pit or bales

whelan2

do you make pit/bales or both

_Brian

Bales only here.
I think we stopped pit in mid 90's.

131spanner

Bales only since '93. Don't see us ever changing back.

moy83

First cut in the pit and bale anything thats not ate for a second cut . Much prefer the pit over bales

Farrell

moy83 wrote: »

First cut in the pit and bale anything thats not ate for a second cut . Much prefer the pit over bales

Bales only. Put would be nice

Sam Kade

All bales but I would prefer pit.

Greengrass1

Have one pit. Holds 400 bales. So there's my answer
Will be making a slab in a few years when I clean away some of the yard to put in a lagoon. So will have options then

farm14

Pit for the main cut & a few bales out of heavy paddocks. Bales is a bollox of a way for making silage.

frazzledhome

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Have one pit. Holds 400 bales. So there's my answer
Will be making a slab in a few years when I clean away some of the yard to put in a lagoon. So will have options then

A LAGOON? That won't go down well here

Greengrass1

frazzledhome wrote: »

A LAGOON? That won't go down well here

Cheapest storage for topless cubicles I'm told

Base price

We don't make silage but this year we have extra grass on an out farm and a neighbour cut and baled it during the week. It did not get any fertiliser or slurry. In return he is going to clear out some drains in the autumn/winter as he has a hi mac type digger.

moy83

Base price wrote: »

We don't make silage but this year we have extra grass on an out farm and a neighbour cut and baled it during the week. It did not get any fertiliser or slurry. In return he is going to clear out some drains in the autumn/winter as he has a hi mac type digger.

Thats a good trade I think . The money from bales never lasts long , at least the drains will last . Reminds me a lad rang over a month ago because he was badly stuck for bales , I had 30 left and told him he could have them for €30 ( they were good stuff ) he said he would be back to pay before the weekend . A few weekends have passed since and no sign of him since but the bales are gone :rolleyes:

frazzledhome

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Cheapest storage for topless cubicles I'm told

Yellow card for lagoon and total ban for topless cubicles

Reggie.

Both are done on the home farm

Greengrass1

frazzledhome wrote: »

Yellow card for lagoon and total ban for topless cubicles

What about saying the word cheap

munkus

30 acres of pit every year and maybe 4 - 6 area of after grass for bales as backup. Handy to have if the sheer grab breaks. 100 euro an acre for the pit, I'd assume it would cost twice that for bales, and them spend a week bringing them in.

Damo810

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Cheapest storage for topless cubicles I'm told

But what about the cows?!? They'll get all wet!

Damo810

Bales only here since the 90's. Easier job at our size, maybe once we get a decent bit of scale pit would be an option, but then I suppose it may work out cheaper to have the baling kit and make our own! Bales are handy for us though!

visatorro

Heard teagasc came out wit a figure that the cost of making a pit would pay for it self in ten years with the savings over making Bales.

I make both here. Mostly pit silage

Damo810

Do lads find any difference in quality with pit Vs Bales?

frazzledhome

Damo810 wrote: »

Do lads find any difference in quality with pit Vs Bales?

Not since moving to wagon

triggerharvey

munkus wrote: »

30 acres of pit every year and maybe 4 - 6 area of after grass for bales as backup. Handy to have if the sheer grab breaks. 100 euro an acre for the pit, I'd assume it would cost twice that for bales, and them spend a week bringing them in.

a week bringing them in what are u using a wheelbarrow is it ?

Greengrass1

Brought 250 in between yesterday and today. Didn't go to hard at it today. Bring 17 at a time if there still fairly solid and haven't started to make

Zr105

First cut in the pit, paddocks will always be bales, and last few years any second cut has been bales tried convincing dad to get the second cut chopped either on top of first cut pit as there would have been room, or into the other pit thats kind of dumping ground/bale storage/dung heap last year but it was baled, i think by mid winter he'd come round to my thinking problem is there's still bales in second pit from last year now and the first pit is full so gona have to go bales for the little bit of 2nd that well do this year

Reggie.

Zr105 wrote: »

First cut in the pit, paddocks will always be bales, and last few years any second cut has been bales tried convincing dad to get the second cut chopped either on top of first cut pit as there would have been room, or into the other pit thats kind of dumping ground/bale storage/dung heap last year but it was baled, i think by mid winter he'd come round to my thinking problem is there's still bales in second pit from last year now and the first pit is full so gona have to go bales for the little bit of 2nd that well do this year

Feed the bales out first in the winter and use them up

Zr105

Reggie. wrote: »

Feed the bales out first in the winter and use them up

If only it was that simple cows(sucklers) get the bales cattle are on pit through diet feeder! Feeder wont handle bales

_Brian

visatorro wrote: »

Heard teagasc came out wit a figure that the cost of making a pit would pay for it self in ten years with the savings over making Bales.

Would the same money invested in good second hand baling/wrapping equipment not pay back too and leave farmers more independant come good weather??

KCTK

Damo810 wrote: »

Do lads find any difference in quality with pit Vs Bales?

