Old Silage Bales -how old can they go?

The Cuban

I have silage bales over 2 tears old (made 2015), question is how long more will they keep for and if I wanted to, is it possible to make baled silage and wrap them enough so that they can keep for as long as I wish?
Would Haylege last longer than Silage?

Sam Kade

2 years max even with extra wrap, haylage would be the same.

kowtow

Sam Kade wrote: »

2 years max even with extra wrap, haylage would be the same.

If anything I would have thought haylage was more at risk. Whether it is the acid produced (or not produced) at fermentation or the higher DM puncturing the wrap... I've seen a good few haylage bales go bad after 18 months or so.

Mf310

What would you do with bales that were over 2 years old? Spread as dung?

davidk1394

Mf310 wrote: »

What would you do with bales that were over 2 years old? Spread as dung?

Well either that or feed them whole and leave the cattle root out the good stuff and take away the bad stuff.

The Cuban

Well I`ll be feeding out the 3 year old bales first so, I`ll keep a few as an experiment to see how long they can last but 18 months is disappointing considering I remember 13 year old Hay fed out during the mini famine a few years back.

charolais0153

I was feeding 9year old bales last week. A bit black around the outside but good on inside. It would of been really leafy stuff tho

SuperTortoise

Fed a few 2 year old bales last winter, finest of stuff, have 5 or so 3 year old bales left over, will feed those first next winter if they are any good.

Usually the stuff in the middle stays good, so if bad on outside what i do is split it open and let the cattle pick the best of it and spread the rest in the field, more work granted.

dohc turbo2

I had about 20 bales left over start of last winter , were 3 years old, it was grand stuff , they cleaned the lot

_Brian

I think it depends a bit what your feeding it to.
Cows tend to be less choosey ablution older stuff, small weanlings tend to pick more through it and leave more.

orm0nd

if stored out of sunlight they will last a long time, also pink or white wrapped bales will last longer than black

The Cuban

charolais0153 wrote: »

I was feeding 9year old bales last week. A bit black around the outside but good on inside. It would of been really leafy stuff tho

jezz thats fair old, must have been good solid bales and well wrapped

charolais0153

The Cuban wrote: »

jezz thats fair old, must have been good solid bales and well wrapped

Ya alright. Don't know why they haven't been fed before tho