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Silage thread

12467…64

Comments

  • #92
    bbam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,408 ✭✭✭bbam


    Ours is 4 weeks closed, we are planning on another 4 weeks to cutting.
    However, like so much ground I see some of it shooting to seed.. Not happy about that at all..


  • #93
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    darragh_haven wrote: »
    I know, but when I say light, I mean cattle could have grazed it last week if I was tightly on grass elsewhere. With pit silage, the contractors charge the same per acre whether its topping or heavy as be damned. It'd be fine if I was baling it.
    Lets just say, if I was still milking cows id probably cut it all, but the fact that its for bullocks its not quite as important

    They are every bit as important cut and bale now. We did 80 bales yesterday all 13-1500 covers 2.4 bales/acre top quality.


  • #94
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    freedominacup wrote: »
    Did you stop X area on X date or do you wait until surpluses start to appear in April before stopping?

    Only ever stop based on surplus and measuring. We have one area 25 acres across motorway can't graze cows gets stopped after heifers graze on Feb and March


  • #95
    just do it
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,422 ✭✭✭just do it


    delaval wrote: »
    Only ever stop based on surplus and measuring. We have one area 25 acres across motorway can't graze cows gets stopped after heifers graze on Feb and March
    You don't have dedicated silage fields? Around here everyone has their silage fields and their grazing fields. This has evolved partly because farming with heavy ground you couldn't rely on being able to cut a fair % of the farm.


  • #96
    bbam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,408 ✭✭✭bbam


    just do it wrote: »
    You don't have dedicated silage fields? Around here everyone has their silage fields and their grazing fields. This has evolved partly because farming with heavy ground you couldn't rely on being able to cut a fair % of the farm.

    Same here.. dedicated fields where silage is their primary purpose, will graze once silage is under control but only if conditions allow it without damaging the ground.
    Early grazing with light stock on a good year, well thats the theory anyway.


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  • #97
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    Went mad this afternoon


  • #98
    Muckit
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,173 ✭✭✭✭Muckit


    Looks clean and leafy stuff! Are you going baling it delaval?


  • #99
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    Muckit wrote: »
    Looks clean and leafy stuff! Are you going baling it delaval?

    Wagon


  • #100
    Conor556
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 281 ✭✭Conor556


    delaval wrote: »
    Wagon

    Have you got all your own gear for silage


  • #101
    eddiej
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 235 ✭✭eddiej


    Knocked 120 acres today average 10-11 tonne per acre fresh at 18-20 DM

    Range from 15.2 tonne per acre fresh (2nd year hybrid ryegrass mix with red clover)
    14.5 tonne per acre same stuff first year
    8 tonne per acre crappy old grass will reseed after second cut.

    Started mowing today at 10:30 finished 21:30 tonight

    Reasonable wilt 20 acres rowed up and will row and pick tomorrow hopefully all finished by tomorrow night or early Sunday

    Had planned to wait till Mon or Tues for cut but weather looks bad for next week and starting to head out so will take quality now and stop about 90-100 acres for second cut.


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  • #102
    darragh_haven
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭darragh_haven


    eddiej wrote: »
    Knocked 120 acres today average 10-11 tonne per acre fresh at 18-20 DM

    Range from 15.2 tonne per acre fresh (2nd year hybrid ryegrass mix with red clover)
    14.5 tonne per acre same stuff first year
    8 tonne per acre crappy old grass will reseed after second cut.

    Started mowing today at 10:30 finished 21:30 tonight

    Reasonable wilt 20 acres rowed up and will row and pick tomorrow hopefully all finished by tomorrow night or early Sunday

    Had planned to wait till Mon or Tues for cut but weather looks bad for next week and starting to head out so will take quality now and stop about 90-100 acres for second cut.

    That's some amount of silage for first cut. How do you know the exact tons per acre after mowing.


  • #103
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    Conor556 wrote: »
    Have you got all your own gear for silage

    We mow and push up. Contractor rakes and wagons to yard


  • #104
    simx
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,556 ✭✭✭simx


    delaval wrote: »
    We mow and push up. Contractor rakes and wagons to yard

    Does your contractor have a new holland and a pottinger or do you get someone else?


  • #105
    bob charles
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,343 ✭✭✭bob charles


    darragh_haven wrote: »
    How do you know the exact tons per acre after mowing.

    worked down to even hundred kilo's, I'm impressed with this measuring lark

    Think you will find the hybrids/RedC mix will be allot lower DM than the old stuff which usually is real dry and difference in DM per acre is not as much as you would expect. Must say i love growing red clover, super feed


  • #106
    eddiej
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 235 ✭✭eddiej


    Pretty easy wheel barrow and platform scales Work out width of mower and then take length of sample area and multiply up for yield per acre Have to be sure to use full mower we measure front mower contractor has triple set up also very much like grass measuring must use representative areas of field and we do a couple of spots across field Have done last few years so starting to get a reasonable eye for how much on it though was shocked by 15 tonne yield This hybrid and red clover is some stuff though a real joy and the best bit of this crappy year so far. This was closed on 29 March 3000 gallons slurry 1 bag ASN and 1.5 urea cannot beat the ounce of breeding in the grass even other reseeds that are a grazing mix no where near this may be 2-3 tonne behind Hopefully today stays fine and all goes on pit


  • #107
    eddiej
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 235 ✭✭eddiej


    Know where you coming from bob all right and yield of DM is the real key ment to take samples for DM but just did not get time the older grass however in this case was all grazed up to 29 march or 2 April and is all leaf so DM won't be that different but admit cant say for def until have DM done Will do for second cut and hopefully start to put together nice pic over few years of what I am getting


  • #108
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    bbam wrote: »
    Same here.. dedicated fields where silage is their primary purpose, will graze once silage is under control but only if conditions allow it without damaging the ground.
    Early grazing with light stock on a good year, well thats the theory anyway.
    We will be cutting 3-4 blocks of 50 acres till 10th of June and will cut again at end of July. None of the land cut in May or June will be cut again we will graze as will be top quality. We will also be baling any short term surplus' that appear.
    I'm away to knock another 20 acres, that will make 70 on the ground to be picked up this afternoon and tomorrow.


