mould in silage bales

sandydan

anyone have mould problems with silage bales this year,had massive mould problems last year in bales made in 2013 about forty of 180 not all stacked together as one would expect but scattered throughout heap of bales , so 2 could be perfect and one beside them or two could be be in bad condition unusable.
so last year i stood all bales and have quite a few with mould inside plastic. as well the top or bottom of bales could have quite a lot of water and ends of bale would not look too good.but by comparison to last year ive had no bale with mould all the way through

Reggie.

sandydan wrote: »

anyone have mould problems with silage bales this year,had massive mould problems last year in bales made in 2013 about forty of 180 not all stacked together as one would expect but scattered throughout heap of bales , so 2 could be perfect and one beside them or two could be be in bad condition unusable.
so last year i stood all bales and have quite a few with mould inside plastic. as well the top or bottom of bales could have quite a lot of water and ends of bale would not look too good.but by comparison to last year ive had no bale with mould all the way through

Small bits of mould on bales here but only on the outer layers not all the way through

sandydan

Reggie. wrote: »

Small bits of mould on bales here but only on the outer layers not all the way through

what is your preferred method of storing , flat or standing bales.
flat storage gives option of reducing storage area by stacking on top. does anyone cover the top row of stacked bales with plastic and netting, as opposed to netting only

Reggie.

sandydan wrote: »

what is your preferred method of storing , flat or standing bales.
flat storage gives option of reducing storage area by stacking on top. does anyone cover the top row of stacked bales with plastic and netting, as opposed to netting only

On the flat always. Less chance of puncturing the bales off the ground as there is more plastic on the fat surface

sandydan

Reggie. wrote: »

On the flat always. Less chance of puncturing the bales off the ground as there is more plastic on the fat surface

do you stack bales on top, i used paddle handler last year as contractor blamed pipe type even hydraulic as unsuitable on long draws where trailer wasn,t used, but ground needs to be flat and smooth for paddle as it will tear plastic if there is any uneven surface whatever, he recons a hydraulic paddle handler would be best to allow room for paddles to squeeze or widen when dropping or picking up soft green grass type bales prone to sagging

Reggie.

sandydan wrote: »

do you stack bales on top, i used paddle handler last year as contractor blamed pipe type even hydraulic as unsuitable on long draws where trailer wasn,t used, but ground needs to be flat and smooth for paddle as it will tear plastic if there is any uneven surface whatever, he recons a hydraulic paddle handler would be best to allow room for paddles to squeeze or widen when dropping or picking up soft green grass type bales prone to sagging

Always had trouble using the duck paddles. Gave up on them years ago. Use the normal pipe ones here and trailers aswell

Green farmer

Paid contractor here to draw bales. He used a teleporter with soft paddles and tractor with long trailer. Was a fine job, neatly stacked. I double wrapped them as well. Mould has been kept to a minimum but will still have to odd small bit of waste in a some bales. I was thinking of next year trying to reduce it further by using white or green plastic instead of black and storing silage in a more shaded part of field. By coincidence or not the bales that had no sun exposure had less waste then the south facing ones this year. I also wonder could the soft paddle squeeze a bale too much at the side thus creating a little air pocket for mould ? All bales stacked standing up

Nekarsulm

Are there holes in the plastic, on the mouldy bales? Or is there a problem with the brand of plastic you were using? we always stack on the ends, much more plastic to protect from small stones etc.

Green farmer

I used silawrap anyway.

Nekarsulm

A heavy wet bale is enough for the lifter to run tiny holes in the plastic whilst moving. If there is mud or even heavy dust on the ground, this settling on the arms will rub the plastic as well.

9935452

Reggie. wrote: »

Always had trouble using the duck paddles. Gave up on them years ago. Use the normal pipe ones here and trailers aswell

I find the complete opposite. Most of what we have here have paddles.
I find there is a lot more surface area for the bale to rest on. .
When the bales are starting to go soft , the paddles will get under them without doing as much damage.
The one thing is the paddles have to be clean, no much or dirt.
If they are home made some time needs to be taken making sure the splatter from the welder is ground away

Reggie.

9935452 wrote: »

I find the complete opposite. Most of what we have here have paddles.
I find there is a lot more surface area for the bale to rest on. .
When the bales are starting to go soft , the paddles will get under them without doing as much damage.
The one thing is the paddles have to be clean, no much or dirt.
If they are home made some time needs to be taken making sure the splatter from the welder is ground away

Use soft hands here nearly the whole time

Muckit

Reggie. wrote: »

Use soft hands here nearly the whole time

I bet u do. how to you find the grip?

