Wanted: a new method of ensilage.

jcb411abuser said:
Greenhouse dryer could be an option then. You say zero graze an acre or 2 at a time and put it out in the greenhouse floor, it'll stay dry from rain and will get whatever sun comes, it could lay for days if necessary.
Click to expand...

Would I not lose a lot of nutrients?

Lad who hired my forage wagon to dry grass wanted it cut and picked up straight off,he was cutting with triples with groupers then sticking it on the drying floor within the hour.
 
jcb411abuser said:
From 15 to 25% is an unreal amount of drying so much in fact you'd be as well off going the whole hog to make it to hay. An idea that has come to my attention is that of a greenhouse dryer. It'll never get rained on and it'll get whatever sun comes.
If you wish to dry with a barn dryer it's suggested to begin at at least 50% dry matter.
My suggestion would be to cut light and often, take the windows of dry weather when they come, if you cut at round 3-4 weeks (1ton DM to the acre)you'll get 30% dry matter without tedding after 24 hours.
Click to expand...
Greenhouse dryer sounds interesting, cutting light and often seems to be common in continental Europe , have you any pictures of a greenhouse dryer setup ?
 
Last edited:
jcb411abuser said:
Hey if that worked! Did it work?
Click to expand...

It worked drying it into hay,I’m interested in just getting the dry matter into the mid to late 20s.

A tri axle zero grazer would mean I could avoid soil contamination,I’ve said before the forage wagon is fine on the dry and flat but a nightmare here in the wet.
 
scoffcruddle said:
It worked drying it into hay,I’m interested in just getting the dry matter into the mid to late 20s.

A tri axle zero grazer would mean I could avoid soil contamination,I’ve said before the forage wagon is fine on the dry and flat but a nightmare here in the wet.
Click to expand...
Did he blow warm air or just ambient temp air?
 

Need a moving floor in a solar greenhouse,I’d have to bale everyday but could always tubeline the bales to save wrap.
 
scoffcruddle said:
Warm air,gets a payment for renewables.
Click to expand...
Ah right. Be interesting to ask how much fuel it took to dry a ton. It's usually quite colossal.
I takes 2000btu to evaporate a litre of water so that's 2000000 per ton of water, heating oil has 36000btu per litre so 55 litres per ton of water.
There is roughly 6 times more water than dry matter in grass so you'll need to burn 300 litres to make a ton of hay from fresh grass. So 150euro per ton at 50c/ltr.
The kicker is to even get it to 30% dry matter you'll still need to use half the fuel so 75 euro per ton for average dry silage.
 
jcb411abuser said:
Ah right. Be interesting to ask how much fuel it took to dry a ton. It's usually quite colossal.
I takes 2000btu to evaporate a litre of water so that's 2000000 per ton of water, heating oil has 36000btu per litre so 55 litres per ton of water.
There is roughly 6 times more water than dry matter in grass so you'll need to burn 300 litres to make a ton of hay from fresh grass. So 150euro per ton at 50c/ltr.
The kicker is to even get it to 30% dry matter you'll still need to use half the fuel so 75 euro per ton for average dry silage.
Click to expand...

This is the calc I needed.:Thumbp2:
 
For me drying to 60% when possible in the field and finishing in an ambient air dryer would be the most cost effective. It takes time and still requires sunshine but it would be comparable to the cost of baking and wrapping. I think drying to 60% will be possible with the macerator mat making method. But you're looking for a solution to constant wet weather and artificial drying with heat would probably be the only option.
 
jcb411abuser said:
For me drying to 60% when possible in the field and finishing in an ambient air dryer would be the most cost effective. It takes time and still requires sunshine but it would be comparable to the cost of baking and wrapping. I think drying to 60% will be possible with the macerator mat making method. But you're looking for a solution to constant wet weather and artificial drying with heat would probably be the only option.
Click to expand...

I need to fell my 12acre of woodland.:lol:
 
Bencroy said:
Be impossible to get it airtight between the bales at 2 r 3 deep.seen a dickhead beside me try it with round bales.best crop of compost ever and mighty batch of big earthworms
Click to expand...
Rounds would be a balls, should be possible to jam 2 or 3 rows of big square bales tight together and seal them.
 
scoffcruddle said:
This is the calc I needed.:Thumbp2:
Click to expand...
That's at 100% efficiency. Tbf from what I've read most dryers are pretty close to that efficiency, and have been since the early 20th century at least. It seems you'd have to break the laws of physics to dry with any less energy so you just have to choose the cheapest energy available.
 
lough said:
What's the reason for drying the grass, do the cows eat less volume when it is dried:scratchhead:
Click to expand...
You store more nutrients, it's got a higher energy and protein density. Pretty much the best feed you'll get if you dry what you would usually graze. But it costs a lot to dry it is the problem.
 
I used bring five gallon buckets of water to the bull house and he would stick his head in the bucket and drink the lot in one go. Why would you feed them dried grass only to make them thirstier.
 
There's a lad near Aberdeen in Scotland who dries bales.
Went there on a tour.

He basically put a lid on an old slatted shed channel, with round holes in. And sat the bales on end over the holes.
32 at a time I think it was.
A day to dry them from dry silage to a % that would store without plastic I think.

Now I don't think he used warm air but dry air. (I could be totaly wrong here, had a serious hangover at the time!)

Fairly sure he had some kind of system to dry the air he was blowing through them.
Would flip the bales with softhands mounted on a rotator headstock half way through.

The feed quality was good. His market was race horses and pedigree sheep breeders.
Fairly sure he was selling bales for £40 - 50 each. Remember thinking it was too cheep considering a mate of mine was getting £35 a bale for crap field hay!
​
 
jcb411abuser said:
You store more nutrients, it's got a higher energy and protein density. Pretty much the best feed you'll get if you dry what you would usually graze. But it costs a lot to dry it is the problem.
Click to expand...

Would grain be cheaper or dearer to buy than the cost of the fuel to dry the grass for the same feed value?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top