  • #109
    bob charles
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,343 ✭✭✭bob charles


    eddiej wrote: »
    This hybrid and red clover is some stuff though a real joy and the best bit of this crappy year so far. This was closed on 29 March 3000 gallons slurry 1 bag ASN and 1.5 urea cannot beat the ounce of breeding in the grass even other reseeds that are a grazing mix no where near this may be 2-3 tonne behind Hopefully today stays fine and all goes on pit

    are you putting 100 units of N on red clover sward? All I ever put on Red clover was a couple K gallons of cattle slurry and either a bag of sulphate of potash after each cut and a sprinkle of magnesium. I like to keep the red clover proportion high.

    Guy now growing it for me is following the same programme as he is a young guy starting out so told him if he puts allot of Nitrogen on it he wont make a penny from the deal. considering he has free slurry, owns the land and has his own machinery I hope he makes a good few bob at the job


  • #110
    pajero12
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,495 ✭✭✭pajero12


    Looks like everyone around here is cutting for bulk, was telling the lad I drive for that I wouldn't be around for another month, he said it was no problem as nothing would be done!


  • #111
    eddiej
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 235 ✭✭eddiej


    bob charles wrote: »
    are you putting 100 units of N on red clover sward? All I ever put on Red clover was a couple K gallons of cattle slurry and either a bag of sulphate of potash after each cut and a sprinkle of magnesium. I like to keep the red clover proportion high.

    Guy now growing it for me is following the same programme as he is a young guy starting out so told him if he puts allot of Nitrogen on it he wont make a penny from the deal. considering he has free slurry, owns the land and has his own machinery I hope he makes a good few bob at the job

    Yep 100 units on red clover sward if anything these hybrid ryegrass mixes could go to 125 units as are growing that hard easy use up over 2 units per day still have high proportion of clover having said all that if the area of these mixes goes up currently have only 32 acres of it would look at economics of lowering units and watching yield all depends on cost per unit N and the ability of the grass to respond to each unit this gettin more like economics theory thread than silage


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  • #112
    bob charles
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,343 ✭✭✭bob charles


    eddiej wrote: »
    Yep 100 units on red clover sward if anything these hybrid ryegrass mixes could go to 125 units as are growing that hard easy use up over 2 units per day still have high proportion of clover having said all that if the area of these mixes goes up currently have only 32 acres of it would look at economics of lowering units and watching yield all depends on cost per unit N and the ability of the grass to respond to each unit this gettin more like economics theory thread than silage

    how many kilos of red clover are you planting per ac? you wont be getting the benefit of the deep rooting clover with such high N. I have in the past planted single variety hybrid grasses which has turned out to be a disaster


  • #113
    severeoversteer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 871 ✭✭✭severeoversteer


    has anybody silage on the ground ? weather has broken here in galway , rain forecast upto next Tuesday night :mad:


  • #114
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    severeoversteer wrote: »
    has anybody silage on the ground ? weather has broken here in galway , rain forecast upto next Tuesday night :mad:

    We are about half way through will go till 10 and finish tomorrow am.


  • #115
    st1979
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 936 ✭✭✭st1979


    Putting cover on now. Crap yields but nice stuff


  • #116
    moy83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,701 ✭✭✭moy83


    severeoversteer wrote: »
    has anybody silage on the ground ? weather has broken here in galway , rain forecast upto next Tuesday night :mad:
    I see a bit cut beside us but its not too wet , Id say it will be baled if a few dry hours come tomorrow , it will still be better than half of the washed out stuff that was made last summer


  • #117
    dar31
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,706 ✭✭✭dar31


    30ac in, and another 60 to do in the morning,
    covering monday, looking like it will be done in the rain:(:(:(:(:(


  • #118
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    dar31 wrote: »
    30ac in, and another 60 to do in the morning,
    covering monday, looking like it will be done in the rain:(:(:(:(:(

    We are going to stay going and try to finish.


  • #119
    eddiej
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 235 ✭✭eddiej


    bob charles wrote: »
    how many kilos of red clover are you planting per ac? you wont be getting the benefit of the deep rooting clover with such high N. I have in the past planted single variety hybrid grasses which has turned out to be a disaster

    2kg of clover per acre re benefits all I can say is we are getting approx 3 tonnes per acre more with same N and protein in silage has gone up by about 3% points maybe we are doing things wrong but at the moment is going ok sure we could prob improve but not too sure that the N is too high for this crop given that it will take up to 125 units given its growth Have not got mix to hand but is not a single variety mix


  • #120
    eddiej
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 235 ✭✭eddiej


    delaval wrote: »
    We are going to stay going and try to finish.

    127 acres in pit and covers on breathing easier now so much for dry till sun night good stuff yields look average over all will measure pits and work out actual yield when samples are back I will post actual yields and results


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  • #121
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    eddiej wrote: »
    127 acres in pit and covers on breathing easier now so much for dry till sun night good stuff yields look average over all will measure pits and work out actual yield when samples are back I will post actual yields and results

    Precision chop LxWxH/45
    Do you know calc for well chopped wagon could I use the same?


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