Reggie.

Muckit wrote: »

I bet u do. how to you find the grip?

You have to be careful as it's easy to over squeeze a bale but if ya dont grip it enough it can stretch the plastic

Willfarman

I had haylage bales stacked both ways here this year 3 high in old silage pit. And the ones stacked on flat held shape better but there was noticeable mould on outer layer compared to those stacked round. I think the bit of a squeeze must of expelled air from bales. No other reason. All made same week, differant fields but same everything else.

waalaa

We get ours made with 6 wraps, you would probably see any mould in 1 in every 100 bales and even at that its tiny.

Kovu

waalaa wrote: »

We get ours made with 6 wraps, you would probably see any mould in 1 in every 100 bales and even at that its tiny.

Same as that. Bales have very little mould except for a couple that got pinprick holes and that usually doesn't spread very far inside the bale.

Reggie.

Would the real dry year cause mould in the bales as there seems to be more this year than previous years

sandydan

Reggie. wrote: »

Always had trouble using the duck paddles. Gave up on them years ago. Use the normal pipe ones here and trailers aswell

i made frame and purchased new paddles €180 for pair, last year after disaster of 2013 bales which were drawn using hydraulic stacker on front and dbl bale handler on rear of tm by contractor.
that year i used volac and coop source and found no difference ,
2014 i used different brand and drew most myself but got help from neighbours with pipe handlers,but at more relaxed pace, certainly bales got less hardship, but im inclined to think its the handling makes most difference

Reggie.

sandydan wrote: »

i made frame and purchased new paddles €180 for pair, last year after disaster of 2013 bales which were drawn using hydraulic stacker on front and dbl bale handler on rear of tm by contractor.
that year i used volac and coop source and found no difference ,
2014 i used different brand and drew most myself but got help from neighbours with pipe handlers,but at more relaxed pace, certainly bales got less hardship, but im inclined to think its the handling makes most difference

You have to take your time with bales. If you rush you'll only damage them

Farmer Pudsey

Use a double handle and hydrulic handler in front. If stacking 2 high on the flat any small holes from handlers should be sealed real issue is where you tear a bale slightly at front or back. At nearest the tractor you will see at stacking however the side you cannot se id the isse.

Crows are my bogey as i do not live on the place. I am considering buying a few tarps but the cheap ones are too light. Go up on the stack every week to check and patch.

sandydan

Reggie. wrote: »

You have to take your time with bales. If you rush you'll only damage them

try telling that to 2 18yr olds sitting on contractors machine paid by the bale working 20 hr days. in some places around here the roads arent suitable for bale trailers only made to carry10/ 12 bales at time, so contractor of trailer drawing of bales by trailer is out

Green farmer

Anybody use those cashel double blae handlers. Saw them on the YouTube. They look good. At the moment I pay a contractor to get mine off the field quick , hundreds of crows descend fare fast. Was told that the first hour they'll walk the ground and after that they sit on the bales.

Willfarman

Wrapping in the yard is the only job imo

sandydan

Willfarman wrote: »

Wrapping in the yard is the only job imo

mchale fusion dont work that way but did it for years no mould in complete bale,, problem like 2013 anyways, any i had was wrapped in field and drawn after.

sandydan

Green farmer wrote: »

Anybody use those cashel double blae handlers. Saw them on the YouTube. They look good. At the moment I pay a contractor to get mine off the field quick , hundreds of crows descend fare fast. Was told that the first hour they'll walk the ground and after that they sit on the bales.

any machine gun,bang one and hang up , pluck for better results, some say they thinks its a hawk kill that way

ganmo

We line up the bales fr the wrapper, one year we didn't get them stacked away that night. The hoors of crows had holes in every bale.

I saw plenty of cat prints on the bales this year, between them and foxes the edge bales generally need patchin where they jump up

Reggie.

Willfarman wrote: »

Wrapping in the yard is the only job imo

If ya can manage that

MFdaveIreland

Lads ive seen boys wrapping in a field just grazed by cows and dung being wrapped in the bales . Possibly causing mould and secondary fermentation

Reggie.

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

Lads ive seen boys wrapping in a field just grazed by cows and dung being wrapped in the bales . Possibly causing mould and secondary fermentation

That would destroy the silage having dung in it

sh1tstirrer

Would ye take the mould off the bales before feeding to incalf cows?

