silage bales

wiggy123

Hi, what price are good 1st cut silage bales making?
am in the louth area..
running low..have just under 3 weeks feeding ahead..
grass not great yet! no fert. out yet..ground wet + to cold..

whelan1

buy the local trader and you will get a good idea , i got hay and silage out of it last year

wiggy123

hav gotten it b4 whelan1..
will do,this week!

aristo

well hay is making €30 a bale so a bit more than that for silage id imagine

wiggy123

hay is normally dearer than silage!
see prices from €17-€28 a bale...unsure quality now

irishh_bob

wiggy123 wrote: »

Hi, what price are good 1st cut silage bales making?
am in the louth area..
running low..have just under 3 weeks feeding ahead..
grass not great yet! no fert. out yet..ground wet + to cold..

louth is a different planet to somewhere like mayo when it comes to volume and variety of feeding available so i imagine the price of bales silage is significantly cheaper in the wee county than in other parts of the country , id imagine you should pick bales of silage up for 25 euro collected on farm , you wont need top quality in three weeks once you can graze during the day , your in louth not leitrim , early grazing should possible in some shape or form

whelan1

i live in ;outh too and believe me some of our land might as well be in leitrim:D

BeeDI

irishh_bob wrote: »

louth is a different planet to somewhere like mayo when it comes to volume and variety of feeding available so i imagine the price of bales silage is significantly cheaper in the wee county than in other parts of the country , id imagine you should pick bales of silage up for 25 euro collected on farm , you wont need top quality in three weeks once you can graze during the day , your in louth not leitrim , early grazing should possible in some shape or form

Grass or no grass, I would not buy silage bales. I would let them out when fodder runs out, and feed meals outside. To my way of thinking, the most expensive form of feed is purchased silage.
In fact, I was definitely short coming into the winter myself. Rationed the silage pretty severely compared to past years and suplemented with meal. Must say delighted with the outcome from cost and economics point of view.
Based on experience this winter, I will make less baled silage in future and use more meals. Of course meal was much better value this year, than most years. But in my opinion, buying baled silage should be a last resort.

B

blue5000

Hi ya bought silage at 20e a bale collected this week.

Ford4000

BeeDI wrote: »

Grass or no grass, I would not buy silage bales. I would let them out when fodder runs out, and feed meals outside. To my way of thinking, the most expensive form of feed is purchased silage.
In fact, I was definitely short coming into the winter myself. Rationed the silage pretty severely compared to past years and suplemented with meal. Must say delighted with the outcome from cost and economics point of view.
Based on experience this winter, I will make less baled silage in future and use more meals. Of course meal was much better value this year, than most years. But in my opinion, buying baled silage should be a last resort.

B

If more farmer would think and work your way there would be a lot less fodder shortages and a lot more dare i say it 'profitable' farmers, baled silage is terrible stuff for buying due to the huge costs, meals are much better and a well rationed diet (silage / meals) when you can see yourself bein a bit short is excellent....Good work:cool:

BeeDI

Always followed the traditional route, like most farmers. Try to make plenty silage so I can see out the winter. Have read continuously in the IFJ, over the past number of years, about the true value of baled silage versus meals. I think John Shirley, reckons average baled silage is worth no mare than €14 a bale compared to ration at this years prices. Then there is the complication that a lot of baled silage is below average.

But I would have traditionally been deeply suspicious of over rationing silage or hay to stock and supplementing with meals. This year, I just took the bull by the horns, and bought meals in right from day one of winter. Fed suckler cows, this way, and I must say I was very concerned about possible calving difficulties as a result of meal feeding. Well, 12 cows have calved, all to stock bull son of CF52, and 100% unassisted calvings so far.

I for one am totally converted. I reckon my own silage is costing me €16 a bale between contactor prices in my area (€9 to cut, bale and wrap) PLUS I have to supply plastic + fertilizer, PLUS drawing in from meadows.

P+V beef nuts at €190 a ton, in my book based on my own experience this year makes my silage worth little more than €11 a bale. It's costing me €16:mad:. Then there is better value to be got in meals also, but not geared up for bulk deliveries. Thinking about doing that now

pakalasa

BeeDI,
You know you could go one further and source cheaper meal.
I fed meal this year to sucklers, for the first time too and was very happy with it.
I'm feeding a 50:50 mix of barley:beet pulp nuts costing 155 Euro collected from their yard. I add the pre-calver minerals myself.

I don't expect meal to be that cheap though in the coming years, (tillage guys are loosing money).

