making bales V buying bales.

blonde10

Has anybody ever consider buying bale silage as opposed to closing up your ground for 3/4 months of the year..I'm half thinking of trying it next year..the way I see it I could hold more grazing stock over the spring / summer.also I'd save on fert..I know some people would say you don't know what your getting.but let's say you saw the meadow grass before it was cut....I heard of a man getting bales dropped in his yard for 18 Euro....now granted it wasn't 75dmd but for that money ?????

Sam Kade

Wouldn't you be over stocked with that system when grass growth drops in the autumn? You'd also need to feed more silage. Are you dairy or dry stock?

whelan2

You'd be buying lucky bags . At least if you make it yourself you know what your getting

Willfarman

The logic is sound, it just depends on the practicalities of where you have to go to get it and obviously quality.

blonde10

Sam Kade wrote:

Wouldn't you be over stocked with that system when grass growth drops in the autumn? You'd also need to feed more silage. Are you dairy or dry stock?

Was suckling up to last year..dry stock now..

lakill Farm

Willfarman wrote: »

The logic is sound, it just depends on the practicalities of where you have to go to get it and obviously quality.

I kinda moved to in the middle of yours idea. I Take the meadow and cutting and paying by the bale. So going for 3 cuts.

This will hopefully be long term arrangement with this person and invested in a small rake and I have a tedder coming soon. This should maximise quality of silage and minimise cost of grass and contractor.

I have less chance of bad bales and stuff is stacked in my yard

E6 grass
E20 a mow ( e3 a bale)
E7 bale and wrap
E2.5 plastic
E5 Lakill outlay. ( tedder, rake and draw ) diesel & other. To be honest that covers mowing but didn't buy a mower yet so still paying contractor

mengele

would it not be cheaper to rent land and make silage on that?

dzer2

lakill Farm wrote: »

I kinda moved to in the middle of yours idea. I Take the meadow and cutting and paying by the bale. So going for 3 cuts.

This will hopefully be long term arrangement with this person and invested in a small rake and I have a tedder coming soon. This should maximise quality of silage and minimise cost of grass and contractor.

I have less chance of bad bales and stuff is stacked in my yard

E6 grass
E20 a mow ( e3 a bale)
E7 bale and wrap
E2.5 plastic
E5 Lakill outlay. ( tedder, rake and draw ) diesel & other. To be honest that covers mowing but didn't buy a mower yet so still paying contractor

You pay E6 for the grass per bale. This wouldnt cover the cost of fert or slurry
If you get 8 bales per acre thats 48 euro per acre for fertilized grass.
A tonne of fert is roughly 350 e at 3cwt per acre that 7 acres you will cover.

Your robbing the poor hoor

lakill Farm

dzer2 wrote: »

You pay E6 for the grass per bale. This wouldnt cover the cost of fert or slurry
If you get 8 bales per acre thats 48 euro per acre for fertilized grass.
A tonne of fert is roughly 350 e at 3cwt per acre that 7 acres you will cover.

Your robbing the poor hoor

7 bales an acre averaging It wount be putting a lot of fert on it but lad is using it for spreading slurry

I offered him 150 an acre for year and wount accept

Sam Kade

mengele wrote: »

would it not be cheaper to rent land and make silage on that?

Not at 18-20 euro a bale delivered.

kerry cow

It's closer to 30 a bale all costs included Inc land charge and even more than 30 depending on land cost

bogman_bass

Very hard to buy good bakes and to be honest it doesn't pay to make good bales if you're selling

Who2

I've been thinking of trying to use the bale making solely as a management tool, Then buy in all other feed. It would keep the ground in good order, you'd be buying in p and k in the form of bales and with sucklers there will always be a group that doesn't need to be on the top feed. Only issue would be drawing bales which is a cost most people don't allow for.

mahoney_j

Buy bulky dry cow stuff and make quality milking cow silage from surpluses is what I'm doing/will be doing from now on

cute geoge

It look it will be another dismal harvest for our tillage farmers .I wonder will some of them be tempted to put more of their land to grass.
I am wondering what price per acre should new ley groud be worth to let for 2 cuts ,buyer puts out the fert and seller keeps the maps.
A semi-retired local farmer let his 1st cut for €120(pit) and 2nd cut for €50(8 bale crop) this way .In fairness the buyer spread cut sward and was very happy with the arrangement ,probably would be cheaper for him buy bales but no guarantee with lucky bags and he got a good wilt as well

rangler1

cute geoge wrote: »