Reggie.

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Would ye take the mould off the bales before feeding to incalf cows?

Def. I even take it off feeding to weanlings

sandydan

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Would ye take the mould off the bales before feeding to incalf cows?

gave a fella a tenner for hay-knife for that job local store couln't get them ,around €60 new.. some say it may cause abortions in sheep and cows? cant be good anyways.

Willfarman

Definitely not good. Causes white eye and listeriosis.

red_diesel

if there's one thing I hate its mouldy bales. I know for me the worst is when some of the silage gets too dry and is baled up with wetter stuff. Any really wet silage I've baled up has never had mould on it when opened. If you can get a 24 hour wilt with one turn that works best here anyway.
The mould is a curse. I've had a few bullocks get silage eye this year from a few mouldy bales. Its an awful thing to get.

Farmer Pudsey

red_diesel wrote: »

if there's one thing I hate its mouldy bales. I know for me the worst is when some of the silage gets too dry and is baled up with wetter stuff. Any really wet silage I've baled up has never had mould on it when opened. If you can get a 24 hour wilt with one turn that works best here anyway.
The mould is a curse. I've had a few bullocks get silage eye this year from a few mouldy bales. Its an awful thing to get.

Allymycin blue spray is very good with eye infections especially if they are bad.

sh1tstirrer

Reggie. wrote: »

Def. I even take it off feeding to weanlings

I do as well but it really slows feeding time and there will always be bits you miss.

Reggie.

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

I do as well but it really slows feeding time and there will always be bits you miss.

Every little helps tho

sandydan

often wondered if i hadn't knocked the original 45 x 18 covered shed pit , would it be better to use single chop or double and open and close polythene than baling , never had waste in that. know a fellow who purchased a double chop and is doing it says he wont bale again, contractor cuts his main crop

brick man

I used to have bad moulding till I started double wrapping it made a fair difference. the other thing I noticed was cats climbing up bales piercing the wrap and you would have bad moulding

Carrigogunnell

double wrap or wrap and a half does make a huge difference to both silage presavstion and handling.it's very hard to say exactly Wat does cause the mould ifs it's only a bit on the outside not too worried but if it's well into the bale I'd be worried couple of things make a difference grass quality DM tightness of bale and after all that the way it's handled heard good reports about the fusion 3 using plastic reducing mould in dry silage I draw about 3000 silage bales a yr and use soft hands for the last 3 seasons will never go back to pipes ever!!!

MFdaveIreland

re mould, mycotic abortions derviced from the mycotoxins from the mould.

lethal stuff, man and beast from what i believe.

Green farmer

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

re mould, mycotic abortions derviced from the mycotoxins from the mould.

lethal stuff, man and beast from what i believe.

another thing that's lethal and possibly worse imo is the very fine dry spores that's in mouldy overheated hay.many a farmer has damaged lungs over it. Hay turned mouldy one year and felt it even got in through the protective masks I wore when handlin it. An absolute horrible thing to have to feed.

Muckit

Reggie. wrote: »

That would destroy the silage having dung in it

No sh1t

Kovu

Muckit wrote: »

No sh1t

On the contrary..... :P

Reggie.

Kovu wrote: »

On the contrary..... :P

Indeed

larthehar

I have noted a few things, I wrap in the yard and stack 50m away with hydraulic pipes and stack on end.
- badly packed bales sag and gets moldy
- cheap plastic over stretches causing Mold
- Green plastic consistently has less mold
- 6 layers needed on all bales

Figerty

Birds and Cats can make a lot of small holes letting air in.

I noticed that since I store on the round there is less damage letting the bale off the handler as I can slide out rather than tip over the bales.
Less mould on the those on the round than in flat so I don't store on the flat anymore.

sandydan

Figerty wrote: »

Birds and Cats can make a lot of small holes letting air in.

I noticed that since I store on the round there is less damage letting the bale off the handler as I can slide out rather than tip over the bales.
Less mould on the those on the round than in flat so I don't store on the flat anymore.

funny that ive noticed where standing bales are touching there is mould, another thing , more than once ive put mouldy bales aside not intending to feed them, after 2 days rain they seem perfect anyone else notice that

Reggie.

sandydan wrote: »

funny that ive noticed where standing bales are touching there is mould, another thing , more than once ive put mouldy bales aside not intending to feed them, after 2 days rain they seem perfect anyone else notice that

Mould washed out?

ganmo

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