How's the silage ground traveling this year?
Grazed off? Slurry out? Fert spread?
Or is it like a bog at the moment, a good year for rewetting.
Wouldnt be fields big enough or level enough around here to hit them speeds. Usually be around the 12 - 13 kph but ground conditions had it back to about 10 kph last week or it just got messy.
It does seem like the main thing he wants to achieve every time he goes mowing is to drive at a higher speed
Thinking of cutting a bit over the weekend,if weather permits,would most people ted stuff this time of the year or just leave it in the sward?
If I cut this afternoon and bailed tomorrow evening would this be sufficient enough wilting? It’s a second cut from a field that was reseeded last year
I always ted it out. Our mower has no conditioner and the tedding helps "fluff" it up. It also means the rake clears the ground better
At this time of the year how long would you recommend wilting it for?
How long is a piece of string! Last weekend I cut Friday, tedded behind the mower and baled Saturday evening. Probably 24 hours down and it was in good order. The shorter sun length and dew at night is going to impact it. Type of grass (lush green or stemmy) will impact too.
Cut a few acres yesterday. It's not very heavy and not very light. Was going to ted out but contractor said maybe just put two rows into one today and then bale tomorrow. With this weather it seems like a good option. Should be nice stuff.
Like i said it’s new grass so very green but not too heavy but this time of the year you need to take every chance that comes!
Ideally I would like two days like yourself
Last outing of the mower for the year. Light second cut crop that just got slurry.
that looks like top quality stuff
yea lovely leafy crop, very clean too
Such a day
is that a 2nd or 3rd cut ?
2nd, rain has been relentless here.
The day isn’t great here so I might hold off bailing till tomorrow, would you lose quality by willing to long? It’s not going to get to dry anyway
some say you do but i have often had it down for 2-3days just the way it worked out didn’t notice much of a difference was still good silage. But I could be wrong some say it loses quality after 24hours
Ah some people overthink the whole silage process
All ya can do is use the cards your dealt and make the best of the situation
You’re lucky to have a choice, my contractor is down a man on holidays this week, the rake is in the field straight after the mower and baled the following day, any discussions about this are extremely short.
30 acres going in the pit today 3rd cut. Bales to do later in the week
Will there be mush of a demand for bales this winter?
I've to mow 17 acres that got no fertilizer since last May. Got hay off it, not very much on it but needs to be cleaned off. I'm horrified at how little grass has grown all summer. I'm under-stocked so not spreading for the sake of spreading but I can't understand how the organic lads legally work.
bad day at the office. Have a 7/8 acre muddy field- so wet- my contractor could only cut about a third.
He has about another 7 ish for me second cut,
he suggested I buy bales- it works out cheaper than trying to make them on my land. Or go to 7 month farming.
Never good when your silage contractor is suggesting that. 🙈
What part of the country are you? Down here in the south east ground conditions are perfect but last spring I never saw fields so wet in my lifetime nearly impossible to travel someand other posters here up north had no such issues, big difference for such a small country
west Clare. Problem is the meadows are muddy and when you go down a foot, it’s blue clay that just holds water.
He even recommended it would be easier to bale boggy ground than muddy.
but I was talking to a Tipp man at the weekend and he said it was a fine day Saturday but at home, it bucketted rain non stop all day.
Do you have these issues every year?
the hill would be worst, it was drained fully about 30 years ago but needs to be redone again.
But most years id get to cut all of it and get about 70 bales.
Hard to justify re draining it with my current stocking rate,
not that far from you in the Midwest, we have wet land but don’t think there is a field we couldn’t put a harvester on at the moment. Amazing the difference this year, seems to be a line accross the country.
Saturday was an absolute washout. I was at a blitz and a soccer match-
We had to use the Astro as it would have cut up the pitch.
Soaked to the bone twice it was so wet.
there’s still water in puddles around the land. Even after a great day today.
I wonder would the land be just compacted on top and the water is not getting to your under ground drains? Look up farm theory’s last two ploughing videos he shows a perfect example of ground compaction. I have one field that is similar to why he and you described and I did note that last year I checked the drainage pipes on a very wet day and not a drop of water coming out of them. So either there blocked or field is compacted. I’m choosing to believe there ground compacted as there was a lot of machinary on this field over the last few years. I will plough this field in the next few years and see if that sorts my problem maybe same could work for you