It look it will be another dismal harvest for our tillage farmers .I wonder will some of them be tempted to put more of their land to grass.
I am wondering what price per acre should new ley groud be worth to let for 2 cuts ,buyer puts out the fert and seller keeps the maps.
A semi-retired local farmer let his 1st cut for €120(pit) and 2nd cut for €50(8 bale crop) this way .In fairness the buyer spread cut sward and was very happy with the arrangement ,probably would be cheaper for him buy bales but no guarantee with lucky bags and he got a good wilt as well

You need the slurry going back on the land to get away with using just Cutsward, land won't stick that level of cutting

Keepgrowing

rangler1 wrote: »

You need the slurry going back on the land to get away with using just Cutsward, land won't stick that level of cutting

Precisely why I buy all our dry cow requirements, no point draining p&k when some one else is prepared to do it at <€20 per bale delivered

restive

What are lads actually paying for silage bales this autumn? Not just the advertised price on donedeal but the actual money being handed over.

kevthegaff

restive wrote:

What are lads actually paying for silage bales this autumn? Not just the advertised price on donedeal but the actual money being handed over.

anywhere between 20 and 25 delivered, how much in Sweden r?

restive

"How much n Sweden r"?????

Lady Haywire

restive wrote: »

"How much n Sweden r"?????

He's confusing you with grazeaway who moved to Sweden......I think. :pac:

99nsr125

What about buying in Maize silage
Balance of quality and cost

mengele wrote: »

would it not be cheaper to rent land and make silage on that?

Hard Knocks

99nsr125 wrote: »

What about buying in Maize silage
Balance of quality and cost

Can you get maize in bale form?

davidk1394

restive wrote: »

What are lads actually paying for silage bales this autumn? Not just the advertised price on donedeal but the actual money being handed over.

The majority of bales are sold for around €20 this time of year. Sold bales earlier in the year for €26. I'd say its cheaper for lads to buy silage. But quality can be an issue

Willfarman

davidk1394 wrote: »

The majority of bales are sold for around €20 this time of year. Sold bales earlier in the year for €26. I'd say its cheaper for lads to buy silage. But quality can be an issue

And convenience. Short dark days in the winter and lots of yard work to do without drawing bales from nowhere to nowhere.

Mooooo

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Can you get maize in bale form?

You can but near on doubles the cost

twin_beacon

blonde10 wrote: »

Has anybody ever consider buying bale silage as opposed to closing up your ground for 3/4 months of the year..I'm half thinking of trying it next year..the way I see it I could hold more grazing stock over the spring / summer.also I'd save on fert..I know some people would say you don't know what your getting.but let's say you saw the meadow grass before it was cut....I heard of a man getting bales dropped in his yard for 18 Euro....now granted it wasn't 75dmd but for that money ?????

Wonder how much was that in April 2013.

You will always be at the mercy of the market. If you have a mild spring, good summer, and mild autumn with grass growing until mid november, then it might work well. You could over stock in the summer and graze all your land. However, cold spring with poor growth, bad summer, and a bad autumn (like 2012), and the price of silage increases, while the quality and percentage of DM decreases.

I know 2013/2013 was an extreme example, but the cost of cattle in the marts fell through the floor as people couldn't afford to feed them. Imagine having to buy feed for the whole winter!

Bullocks

twin_beacon wrote: »

Wonder how much was that in April 2013.

You will always be at the mercy of the market. If you have a mild spring, good summer, and mild autumn with grass growing until mid november, then it might work well. You could over stock in the summer and graze all your land. However, cold spring with poor growth, bad summer, and a bad autumn (like 2012), and the price of silage increases, while the quality and percentage of DM decreases.

I know 2013/2013 was an extreme example, but the cost of cattle in the marts fell through the floor as people couldn't afford to feed them. Imagine having to buy feed for the whole winter!

I know a few lads that buy all their silage , they stick with the one supplier if he is good and there's no loss on them using that method . In 2013 one of them was paying the same price as he always was because he was a good customer with a few years

davidk1394

Do many of ye test ye're silage ? Howich would it be roughly ?

Muckit

€15-€20 afaik plus about €4 to post. Not that expensive

Muckit

I've only ever got it done twice. It's a good exercise to do. At it will benchmark where you are at with quality. You could try make changes then to see if it improves things.

Hard Knocks

davidk1394 wrote: »

Do many of ye test ye're silage ? Howich would it be roughly ?

Do it every year, use AFBI in Hillsborough Co Down, found them cheapest & good service

Muckit

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Do it every year, use AFBI in Hillsborough Co Down, found them cheapest & good service

Yes. They are the only crowd.

