jcb411abuser
Well-Known Member
In my opinion you are of the correct opinion.
We've used both systems and find grass silage to be easier managed for us.
Zero Grazing
- Thread starter muckymanor
- Start date
We've used both systems and find grass silage to be easier managed for us.
TheClubMan
Member
Just thought I'd get opinions on 'zerobaling' as someone referred to it above. Have heard of lads mowing with a front mower and using a wagon with the knives removed to pick up the grass before bringing it back to the yard. How does the same compare using a front mower and baler? Apparently the grass doesn't heat as much if it's cut by a rotary mower. So what if you could get your hands on a front rotary mower and remove the knives from the baler and use it to zero graze at the shoulders of the year, feeding it out straight away? Could it be a runner? Would a variable baler be better than a fixed one? Or would the baler just batter the grass anyway?
drew
Well-Known Member
We did a bit last year for a guy, it wasn’t too bad, he mowed with straight disc mower and we baled with knives down, it got them through a hole but there was a lot of work in it too, the mowing and baling wasn’t really the problem, it was loading them, bringing them back to the yard, and then having to take net off and spread them out that was taking the time for them.
As for the grass you could see the edges of the bales that the grass was well battered but they seemed to get on ok with it, cows were eating 90% of it, we were doing kind of 2 days worth at a time. You’d to be careful handling bales too, they ended up using the bale handler to lift on and off as tines would just pull through.
Treemover
Well-Known Member
This is just my own opinion, so bear with me.
So we ran a zerograzer for a few years; and at the time it seemed a great concept. Pros would be cows would come up to Parlour a lot quicker; cows also seemed more content. Yields went up; but how much I’m not sure as we weren’t recording. Easier get slurry out.
But the negatives or questions.
It’s a lot of extra time; labour, diesel, machinery. More wet shit in parlour; but as we straw bed; zero grazing def made us have to use more straw to keep cows cleaner.
If you think of optimum grass ie ensiled; dry is that better; is that cheaper than fresh grass, cut mid sept or mid October in the rain???
Costs; I’m sure pit silage is cheaper per bale or kg than zero grazing.
For the cost of the investment of the machine; I’d prefer a front mounted mower and silage wagon; which then can do both silage and zero grass for a shorter window.
I’m not saying zero grazing is not a runner. For those that already have an extra tractor; labour to fetch the grass; and land just out of reach to walk cows to, then it’s def an option.
I’d like to record cows milk yields and look at the figures. But I think if I was milking cows on my own; I’d rather aim for higher quality forage. Just out of laziness
So we ran a zerograzer for a few years; and at the time it seemed a great concept. Pros would be cows would come up to Parlour a lot quicker; cows also seemed more content. Yields went up; but how much I’m not sure as we weren’t recording. Easier get slurry out.
But the negatives or questions.
It’s a lot of extra time; labour, diesel, machinery. More wet shit in parlour; but as we straw bed; zero grazing def made us have to use more straw to keep cows cleaner.
If you think of optimum grass ie ensiled; dry is that better; is that cheaper than fresh grass, cut mid sept or mid October in the rain???
Costs; I’m sure pit silage is cheaper per bale or kg than zero grazing.
For the cost of the investment of the machine; I’d prefer a front mounted mower and silage wagon; which then can do both silage and zero grass for a shorter window.
I’m not saying zero grazing is not a runner. For those that already have an extra tractor; labour to fetch the grass; and land just out of reach to walk cows to, then it’s def an option.
I’d like to record cows milk yields and look at the figures. But I think if I was milking cows on my own; I’d rather aim for higher quality forage. Just out of laziness
Balers and pick ups in general dont handle short grass very well, especially damp stuff. Heavier covers would surely be more efficient with less travelling too per kg of grass.