taking grass out for bales... When do you Cut? Do you add fert?

49801

Got lots of quesitons about using bales as a grass management tool. Still very fresh in my mind having to feed bales at grass . Still got to get our first cut into the clamp (should of cut on Sat:( whoops)

So anyway if your taking ground out for bales when do you cut it?
Same time cattle would be grazing it I would think but the debate goes on here.

The temptation here is to spread a bit more fert let it bulk up for several weeks.

I can see the motivation but realistically I can see us having to take ground out for bales later in the summer too. We wont be short of silage for the winter but am curious what sort of yields are there for this type of ground?

The only non cost effective portion of taking ground out for bales is the mowing and I think I'd be willing to take the hit on that than to be spending money on fert just to get a few more bales to the acre.

thoughts?

fastrac

I usually give it a week more than i graze it before i cut. Will probably let some go more as !st cut ground comes back in in around 2 wks . Have only topped one field so far this yr.

leg wax

if you are in a rotation system then you have to take out straight away or if you leave it for a week it will not be back in time,and by taking it out now you will find it easy to take out differnt paddocks the next round,and in doing saveing topping.

J DEERE

Any of ye find any hassle gettin contractor in to do small bits at a time, say 2 or 3 acres? Must be an inconvenience to mow, then bale maybe 10 or 15 bales. Our contractor does it no problem but always hate asking

PatQfarmer

J DEERE wrote: »

Any of ye find any hassle gettin contractor in to do small bits at a time, say 2 or 3 acres? Must be an inconvenience to mow, then bale maybe 10 or 15 bales. Our contractor does it no problem but always hate asking

I'm the same, don't like asking, but I mow it, rank it and then he comes in with the Fusion, so have it worked out alright.
I do try to put a few paddocks together, but can't always.

Muckit

I used to think like that be I wouldn't feel one bit guilty if it's a fusion setup. One man, one machine. And especially if you pay going out the gate.

It's better to them than twice the work and no money for it. It's the small paid jobs that keep contractors a float

49801

getting contractors for small bits is a tricky one alright but they still get paid. Suppose it'll be easier to get them around once they are finished with first cut.

so is it more cost efficent to make bales than to top? I'd like to see the costings!

Reason I started the thread is I am most interested in how in practice farmers implement taking out ground for bales.

ootbitb

never done this so sorry if this is a stupid question.

is silage made like this as palatable as silage closed for a few weeks?

is there much/any waste?

Pharaoh1

49801 wrote: »

getting contractors for small bits is a tricky one alright but they still get paid. Suppose it'll be easier to get them around once they are finished with first cut.

so is it more cost efficent to make bales than to top? I'd like to see the costings!

Reason I started the thread is I am most interested in how in practice farmers implement taking out ground for bales.

I saw first cut baled silage advertised in the mart today for €16. Of course it could be rubbish but at that price it wouldn't be worth making bales.

I do wrap a few heavy paddocks usually early june, then approx four weeks later and sometimes a small bit in early Aug if I have a heavy cover.
It helps even out the grass supply and the regrowth will always have more leaf.
This year is a bit of a disaster with none wrapped yet - hopefully next week.
I've ended up grazing some too heavy covers and topping afterward.
But there is really too much stem in the sward and there is a lot of the topped stem left lying around.
With the weather I don't think I could have done any better but it is very difficult. If you leave the stem untopped it will be worse the next time around. Topping reduces supply but the quality will be better for the next grazing.
I saw a few lads wrapping in lashing rain this past week not a good idea either but the dairy farmers in particular will run out if they don't get paddocks back in the rotation. I was tempted to feed some meal to my beef bullocks in the last week they looked so wet and miserable but I would have destroyed paddocks - I even removed the bucket licks as there was sever poaching around them.
Also the cattle are consuming massive amounts of grass in the wet weather - they seem to be grazing all the time. Dairy neighbour tells me it is simply that they need much more than normal of the wet grass to satisfy their DM requirement.
Sorry I've rambled a bit.

5live

ootbitb wrote: »

never done this so sorry if this is a stupid question.

is silage made like this as palatable as silage closed for a few weeks?

is there much/any waste?

Its more palatable as the grass is younger and has less stem so will have a higher digestability and feed value. It is much closer to grazed grass in feed value than 'typical' silage a few days/weeks older. I bale surplus paddocks to keep my rotation going and, as pointed out here before, use it also to reduce the need for topping. I tend to use it where rushes are present on the grazing to reduce numbers but those bales will leave a bit of waste behind, all rushes though