IAS in Carlow are pure robbers and v slow.

larthehar

Local coop tests our silage for free.. now we do buy feed from them so maybe this is the reason

Keepgrowing

Big question is, what action is taken based on silo results?

Bullocks

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Big question is, what action is taken based on silo results?

Haha , I came across silage results on the laptop from two years ago . Didn't do what I planned but this year I definitely will ......

Timmaay

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Big question is, what action is taken based on silo results?

Gave up testing it here. Milker silage is cut as leafy as possible, excess paddocks are for grassland management, good bale quality in them is a bonus, dry cow stuff good and steamy. Putting figures of dmd, dm protein etc only annoying myself because there isn't a huge amount I can do when the bales are in the yard and pits full. Cutting dates are down to weather windows which change every year, so having figures that say the dmd was too low the previous year won't help hugely the following harvest.

Mooooo

Test here every year and generally adjust diet as have maize also by adjusting three way mix etc to suit. Have had silage varying from 68dmd to 82 and protein from 11 to 18.
Wondering on keepgrowing's question given the thread title what do lads do when buying in grass silage and testing, price at a certain point for x dmd etc and plus/minus above it?
Maize I buy is per acre. Neighbour bought silage off contractor was also per acre, he would have preferered it cut earlier.

Mooooo

Timmaay wrote: »

Gave up testing it here. Milker silage is cut as leafy as possible, excess paddocks are for grassland management, good bale quality in them is a bonus, dry cow stuff good and steamy. Putting figures of dmd, dm protein etc only annoying myself because there isn't a huge amount I can do when the bales are in the yard and pits full. Cutting dates are down to weather windows which change every year, so having figures that say the dmd was too low the previous year won't help hugely the following harvest.

I have yet to have great quality from bales off paddocks as they tend to be used to tidy off paddocks that may not have been grazed well before hand. Would get better quality from main silage, well except this year....

stretch film

Mooooo wrote: »

I have yet to have great quality from bales off paddocks as they tend to be used to tidy off paddocks that may not have been grazed well before hand. Would get better quality from main silage, well except this year....

Ditto this year .
75% of bales made here after Sept 1st :0

darragh_haven

stretch film wrote: »

Ditto this year .
75% of bales made here after Sept 1st :0

Made the decision here to not make any bales after the first week of September, grass is soft and it's almost impossible to make good bales at this time of year. Usually sell bales anyway, so selling Zero-grazed grass instead. 15 loads sold in the last month and about 4 to 6 more to go.

mahoney_j

Test 10 different lots of bales here ,costs me nothing as meal company I use do the testing .even if they didn’t test foc I’d still test so I can target best bales to Milker’s and young stock

restive

Bales changing hands now for €30.

mengele

restive wrote: »

Bales changing hands now for €30.

think this year id rather have made bales rather than buying bales.

Lady Haywire

Neighbour here got a full load of hay delivered today, €25 a bale but doubt that includes delivery. I'll be down tomorrow to see the quality, at least he was able to see it before buying unlike the lucky bags!

mengele

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Neighbour here got a full load of hay delivered today, €25 a bale but doubt that includes delivery. I'll be down tomorrow to see the quality, at least he was able to see it before buying unlike the lucky bags!

the good thing about the hay is if you buy it this year and have enough silage it will last in a shed for a good few years whereas bales more or less have to be used the year made if possible.

Lady Haywire

mengele wrote: »

the good thing about the hay is if you buy it this year and have enough silage it will last in a shed for a good few years whereas bales more or less have to be used the year made if possible.

Oh he won't have enough silage, had to graze the meadows he normally second cuts so down 30/35 bales or so. Think it came up from Kildare.

restive

I made some silage last weekend. So I am covered for next winter. I am understocked so I bought in some fertilizer with the intent of getting a second cut specifically so I can sell the bales out of the field.

Some people are looking for €30 a bale on done deal. There might be a few quid in it this year.

Dakota Dan

restive wrote: »

I made some silage last weekend. So I am covered for next winter. I am understocked so I bought in some fertilizer with the intent of getting a second cut specifically so I can sell the bales out of the field.

Some people are looking for €30 a bale on done deal. There might be a few quid in it this year.

Looking and getting are two different things, it depends on how the weather and grass growth goes for the rest of the year.

restive

What are silage bales making out of the field.

restive

restive wrote:

What are silage bales making out of the field.

What are silage bales making now?