Silage only field

jimini0

A neighbour has offered me a 2 acre field to cut in 2017. She does not want animals grazing on it. A man cut silage of it in august. He got 24 bales of crap off it.
What's the best way to get silage off it?
1. Top it down bare in Feb or early march.
2. Fertiliser
3. Cut 8 weeks later.
I will try get 2 cuts off it

farmerjj

I wouldn't top it unless there's a fierce amount of rotten grass, go with slurry in late Jan and fertiliser around paddies day(weather depending) and aim to cut mid may, should be fine

jimini0

farmerjj wrote: »

I wouldn't top it unless there's a fierce amount of rotten grass, go with slurry in late Jan and fertiliser around paddies day(weather depending) and aim to cut mid may, should be fine

Oh should have mentioned she does not want slurry. Its at the back of her house.

White Clover

jimini0 wrote: »

Oh should have mentioned she does not want slurry. Its at the back of her house.

Would she allow dung on it? Chances are it needs it. You need to start with the basics if you're looking for a decent quality crop.

jimini0

White Clover wrote: »

Would she allow dung on it? Chances are it needs it. You need to start with the basics if you're looking for a decent quality crop.

She might allow dung but I won't have enough of that. I could ask around and see if any lads would have some spare. How long does it take dung to break down though?

White Clover

jimini0 wrote: »

She might allow dung but I won't have enough of that. I could ask around and see if any lads would have some spare. How long does it take dung to break down though?

If it's well rotted and not put out too heavy on bare ground in March you'd be safe enough. Only thing is it would be towards the end of the year before you would be getting the full benefit of it.

jimini0

White Clover wrote: »

If it's well rotted and not put out too heavy on bare ground in March you'd be safe enough. Only thing is it would be towards the end of the year before you would be getting the full benefit of it.

Maybe I will leave the dung till the back end. So it will be of benefit for next year.
She is not charging me an money for it. She just wants someone to get use out of the grass.

kerry cow

Whole thing sound like a load of bother. Most of those cabbage patches are best left to some other clown .by the time you get around it with the spreader half the tub will be in the ditch .can't play with that crap .what you can and you can't do .pain in ass imo

farmerjj

kerry cow wrote: »

Whole thing sound like a load of bother. Most of those cabbage patches are best left to some other clown .by the time you get around it with the spreader half the tub will be in the ditch .can't play with that crap .what you can and you can't do .pain in ass imo

So what are you saying??

kerry cow

I would put out a bag of urea on it and take what grows in mid May .you don't know what she is going to do with it year to year as the last guy left .If it comes for free and you don't spend a lot on it , then you can't loose .It can't be that bad if he got 24 bale .If it just crap it new seeds it may need .

ganmo

jimini0 wrote: »

Maybe I will leave the dung till the back end. So it will be of benefit for next year.
She is not charging me an money for it. She just wants someone to get use out of the grass.

just as well with all of those strings attached

jimini0

ganmo wrote: »

just as well with all of those strings attached

Right I will give the full story.
This woman bought a house last year with the two acres behind. I have land to one side and there is another farmer the other side. That farmer cut it last year. Access is awful a tight you have to drive very tight to the house to get up. Previous owner thought it was a great idea to extend house over the road way and his tractor caught the guttering. Anyways that farmer doesn't need the silage so he told the woman to contact me. I'm going opening a gap in the ditch between us to get in and out. It would be very very handy for me for silage it would save me doing a second cut in another field.

barnaman

jimini0 wrote: »

Right I will give the full story.
This woman bought a house last year with the two acres behind. I have land to one side and there is another farmer the other side. That farmer cut it last year. Access is awful a tight you have to drive very tight to the house to get up. Previous owner thought it was a great idea to extend house over the road way and his tractor caught the guttering. Anyways that farmer doesn't need the silage so he told the woman to contact me. I'm going opening a gap in the ditch between us to get in and out. It would be very very handy for me for silage it would save me doing a second cut in another field.

If she will not allow slurry spread for smell you sure she will not mind a gap taken out? also is you get compliance inspection you could get done for the gap it happened to a neighbour of mine granted he had made about 10 gaps but he was told to replant same distance hedge elsewhere on farm.

jimini0

barnaman wrote: »

If she will not allow slurry spread for smell you sure she will not mind a gap taken out? also is you get compliance inspection you could get done for the gap it happened to a neighbour of mine granted he had made about 10 gaps but he was told to replant same distance hedge elsewhere on farm.

She thinks the gap is a great idea.it saves tractors driving beside her house nearly knocking it. The gap is only going to be wide enough for a tractor. I'm sure I can replant that distance of a hedge somewhere.

charolais0153

jimini0 wrote: »

She thinks the gap is a great idea.it saves tractors driving beside her house nearly knocking it. The gap is only going to be wide enough for a tractor. I'm sure I can replant that distance of a hedge somewhere.

Put out a few bags of cutsward as usual or maybe an extra bag of urea to get a bit more bulk into it around first/second week of march. Cut after 6/7 weeks and do whatever you do for second cut except slurry and out on a bag of 0-7-30 if you want.its hardly rocket science. Top it if there's a dirty butt with white grass if its green leave it

Bullocks

I'd cut as early as possible to get rid of the butt thats been growing since the last lad cut it in august and maybe concentrate most of the fert you're going to apply for the second cut .
In that type of scenario it would be quantity over quality I'd be looking for and might even take a third cut as late as possible to keep it cleaner till next year .
If you thought you'd have it for a few years maybe tidy up the weeds if theyre there and treat it to better fertilizer /lime
2 acres isn't alot but when its next door its handy regardless of the size , maybe a bit of sweet talking down the line might allow a bit of grazing aswell

jimini0

The reason I asked is because I have never had experienced a field for just silage. Cows usually graze meadows here so I wanted some advice from lads in the know. I want the best of silage from it so I didn't know what would it would be like not been grazed

Bullocks

jimini0 wrote: »

The reason I asked is because I have never had experienced a field for just silage. Cows usually graze meadows here so I wanted some advice from lads in the know. I want the best of silage from it so I didn't know what would it would be like not been grazed

It won't be wonderful if it has growth since last august on it , thats why I was saying to concentrate on a cleaner 2nd cut and a light 3rd cut if at all possible

49801

Get it in line with your own first cut. Does not make sense to be treating it differently for 2 acres worth from a cutting perspective. Unless you've your own mower baler and wrapper.

Get the old crop off... zero graze it to dry cows for example or else bale it it and put it on the fym pile.

If owner has now plans for it for the short to medium term a bit of fencing and a modest rent would maybe suit both parties?

else tell owner to treat it like set aside. Was at a talk a few years ago and advise was to cut once a year and remove cutting to promote diversity

_Brian

Would 18-6-12 not be a good option where slurry or dung isn't allowed.