Silage 2018

MF30

Well-Known Member
Earliest cut of silage I've ever cut, going to do several light cuts this year for quality and to keep fresh after grass into the rotation. If you had to pay an extra euro or two per bale to the contractor for small volumes wouldn't it be worth it for top quality silage?
MF30
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Mowed my own today.earlier than usual as most of it wasn't grazed due to being wet for letting cattle on in march.
If the contractor is taking anyway the lighter crop shouldn't be an issue
 
fertiliser around here went out serious late, but plenty of cutting going on?? even spreading only 60units of N/ac, 40 days ago, grass will be super high in Nitrates



im struggling to find a load to keep animals fed for today :sad:
 
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tested last week and still high in nitrates

field 1had a reading of 2000 and field 2 had a reading of 7000

question- what units are the 2000 and 7000 ? is it Parts Per Million or something else ?

Need to be under 1000 I think before cutting is recommended

edit: further research indicates PPM I think
 
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tested last week and still high in nitrates

field 1 had a reading of 200 and field 2 had a reading of 700

question- what units are the 200 and 700 ? is it Parts Per Million or something else ?

Need to be under 100 I think before cutting

Maybe someone closer to science can correct me on my calculations

After some research it appears that the 200 and 700 should actually be 2000ppm and 7000ppm and it should be under 1000ppm or 0.1%DM before cutting. http://www.yara.ie/news/94536/nitrates-and-silage-fermentation/

One hectare of grass has 5000kg DM, from 25000kg fresh weight. https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/fertilising-rules-for-this-years-grass-silage/ the article mentions 10tonne per acre or 25000kg per hectare.

Thus 0.1% is 5kg of Nitrogen, thus we conclude I have 10kg of N in Field 1 and 35kg of N in Field 2.

Therefore Field 1 has to dissipate via growth 5kg of Nitrogen and field 2 has to dissipate 30kg of Nitrogen.

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/fertilising-rules-for-this-years-grass-silage/ This article says growing grass consumes 2.5kg/Ha per day, thus we conclude the Nitrates in Field 1 should be at the 0.1% threshold in 2 days (5/2.5) and in Field 2 in 12days (30/2.5).

Anyone able to confirm my understanding ?
 
Maybe someone closer to science can correct me on my calculations

After some research it appears that the 200 and 700 should actually be 2000ppm and 7000ppm and it should be under 1000ppm or 0.1%DM before cutting. http://www.yara.ie/news/94536/nitrates-and-silage-fermentation/

One hectare of grass has 5000kg DM, from 25000kg fresh weight. https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/fertilising-rules-for-this-years-grass-silage/ the article mentions 10tonne per acre or 25000kg per hectare.

Thus 0.1% is 5kg of Nitrogen, thus we conclude I have 10kg of N in Field 1 and 35kg of N in Field 2.

Therefore Field 1 has to dissipate via growth 5kg of Nitrogen and field 2 has to dissipate 30kg of Nitrogen.

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/fertilising-rules-for-this-years-grass-silage/ This article says growing grass consumes 2.5kg/Ha per day, thus we conclude the Nitrates in Field 1 should be at the 0.1% threshold in 2 days (5/2.5) and in Field 2 in 12days (30/2.5).

Anyone able to confirm my understanding ?

I should think the 2.5kg figures is a general average rather than something that can be strictly relied upon. Grass type, soil temp, weather, stage of growth etc, can all affect the figure. It's probably best to be careful with it.

The big problem with high N in the grass is that it produces NH3 in the clamp/bale which acts as a buffer, reducing the rate, or even reversing, the rate of lactic acid fermentation. This leads to poorly preserved grass with loss of nutrients and reduced intakes.
 
Nine drops of grease on the bales is this to keep the crows away or is it something to do with the Occult .
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well we've finally made a start . after the wettest summer ever last year a long winter and the latest wettest spring ever and know a heat wave and things arnt getting any better . rutts ,rutts everywhere :curse::curse::curse: and to make it worse were the cause of a lot of them trying to salvage grass crops last year ,and releive over flowing towers in the winter and even getting the fertaliser on in the spring . most of them would have been if not sorted but at least made better with a roller but its never been dry enough , and now the ground its harder than concrete . weve even had a 36acre field that had dung on it last june and there was a lot of bits of concrete and brings that went out on it and there all lying on the surface :ban::censored: .Not only is it knocking hell into the machinary the driver isnt getting any younger either :curse::curse::curse::curse::curse:
 
Got a mad notion yesterday and knocked some of my 1st cut. Fertilizer went out May bank holiday around 2 bags/acre it was reseeded ground that hadn't been grazed since last July/August so there was a brown butt on it that I didn't want getting worse . Got it tested and sugars were just over 2.5%(ideal would be 3%) but wilting would help rise this also N slight trace and wilting would also help this
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I wouldn't day in full swing , but moving along nicely without much panic. Lots done this week. My baking man told me it's yielding 20 _30% back from last year, and I can't say I have seen anything that you'd call heavy.
Lads would cut a window box this year type get a bale. I cut 20 bales off the middle of the local dog track...
I saw a neighbour cut 24 bales off 6 acres 3 weeks ago. The mowing is costing too much for what's off it.
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I wouldn't day in full swing , but moving along nicely without much panic. Lots done this week. My baking man told me it's yielding 20 _30% back from last year, and I can't say I have seen anything that you'd call heavy.
Lads would cut a window box this year type get a bale. I cut 20 bales off the middle of the local dog track...
I saw a neighbour cut 24 bales off 6 acres 3 weeks ago. The mowing is costing too much for what's off it.
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Do you have your own mower
 
Do you have your own mower

I have a 5ft6 drum mower for rough areas, and an 8ft trailer moco.
But the lad with the track mowed that with his own PZ 5ft6 , and 135 and then looked for a punter for the grass.
 
Anyone put a price on standing fertilized grass. I was asked 200 an ac without ever seeing the crop. good ground and fresh grass:scratchhead:
 
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