NIGEL FORD Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 You had a 7600 Schlindler under your bum and you still had time to think about this science stuff? Very strange! I learnt most of that before we had the 7600, even as a 2wd!! I had to bite my tongue a lot when we went contracting as there were so many instances of grass gone to seed, including the highly-unpalatable YorkshireFog grass,full of nettles/docks/thistles etc, unrolled, bumpy fields full of mole hills/stones (Dunalf blunt the forager blades dammit !) clamps that had holey polythene sheet lining them, and then they go and spend hundreds of pounds putting additive on (at our inconvenience!) instead of getting the basics right. Worst of all the pot-holed tracks that we couldn't go flat-out along to keep up with the forager, well I did most of the time but the other non-self-employed trailer drivers wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 WOW... More than I could ever hope for... special thanks to Nigel... Not only do I now know all these is to know about silage... I feel I am one of the UK's experts :D Seriously... some superb information there... I am staggered at the amount of 'science' involved it the process... not only do you have to be a farmer.. you have to be a chemist as well :o some great rplys in heremafky aint there, i am very much a grass novice, i do understand a little but this topic has helped no end mate if yous really really want i could copy my grass and forage production notes for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ferguson Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 Go for it Chris... I am a 'knowledge sponge' right now :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakescot Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 just a wee note on the topping of fields too..................grass is a plant , obviously, and a plant`s main object for the year is to grow and set seed........once it has headed and the seed ripened, as far as it`s concerned it has done it`s seasons "work".It then slows down growing, any extra growth being a bonus ..... so if you cut grass before it heads and sets seed, its keeps growing thinking "I need to grow more and get seed set in case I die to ensure the survival of the species " therefore leading to an overall increase in grass produced,as well as increased nutrients as has been said already. Bit like cutting your lawn, the more you cut it,the more it grows. You`d be able to compare this if you took all your grass clipping off your weekly lawn mow and put them beside a one or twice yearly cut off a rougher area....most times you`d have more the more often you cut. we add fertiliser ,spray ,slurry etc to maximise the yield again obviously,to hopefully make some money.....sadly guys as we know, easier said than done !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Go for it Chris... I am a 'knowledge sponge' right now :D right then it may take a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 It's good to see real farmers/contractors adding there knowledge to the forum.Good one guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich.new holland Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 ive got to be honest i didnt know a lot of the things said here and ive been around silage all my life i suppose my uncles know \ this is will help me if i can get into this farming college Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis086 Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 i think you might have asked what was haylage i havnt got a lot of experience cos i only saw it last year for the firrst time my uncle made it i think haylage is a cross between silage and hay its not been wilted enough to be fully saved as hay yet its too dry to be silage very little effluent it often made because a fella gets cold feet as he watches black rain clouds coming in over the hill it makes great bales though really solid and stack really well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM190 Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 ive got to be honest i didnt know a lot of the things said here and ive been around silage all my life i suppose my uncles know \ this is will help me if i can get into this farming college same here i would have just said its long grass :D :D :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich.new holland Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 i just know what it looks like when its ready to be cut,turned,bale/clamped thats all :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Haylage is fed to horses and unlike silage is not fermented but is moist. Horses do not have the same plumbing as cows and silage would kill them. End of my knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Marky, no one has mentioned chop length to you yet so here goes, well here I go any way. You now know all bout making and preserving it. If you leave the chop length ( the length the forager has cut it in the machine ) long then it should stay inside the cow longer. If you have a shorter LOC (length of cut) then it may go through the cow quicker and not be used as much. Also, feeding it, some people feed from the clamp, you take of the sheet and let the cows eat it but regulate them with a wire fence per day or you put it into a mixer wagon for example. The idea is to have a smooth clamp front when it has been opened to reduce the amout of surface area the air cn work on. Also, silage can be baled and no just in a clamp. Same principle apply, wrap them in plastic then it gives you some business :D The types of clamp can vary also. You can put it into a building, a clamp outside like I and gav have built or more like europe a clamp you can drive in at one end and out the other unloading as you move. Make Sense? No, sorry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ferguson Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Perfect sense... Many thanks... This has been is one of my favourite topics on here of late... I feel like I've really taken on-board some knowledge around this subject I knew very little about... so thanks to all the contributors... and it's good to hear that others have learnt from these posts as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FB Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 indeed Marky, as we never experience it around here, except baling really \ \, never seen a chopper drive down the road followed by a fleet of tractors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakescot Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 weve had 3rd prize in silage comps at the winter fair with our haylage type samples...........typically it`ll be 30 to 50% Dry matter ..bales retain their shape better sitting 4 high and have less effluent in them which is a big factor for us having a burn right through the farmyard and not too far from the bale stacks .We`ve up to 2500 bales and yes it`s a costly job. Weve sold some to horsey people in the past and they had no probs when feeding our haylage,There are plenty who use "horsage" I think it`s called , vaccum packed damp hay basically with the dust removed.............. We cut , spread out to wilt and weather dependant etc possibly not raked up and baled for 3 or 4 days roughly a day or perhaps 2 before you`d bale for hay. They haylage for us isnt working as well as it used to now that we have very few galloway,beef shorthorn,hereford cross cows left ............the increasing amount of holstein blood in the aa x and lim x heifers we used to buy from the dairy herd and the home bred simmentals we have now I find need a better quality diet and more of it! We sample and supplement their diets with concentrates accordingly.with the price of that it`s gonna have to be very closely watched and we may have to rethink the whole policy. We haven`t a lot of acres available to cut so need maximum yield from these .The land isn`t all top quality either so some of the pasture does contain timothy, cocksfoot, yorks fog, sweet vernal, crested dogstail, a few other meadow grasses fescues bents etc,......YUK YUK YUK as well as ryegrass and various wild flowers ie buttercups,sorrel oh and some docks these too affect crop quality.The drier the crop gets however these are negated ....why we do it...... and has a feed value more akin to hay..........back to square one ......."haylage" does anyone remember those tall white topped hayalge towers you used to see around the country? I suspect they are largely idle now in the UK ........I believe they are still used a lot abroad where the weather is perhaps better and more condusive.......spelling?? to drying a crop such as alfalfa better . hope all my rambles there made some sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 That was a good post,thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ferguson Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 Indeed... seconded... thanks John - some interesting stuff there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmermarshall Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 these Docks dont make very good silage <img src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/farmermarshall/09062008696.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br> when mowing i dont like to leave too much around the ditches <img src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/farmermarshall/09062008694.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CX820Joe Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 The book I mentioned further back in the thread, 'Forage Conservation and Feeding' I have just had through the post; its not the most up to date edition (I don't think) but it should cover all the basics for a silage ignoramus like me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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