Wholecrop baled silage

Gudstock

Does spring barley make good wholecrop silage in round bales? What are the pitfalls? What would be a fair price per acre? Looks like this crop is lodging with all the rain.

Who2

I done it last year with barley undersown with grass and I found it a super feed, I fed it to weanlings and it really did push them on.

I wouldn’t know what way to price it but I’d be of a lazier stance and probably just buy meal and feed along with silage if I wasn’t getting it at reasonable money.

I have another bit to do this year but I have tried oats, peas and barley undersown with grass. It’s coming in fairly quick but the weather doesn’t look to be playing ball with me.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120853527#Comment_120853527

When do you sow? Do you go full reseed or min till?

Who2

The end of April sowing and likely mowing the end of next week, the barley and oats are nearly ready but I won’t have the peas ready unless they do some sort of miracle in the next few days.

Who2

Sorry it was a full reseed also.

Omallep2

Any problems with rodents and do you need post emergence spray?

Siamsa Sessions

Sorry for another question - does it just revert to grass post-harvest?

Water John

Rats are a problem and you would need to lay bait and keep topping it up well before bales arrive. Great feed tough. Not a clue on price.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120856414#Comment_120856414

All back to grass, just the odd volunteer of barley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120856079#Comment_120856079

Snap have similar in but set the May Bank Holiday Monday. Just peas and oats and a similar story cereal is ready, but peas are still filling. Lack of sunshine I feel hasn't helped since the peas have flowered. Hoping to pit it this week with a bit of second cut.

Last year I did barley and cattle went stone mad for it. It was my 1st venture into tillage.

I undersowed grass seed on both occasion, and what really struck me was the clover strike. Place is full of it afterwards. Great safety to a new reseed to have a companion crop in drought spells as it's cooler down low. Having a crop helps smother some of the weeds. I was listening to the tillage podcast a few weeks ago and they had an organic cereal farmer using white clover as a means of cover crop while growing a cereal. It's low in height, giving full soil coverage and N Fixation

I have found it a good way to bring a bit of life back to silage ground an still have a good crop of something off it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120856417#Comment_120856417

Thanks for the reminder on the bait, must do it in the morning👍👍

Who2

True about the clover it’s the same here. I didn’t have much of a problem with rats but I had poison laid weeks prior to baling and kept the bait points topped up until feeding.

GrasstoMilk

Hoping to pit our peas and barley at somre stage this week

photo of the grains is from yesterday- Sunday, little to no juice left in the grain

photo of the crop is from last Wednesday, green look has come off it a lot since

have the means of baling the crop ourselves but I’m not keen for the shear volume of them that would come off 20 acres

Water John

I suppose pit it with 20 acres involved. Alt split it into two tens, weather isn't very favourable.

Who2

I see you still have flowers on the peas, have you many pods ? My peas seem to be way behind the barley and oats.

GrasstoMilk

Yeah the peas are very mixed, some good and a lot still filling out.

contractor says they need the sun to fill but not going to get it and the barley will be fit before they are

smallbeef

@GrasstoMilk @mr.stonewall Do your contractors have a wholecrop header for the harvester or will it be mowed/grouped first? Made bales of oats and peas a few years ago and there was alot left on the field that the baler failed to pick up. It was only mowed and baled in 10ft rows though, if done by a big M into 30ft rows they'd be alot less wasted I suppose.

mr.stonewall

Local contractor doesn't have a whole crop head or a cracker. I'm limited then for this and have to take a small hit on it. Don't want the hassle of bales and the vermin risk on 12 acres of it. Will have bit of second cut which will go on top of the oats and peas in the pit

Will be mowed and grouped. The less handling the better. Still learning with it but serious bulk on it

GrasstoMilk

My contractor has header and cracker

Water John

I'll take a serious hit on it this year. Got caught with the drought. Gulls and crows took a lot of the peas.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861761#Comment_120861761

I was told years ago the ideal time to whole crop pea's was at the flowering stage.

Who2

I’ll see what it does this week, it’ll have to be cut next week, pods or not.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120869874#Comment_120869874

How many weeks is it planted

mr.stonewall

Knocked this afternoon, serious crop. Into the pit in tomorrow at some stage

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868160#Comment_120868160

That can’t be right, sure the feeding is the peas, not the flower

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120872990#Comment_120872990

I was told that about ten years ago by an agronomist.Now I used always cut at about 12 weeks and wilt for 24 hours on a good dry day. It's used to be raked into rows 3-4 hours before baling.

