Silage additive

Country life

Made silage bales from reseeded ground last year early sept.blew out and raked and baled all seemed fine.but cattle didnt eat as they seemed sour. Put molasses on it in the feeding passage but most i had to dump.just looking for value for money silage additive this year.any ideas

hopeso

I don’t think the lack of additive was the problem. Cattle will generally eat anything that was baled. Did the silage look and smell alright to you when you opened it, or were there any obvious problems with it? How long did you give the grass after you fertilised it? Could there still be nitrogen in it? Or, did you spread lime when you reseeded? That could also affect the grass…

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058242757/silage-additive

Have you many of these bales left, and what have you planned for them?

We have 130 of them here. We fed them to dry cows, but intakes were shocking low, and really hot cows so we had to withdraw.

Thinking of opening them and placing at the bottom of the pit to feed to dry cows, immediately after drying next winter.

Too many to dump, but they are in the way for pot silage this year.

Country life

It was land that i leased for 7 yrs.so was low in everything..so reseeded and got 3T lime/acre.took pit silage off it in july thats perfect .got pig slurry and fertliser.just disappointing only 5 left from 150 bales.might as well dump them..

Easten

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058242757/silage-additive

If the Silage is Black or very dark even though it has preserved the black is from excess Nitrogen. Cattle don't do very well on it, it's not very palatable and does not hold well after opening up the bale. You need them to have the bale eaten that day as by the second day its completely gone off. This silage type is a shame as often it comes from reseeded or ryegrass fields.

If the Silage is very yellow then it has gone sour. The cause is usually a poor preservation from lack of sugars or just over-wet when bailed up. Again not very palatable. It can be from any grass type when baled late in the year or in very wet conditions.

Bass Reeves

Did they not eat it or were they slow to eat it. If you have only 5 of 150 bales what happened to the rest.

How much pig slurry and fertlizer did it get. When did it get it in relation to cutting. Was it dry or wetish

Believe it or not molasses is as good a an additive as any. I have heard of a tractor drawn one with a hydraulic shut off. You drive along the rows ahead of the baler and apply it. Supposed to be a great job.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118971478#Comment_118971478

There'd be some mess in the baler, It's horrible stuff to work wth and you'd have every bee in the area following you

Country life

Out the 150 they ate between 50 and 70 %.the rest was dumped.it was blown out and dry when baled.it got 2000 gallons acre. Plus 2 bags 24.2.5.10/acre

hopeso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119007955#Comment_119007955

When were they baled? You said you took the first cut in July. It's possible there was still nitrogen in the grass when you cut it....

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119007955#Comment_119007955

Were you putting out more than one days feed at the time?. Were they just on silage or getting other fodder or nuts as well. By the sounds of it the silage was exceptionally dry if so they should have eaten it. However if it was wet with excess N it would be unpalatable. I have made all types of silage and I have always found that if you have issues with it then you must feed only enough for 24 hours at the time.

Pig slurry N dose not go into the air as much as cattle slurry. Also it is more liquidity and when added to cattle slurry it can fix the N in cattle slurry. If it was put out with a trailing shoe/ dribble bar you may have had excess N. You would normally expect only about 65 units max of N with what you put out.

However on a wet misty day N from cattle slurry can really stay in the ground. In reality you could have had 80+ units. As well last August and early September was very slow to use up N. At that time of year you are using 1.5 units/ day max compared to 2 units in May. I say too much N was the issue.