Silage

P

podge 23

Well-Known Member
I have a few questions
1.pit silage or bales silage which is best for dairy cows?

2.synchronisation for maiden heifers vs natural way?
 
podge 23 said:
I have a few questions
1.pit silage or bales silage which is best for dairy cows?

2.synchronisation for maiden heifers vs natural way?
Click to expand...
It's all a matter of personal choice! Cause what might suit me might not work for you but try everything and see what works for you
 
I make all bales about 450/500 per year .Plenty of work between cutting ,turning and drawing/stacking .They work for me because i try and wilt to reduce no. of bales .It would be very expensive silage if you get wet bales not to mind the shlt quality if baled wet .imo the big advantage of bales is herd heath is better .I do not think you get better milk yield by feeding bales in fact some farmers say that bales depress milk yield!! I would only cut about 10 acres at most any time so that would mean 80/90 bales to draw/day but it is the weather that is key to making good quality bales .
As for sychro. heifers ,it wounds ideal in paper but the reality might be different .
 
The reason I see that a lot of lads think their silage quality in bales is better is they take far more care in making baled silage, they will cut it younger, they will allow it to wilt as it reduces cost, if extra plastic is needed it will get it, all in my opinion because it’s charged per bale. On the flip side of the coin pit is a per acre charge so some lads see it as only benefiting the contractor by wilting it, they see a light cut as easy money for the contractor and some of the shortcuts taken covering the pit, be it dragging out some dung riddled cover or not stretching the plastic on the sides after a few days all contribute to poorer quality, this is obviously not a dig at everyone but I see it year on year at some places, they put in spun out grass into a pit and blame the harvester for not magically making it into quality forage.
 
Claas Grass said:
The reason I see that a lot of lads think their silage quality in bales is better is they take far more care in making baled silage, they will cut it younger, they will allow it to wilt as it reduces cost, if extra plastic is needed it will get it, all in my opinion because it’s charged per bale. On the flip side of the coin pit is a per acre charge so some lads see it as only benefiting the contractor by wilting it, they see a light cut as easy money for the contractor and some of the shortcuts taken covering the pit, be it dragging out some dung riddled cover or not stretching the plastic on the sides after a few days all contribute to poorer quality, this is obviously not a dig at everyone but I see it year on year at some places, they put in spun out grass into a pit and blame the harvester for not magically making it into quality forage.
Click to expand...
I never heard a truer word spoken
 
What goes in to either a bale or pit won't come out any better.
It is more realistic to make quality silage in bales as there isn't a need for a heavy crop to get value from the contractor.
Light crops in a pit are very expensive per ton.on chop length i think its widely accepted that lomg chop is better amd mor natural.
Quantifying this is difficult though
 
Is part of the reason behind the short chop lenght to mix up the stronger grass with the leafer stuff to make it more palatable? Hence why younger grass used in bales and wagons probably is getting better results and not as much down to chop length?
 
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