I think the theory behind it is that the plant sends all the energy from the stems and leaves into the pods and that while you have more feeding in the pods that you have less in the straw. With peas you do not have the option of heading the crop.

Who2

I doubt I’m going to get much of a break weather wise, I don’t really fancy mowing and baling straight away but it’s looking like my only option for next week.

Water John

Cranium here thinks it will gradually improve after Wed 26th. How's your patience?

Who2

It’s ripening so I’ve a balancing act, when it’s ready it’s ready and I’ll have to try make the best of a bad situation.

I wouldn’t be spoilt with patience.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120877457#Comment_120877457

Ya it is a balancing act. I used to bale it . The stuff used to go sour if too wet when baked after being open longer than 36 hours. Because of this I used to wilt for 24-30 hours unless it was baking weather

mr.stonewall

In the pit and covered. Was down for over 24 hrs in double swarths. Top was well wilted. Happy to have it done for number of reasons, it was on heavy ground and prone to getting marked, the weather and balancing the grain to not to be hard.

As Bass said it's a real balancing act, made worse this year with weather. Last year was a pleasure with the fine weather

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120877992#Comment_120877992

What date was yours sowed stonewall ?

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881872#Comment_120881872

1st of may. Just could not risk it any longer with the rain in the west and the forecast on the horzion, very heavy ground and not having a means of cracking the grai.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120856695#Comment_120856695

Thought farmers had stopped this Stone Age practice. No wonder barn owls etc are nearly wiped out in this country

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881899#Comment_120881899

I thought you were dead! Weren't you the cause of starting World War 1?

epfff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881879#Comment_120881879

Sown some on same date in west.

I considered cutting last week because the grass for on top of it in pit is starting to mature but thought head was not filled enough so I'll give it 1 more week

Regret it now. Ground is ok but looks like no break in rain next week.

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881879#Comment_120881879

Sowed ours the 26th of April

hopefully get it in on Tuesday

K.G.

I heard before if tour baling wholecrop you should bale a certain way if you rr picking up from a non conditioner mower. is it the same direction of travel or the opposite

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120883856#Comment_120883856

Best way is to get it raked. the modern silage rakes are very gentle on material when raking

Tonynewholland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120883856#Comment_120883856

It's easier to bale straw if you follow the combine probably the same for wholecrop.

K.G.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120884130#Comment_120884130

Not a fan of rakes.to much earth and stones with wholecrop and too much s##t with the advent of dribble/trailing shoe

GrasstoMilk

Got whole crop in today

reckon it yielded 11t /ac, just weighed the one trailer. All trailers were the same size

was a bit damp at the start but when they got out of the first field it was a nice bit drier

Water John

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120884389#Comment_120884389

Wonder will Groupers catch on here? Much gentler on wholecrop and red clover.

Waffletraktor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120883856#Comment_120883856

Lads swarthing crops with pickup headers on combines go head first as it feeds better and less loss.?

Its half the reason in the last few years belt/draper headers seem to have taken over as it’s usually the header gives up before combine in damp conditions.

Waffletraktor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120891367#Comment_120891367

Would the peas have helped hold it up, meant to be fairly horrific lodging in your country with fast grown weak straw and lads scared to shorten it when stressed in June?

Happy with the liquid N?

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120893985#Comment_120893985

The peas dragged it down if anything tbh, they grew along the barley and when that heavy rain came in pulled the crop down in spots

one field was quite bad but got a reasonable enough pick up of it with the header on the harvester

not sure on the liquid N, was a very dry time when we used it and thought there was much water in the grass plant to use up the N

but in saying that we got a crop of silage that yeilded 7 bales per acre after 6 weeks that got very little rain, we’ve cut the same ground yesterday for 3rd cut 28 days later and it did 4.5 bales per acre

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120895621#Comment_120895621

Quick q did you undersow grass

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120895832#Comment_120895832

No didn’t

was tempted to but there’s a good chance the satellite will catch you out if claiming the protein payment

Wildsurfer

Are you putting it back to grass now or redstart? Will you just go with a one pass or is there too much stubble left?