What I find great is that I can stretch out the bales so that I only have to feed them every 4 days. Great during the cold weather when tractors were a hassle to start etc.;)

Good to hear that you didn't have calving problems, as that was one thing I was unsure off. The cows are not over fat, but you never know what it is doing to the calves inside.

BeeDI

pakalasa wrote: »

BeeDI,
You know you could go one further and source cheaper meal.
I fed meal this year to sucklers, for the first time too and was very happy with it.
I'm feeding a 50:50 mix of barley:beet pulp nuts costing 155 Euro collected from their yard. I add the pre-calver minerals myself.

I don't expect meal to be that cheap though in the coming years, (tillage guys are loosing money).

What I find great is that I can stretch out the bales so that I only have to feed them every 4 days. Great during the cold weather when tractors were a hassle to start etc.;)

Good to hear that you didn't have calving problems, as that was one thing I was unsure off. The cows are not over fat, but you never know what it is doing to the calves inside.

That's the bit that worried me to be honest. But if anything the calves are handier (less fleshy), if you know what I mean. Calving jack, redundant so far this year. Cows nice and fit, but not in any way below adequate condition.

Sam Kade

BeeDI wrote: »

[/B][/COLOR]

That's the bit that worried me to be honest. But if anything the calves are handier (less fleshy), if you know what I mean. Calving jack, redundant so far this year. Cows nice and fit, but not in any way below adequate condition.

The calf grows more during the month before calving so cows need to have feed restricted during that month. How much meals were you giving your cows before calving?

BeeDI

Sam Kade wrote: »

The calf grows more during the month before calving so cows need to have feed restricted during that month. How much meals were you giving your cows before calving?

I fed 1.5 kgs beef nuts per head up to month before calving. Then changed to 2kg rolled oats. All the time with restricted silage. Silage was made early June, good weather condition, old meadow grass.
Another cow just calved this evening. Again, no pull. So fairly happy with my outcome, so far.

Sam Kade

BeeDI wrote: »

I fed 1.5 kgs beef nuts per head up to month before calving. Then changed to 2kg rolled oats. All the time with restricted silage. Silage was made early June, good weather condition, old meadow grass.
Another cow just calved this evening. Again, no pull. So fairly happy with my outcome, so far.

The oats is a good idea as it prevents the calf growing too big. I was just wondering how you fed them during the last month before calving while restricting silage. I am selling surplus silage at the moment so I hope any of my buyers aren't reading this.

BENDYBINN

Silage bales are going to get mad dear-the whole country is burnt up with the frost.Cattle will be in till may day-buy now while ye can get them!
P.s Ill probably have a few for sellin myself!!!!!!

leg wax

when you talk about restricting silage how many cows would you feed with 1 bale of silage a day.

wiggy123

well do they maintain a bale will feed 14 cattle a day--whether thats a cow,etc...

irishh_bob

wiggy123 wrote: »

well do they maintain a bale will feed 14 cattle a day--whether thats a cow,etc...

must be a very small or else low DM bale if it only feeds 14 , 17 minimum and up to 22 if borderline haylage

BeeDI

leg wax wrote: »

when you talk about restricting silage how many cows would you feed with 1 bale of silage a day.

1 bale = 2 days for 13 cows. 1.5kg nuts per head per day on top.
They would have been in good condition going in to shed. Wean early Oct and given good run of grass.
Somebody will now say that's not over restriction, but in past years I was giving almost twice the amount of silage on a daily basis albeit without the meals.

leg wax

thanks for that, i might try that next year.

dairygene

Other than meal, what else is currently value feeding if not round bales to buy in?

Indubitable

I feed haylage/good quality silage (depending on the weather) and alot of flaked maize to bulls/stores/cull cattle. i give about 2.25k of maize per head. I give maize mixed with bull nuts to the weanlings.

I use 5 bales of tightly packed good quality silage every 2 days

wiggy123

you not find the flake maize....is a cause of lice/itch with ur animals..
also am told it can stump..animals!
i use to use it for my angus' was told that-it wasn't good for them,stopped there growth---were in great condition though--a shine on them

Indubitable

wiggy123 wrote: »

you not find the flake maize....is a cause of lice/itch with ur animals..
also am told it can stump..animals!
i use to use it for my angus' was told that-it wasn't good for them,stopped there growth---were in great condition though--a shine on them

I find the weight gain on my bulls and cull cows to be alot better than nuts that you might buy at a higher price. I don't know if it stunts growth as the amount if feed my weanlings is low and it is mixed in with bull nuts at 18% protein.
It is a bit strong for calves under 8 months, it causes them to scour a little.

I use de-lousing pour-on on my cattle every few months and I heard it only causes lice when it gets onto their heads or back.

They are very messy eaters when trying to eat it.