About 70 acres in pit and 250 to 300 bales, find way better performance on bales so try not feeding pit to milkers. Put about 25 acres into small pit this year of wagon silage, if it's as good as I've been hearing on here I'll be moving away from precision to all wagon in pits in the near future.

freedominacup

KCTK wrote: »

About 70 acres in pit and 250 to 300 bales, find way better performance on bales so try not feeding pit to milkers. Put about 25 acres into small pit this year of wagon silage, if it's as good as I've been hearing on here I'll be moving away from precision to all wagon in pits in the near future.

I don't think there's any difference in silage quality due to how it was made. If you had a large silage field mowed on a particular day and picked up every third swarth with a baler, wagon and precision harvestor. Two separate pits and bales made I would be surprised if the analysis was any different between the systems. We use a wagon here because it's cost effective but have often had 80 plus dmd silage from precision chopped pits. Harvesting system has no impact on silage quality.

Sam Kade

_Brian wrote: »

Would the same money invested in good second hand baling/wrapping equipment not pay back too and leave farmers more independant come good weather??

I have a cheap outfit since 1999 which is well paid for. Next year when I go back milking I will be making around 500 bales. The gear I have is too slow so I intend getting a local contractor with a fusion to bale and wrap 400 bales and I will do 100 myself. I would save around €2000 doing the 500 myself when you take tax out of that including usc charge you will be left with a saving of €1300 not worth it for the extra time and labour it would take. The trouble with doing it yourself as well would be getting extra labour when you need it.

Birdnuts

All bales now my way

KCTK

freedominacup wrote: »

I don't think there's any difference in silage quality due to how it was made. If you had a large silage field mowed on a particular day and picked up every third swarth with a baler, wagon and precision harvestor. Two separate pits and bales made I would be surprised if the analysis was any different between the systems. We use a wagon here because it's cost effective but have often had 80 plus dmd silage from precision chopped pits. Harvesting system has no impact on silage quality.

I have no doubt the quality will be the same no matter which harvesting system used on the same grass but I do think there is a performance difference in cattle between the different chop lengths. Was speaking with a few nutritionists over the past while on this and all reckon if wanting same performance from precision chop then you should be using a diet feeder to incorporate straw as the ruman stomach needs some length to digest properly.

yellow50HX

All bales for about 10 years now. Use to always have the silage in the pit but with the pit getting and machinery getting bigger we decided to convert it to a shed for storing bales, machinery and as a calving pen. Had planned to put in a slab a few year back but bales are very handy as I do a bit of out wintering. If we had more stock or when back into cows then a pit would be a must.

Bales allow me to do a couple of cuts rather then doing a single one for the pit so in that way is more flexible. Quality wise we have very little waste from the bales, practically none over the last few years. We always had a bit round the edges with the pit.

keep going

Hate bales even though they have alot of advantages but one huge dis advantage-work.cost wise all depends on you setup but if you have shift it any distance they are a time gobbler.

Zr105

I think when doing the calculations on cost a lot of the time lads forget to factor in a big enough one in my opinion, the cost of disposal of plastic.. Even though levies are being paid when buying the bloody wrap you have to pay to get rid of it to...

Sam Kade

KCTK wrote: »

I have no doubt the quality will be the same no matter which harvesting system used on the same grass but I do think there is a performance difference in cattle between the different chop lengths. Was speaking with a few nutritionists over the past while on this and all reckon if wanting same performance from precision chop then you should be using a diet feeder to incorporate straw as the ruman stomach needs some length to digest properly.

We used to do double chop before bales and dry cows would fatten on it.

Sam Kade

Zr105 wrote: »

I think when doing the calculations on cost a lot of the time lads forget to factor in a big enough one in my opinion, the cost of disposal of plastic.. Even though levies are being paid when buying the bloody wrap you have to pay to get rid of it to...

It cost me €12 for 200 wraps hardly a big cost.

J.O. Farmer

Sam Kade wrote: »

It cost me €12 for 200 wraps hardly a big cost.

You got off light. I can't remember what we gave for that at most but I think it was at least 3-4 times that. We disposed with farm relief in the west a couple of weeks ago.

GY A1

Just bales here aswell

Sam Kade

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

You got off light. I can't remember what we gave for that at most but I think it was at least 3-4 times that. We disposed with farm relief in the west a couple of weeks ago.

It's IFFPG that have bring centers for collection that I use. 8x5 car trailer with 3' high sides they don't bother weighing only charge €12 for the trailer load they do weigh tractor trailers but I don't know what they charge.

J.O. Farmer

Sam Kade wrote: »

It's IFFPG that have bring centers for collection that I use. 8x5 car trailer with 3' high sides they don't bother weighing only charge €12 for the trailer load they do weigh tractor trailers but I don't know what they charge.

Cheers that would probably work out cheaper next year so. They seem to collect all round the country and I assume they charge similar everywhere.

Farmer Pudsey

Bales only

farm14 wrote: »

Pit for the main cut & a few bales out of heavy paddocks. Bales is a bollox of a way for making silage.

Please explain

munkus wrote: »

30 acres of pit every year and maybe 4 - 6 area of after grass for bales as backup. Handy to have if the sheer grab breaks. 100 euro an acre for the pit, I'd assume it would cost twice that for bales, and them spend a week bringing them in.

