option.

 

[TexasBred]

You'll need some way to pack it or it will simply rot.

 

[Petercoates87]

Ok I'm assuming that's to keep air out of it. Would jumping it down be a suitable option?

 

[TexasBred]

Ok I'm assuming that's to keep air out of it. Would jumping it down be a suitable option?

You lost me Peter....what is jumping it down?? Most down here will use a large tractor to pass over and over and over the grass that has been cut. Without removing the oxygen it will not insile but rather will simple rot.

 

[Petercoates87]

Well I'm just talking a few pick truck loads of this short grass and by jumping it down I mean literally me jumping on it lol. Or do it need to be packed more than that?

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Well I'm just talking a few pick truck loads of this short grass and by jumping it down I mean literally me jumping on it lol. Or do it need to be packed more than that?

Will not compact it enough to prevent spoilage that way. I would recommend you bale it semi-wet and have someone wrap it for you. It will last through the winter this way....

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

You would also need to use something other than a standard tarp. You would need good heavy silage plastic. Then it needs to be packed way tighter than jumping on it will get. Then it needs to be covered with the plastic and sealed up ASAP or else it will just rot.

Like said above bale it at ~40-60% moisture and have somebody wrap the bales.

 

[Son of Butch]

Well I'm just talking a few pick truck loads of this short grass and by jumping it down I mean literally me jumping on it.
Or do it need to be packed more than that?

Salt does preserve or help prevent spoilage by curing, so not a bad idea.
The more it is packed the better it keeps. Tractors work best.

2 are better than 1, so rather than jumping on it, ask a neighbor girl to come over for a roll in/on the hay.

 

[Petercoates87]

Yeah I could ask the wife I guess lol. Ok that makes a bit of sence also to wrap it. Now I only got a square baler and I'm expecting just 20 - 30 square bales. Could I just manually wrap it? Now I was watching a couple videos about these east Indians were cutting whatever kind of grass and putting it in barrels and layering it with molasses. But yeah just a side note

 

[ChrisB]

Assuming you are talking about small squares, I think you will have too much time and money into manually wrapping them or buying tarps and packing down by jumping and then covering than it is worth. Unless of course hay is very expensive in your area. I would keep waiting for a dry stretch of weather.

 

[ClinchValley]

It sounds like a whole lot of work for a little bit of hay. Is it warm season grass you need off the field?

I'm very interested in silage hay. I'd really like to give it a try in the future. I hear the cows absolutely love it.