The difference between bales and pit is minimum to small to medium scale farms. Bigger farmers will get discounted by silage contractors. I am hearing that contractors are charging 125/acre. Bales silage is 7-7.5 to bale and wrap 2.7 for plastic and 2.5 to mow. That works out at about 12.5/bale at 10/acre is 125 euro. Yes you have to bring in bales so allow 1 euro/bale. Pit silage plastic costs 100ish/sheet. Getting rid of bale plastic and netting about 80/year for 400 wraps and netting.

You then have to allow for silage slab ( technically you can put bales on hardcore). It woulds surly work out at 1 euro/year/bale. So cost is break even.

visatorro wrote: »

Heard teagasc came out wit a figure that the cost of making a pit would pay for it self in ten years with the savings over making Bales.

I make both here. Mostly pit silage

see above

freedominacup wrote: »

I don't think there's any difference in silage quality due to how it was made. If you had a large silage field mowed on a particular day and picked up every third swarth with a baler, wagon and precision harvestor. Two separate pits and bales made I would be surprised if the analysis was any different between the systems. We use a wagon here because it's cost effective but have often had 80 plus dmd silage from precision chopped pits. Harvesting system has no impact on silage quality.

Biggest issue I have with pit silage is flexibility and contractor. I see lads around the same size as myself and contractor arrive, cut this evening hail rain or snow, f@@ks it into the pit he will come when it suits him not me. On the other hand bale contractor make's it when it suits me I always get a 48 hour wilt. I am luck in that my draw is short so manage to bring in 35 bale/hour.

Wilt is a big thing you can scarfice a few points in DMD for higher DM. Animals can only consume so much if 80% is water they have to get rid of excess ( I thing ideal DM is around 35%). Also some precision chop is too short for cattle stomach.

However I can understand if you are making a lot of silage that pit is handier, who wants to be drawing 1K+ bales.

Reggie.

[/quote]
However I can understand if you are making a lot of silage that pit is handier, who wants to be drawing 1K+ bales.[/quote]

Green grass

Sam Kade

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Cheers that would probably work out cheaper next year so. They seem to collect all round the country and I assume they charge similar everywhere.

Yeah the charge would be the same every where.

Greengrass1

[quote="who wants to be drawing 1K+ bales.[/quote]

Ehhh I have a job for ye if your free all summer

simx

Do ye lads doing all bales see it's difficult to agitate slurry? I see my cousins slatted house when I've to agitate its a heartbreaking job towards my own, I do pit and bales

Mad4simmental

simx wrote: »

Do ye lads doing all bales see it's difficult to agitate slurry? I see my cousins slatted house when I've to agitate its a heartbreaking job towards my own, I do pit and bales

We had that problem years ago. Changed all feeding barriers from the old ones going across like a gate to the ones with the bars going down on a 45 angle and big difference. Also just have the bales so she animals have to stretch to get at them so they don't pull it all in under them.

We done pit for years but all bales now. Easier for out set up and quality all way stayes fresh. Allot of boys hate them but when you get a nack at them they are easy.

Take plastic off all bales you need. Tip all bales on there end near where you want them. Walk around cut all the net off and push them in. Then lean agen barrier and smoke a fag and say grand to late to go to mass now.

Reggie.

Mad4simmental wrote: »

We had that problem years ago. Changed all feeding barriers from the old ones going across like a gate to the ones with the bars going down on a 45 angle and big difference. Also just have the bales so she animals have to stretch to get at them so they don't pull it all in under them.

We done pit for years but all bales now. Easier for out set up and quality all way stayes fresh. Allot of boys hate them but when you get a nack at them they are easy.

Take plastic off all bales you need. Tip all bales on there end near where you want them. Walk around cut all the net off and push them in. Then lean agen barrier and smoke a fag and say grand to late to go to mass now.

I like your style

Farmer Pudsey

Diagonal Feeding barriers help. However a lot of issue with agitating is often with low DMD silage If silage is 60 DMD 40% is going into tank. balancing cattle diet helps as well so that dung is right consistancy.

I said

Mad4simmental wrote: »

We had that problem years ago. Changed all feeding barriers from the old ones going across like a gate to the ones with the bars going down on a 45 angle and big difference. Also just have the bales so she animals have to stretch to get at them so they don't pull it all in under them.

We done pit for years but all bales now. Easier for out set up and quality all way stayes fresh. Allot of boys hate them but when you get a nack at them they are easy.

Take plastic off all bales you need. Tip all bales on there end near where you want them. Walk around cut all the net off and push them in. Then lean agen barrier and smoke a fag and say grand to late to go to mass now.

Nice one

Farrell

KCTK wrote: »

I have no doubt the quality will be the same no matter which harvesting system used on the same grass but I do think there is a performance difference in cattle between the different chop lengths. Was speaking with a few nutritionists over the past while on this and all reckon if wanting same performance from precision chop then you should be using a diet feeder to incorporate straw as the ruman stomach needs some length to digest properly.

You can give straw along with silage, without needing a diet feeder