Silage Fertilizer Starting With Heavy Covers

Welding Rod · 25-03-2019 8:25pm #1

Walked silage ground today. Very heavy grass on there after the winter we have had.
Not reseeded ground.
Normally go with 80 to 90 units of N plus P&K early April and cut last week May.
Just a bit concerned that due to the heavy covers starting out, the crop won’t have enough growing to do, to use up all the N. Does that make sense or am I over complicating things?
Thinking of maybe cutting back to maybe 60 units N and possibly cutting middle of May.
Confused????

Say my name · 25-03-2019 9:20pm

The whole point of applying artificial nitrogen is to grow the grass.

If the grass has already grown with biological or background nitrogen over the winter then dead right you don't need as much as you'd normally apply.
Reduce by as much as you'd like. If you have half the amount of grass already, reduce by half etc,etc,etc. Take current colour into account too.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 25-03-2019 9:20pm

Welding Rod wrote: »

Walked silage ground today. Very heavy grass on there after the winter we have had.
Not reseeded ground.
Normally go with 80 to 90 units of N plus P&K early April and cut last week May.
Just a bit concerned that due to the heavy covers starting out, the crop won’t have enough growing to do, to use up all the N. Does that make sense or am I over complicating things?
Thinking of maybe cutting back to maybe 60 units N and possibly cutting middle of May.
Confused????

What kind of covers are there on it now?

You might be better off cutting it now for bales, great week ahead for wilting, and carry on as normal for fertiliser and slurry. There's not a lot of time for any fertiliser to be used up before cutting if it's as far along as I think you're saying?

older by the day · 25-03-2019 10:11pm

Welding Rod wrote: »

Walked silage ground today. Very heavy grass on there after the winter we have had.
Not reseeded ground.
Normally go with 80 to 90 units of N plus P&K early April and cut last week May.
Just a bit concerned that due to the heavy covers starting out, the crop won’t have enough growing to do, to use up all the N. Does that make sense or am I over complicating things?
Thinking of maybe cutting back to maybe 60 units N and possibly cutting middle of May.
Confused????

I'm the same, grass half way to silage, i think it will just lodge in a few weeks if it gets the normal fertilizer and I don't want to cut with high nitrogen levels. So I am going with about 50N and half the P and k. But don't go by me

Welding Rod · 25-03-2019 10:37pm

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

What kind of covers are there on it now?

You might be better off cutting it now for bales, great week ahead for wilting, and carry on as normal for fertiliser and slurry. There's not a lot of time for any fertiliser to be used up before cutting if it's as far along as I think you're saying?

Covers like this.

freedominacup · 25-03-2019 11:05pm

Welding Rod wrote: »

Covers like this.

Book the contractor now. As in ring him straightaway. Cut it and get it saved. Then start again with fert for second cut. Aim for 2 units N per day max with a cutting date of May 10th in mind.

memorystick · 26-03-2019 12:35am

Welding Rod wrote: »

Covers like this.

That's the worst start your silage can have. Clean it off. Best of luck

Say my name · 26-03-2019 1:12am

Not to take away from the thread but imagine if there will ever be a time when a farmer can grow silage without resorting to the bag.

Wouldn't that be something to envy.

I suppose if the op cuts tomorrow it has already happened..

Nitrogen is a funny old tool. It's a thing the farmer is eager to spread on grass but is concerned that it doesn't get into the silage.

Anyhoo ramblings. Continue with the thread.

leoch · 26-03-2019 8:18am

I have a field with good cover aswell not the same as his but not bad....now mine is not thick at the butt at all its a field that had corn and undersown with grass 2 years ago but the grass is thin and stocky is there anyway of thickening it up ....the baled silage taken off it last year was like wrapped straw it was like a rye grass

_Brian · 26-03-2019 8:40am

Welding Rod wrote: »

Covers like this.

Has to be a worry that it would be gone at the butt if you fertilise now and wait weeks to mow.
Might be as well save that as is and then start fresh.

Welding Rod · 26-03-2019 10:27am

freedominacup wrote: »

Book the contractor now. As in ring him straightaway. Cut it and get it saved. Then start again with fert for second cut. Aim for 2 units N per day max with a cutting date of May 10th in mind.

Yeah. I did think about that. Trouble is ground is a bit on the soft side to carry the baler.....

whelan2 · 26-03-2019 10:49am

Welding Rod wrote: »

Yeah. I did think about that. Trouble is ground is a bit on the soft side to carry the baler.....

Get it mowed any way. There will be plenty of drying in the next few days. Very heavy land here and the difference in a day is unreal at the moment

kingdom fan · 26-03-2019 10:55am

Why don't you let young stock out on it. I've 25 acres as heavy as that and another 5 even worse. Ive started grazing the 25 acres last week with 30 yearnings.mm The 5 acres real heavy I'm tempted to put out 1or2 bag this week 18.6.12. And cut 1st may.

Danzy · 26-03-2019 11:42am

Cover not as heavy as yours but heavy enough, 50 units of nitrogen going out and will cut mid May. The butt is fierce clean, it was seeded in 17.

As is, you crop will be close enough to knock in a month either way.

charolais0153 · 26-03-2019 3:36pm

kingdom fan wrote: »

Why don't you let young stock out on it. I've 25 acres as heavy as that and another 5 even worse. Ive started grazing the 25 acres last week with 30 yearnings.mm The 5 acres real heavy I'm tempted to put out 1or2 bag this week 18.6.12. And cut 1st may.

Thats quite an old pasture. Theyre would be very poor utilsation and would make a balls of the next crop

Never wrestle with pigs · 26-03-2019 3:45pm

Cut and bale it, it sounds mad but allot of it happening this year. The last 12 months have been a bit mad and you just have to take the chance when it's there. It could be snowing in a few weeks lol.

pat73 · 26-03-2019 6:43pm

Never wrestle with pigs wrote: »

Cut and bale it, it sounds mad but allot of it happening this year. The last 12 months have been a bit mad and you just have to take the chance when it's there. It could be snowing in a few weeks lol.

Baling it now even with good weather at this time of year would there be sugars in it for it to fermint

CloughCasey1 · 27-03-2019 1:28am

I'm in same boat with field reseeded last year. Grazed tight and closed mid December and im going to give it 2 bags of can and 2 bags 0-7-30.
I've made rocket fuel the last few years and not making it back the other end. I'll let it bulk up and cut a decent crop of good quality silage mid May.

dohc turbo2 · 27-03-2019 8:02am

Walked trough fields yesterday, haven’t the cattle to get all the grass around at the moment , seen the contractor passing Witt the rake and he said he has a heap of jobs like that, heavy covers and lads have no place to get slurry out , mower coming today to knock , never it the history of the place did grass be knocked this early , I was surprised how heavy the grass got without fertiliser in th last week or so

TooOldBoots · 27-03-2019 9:28am

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

I'm in same boat with field reseeded last year. Grazed tight and closed mid December and im going to give it 2 bags of can and 2 bags 0-7-30.
I've made rocket fuel the last few years and not making it back the other end. I'll let it bulk up and cut a decent crop of good quality silage mid May.

Rocket costs in reality. That will be fair expensive silage by the time you pay for the manure and silage making. All when we have had a load of free growth this winter

Mooooo · 27-03-2019 9:50am

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

I'm in same boat with field reseeded last year. Grazed tight and closed mid December and im going to give it 2 bags of can and 2 bags 0-7-30.
I've made rocket fuel the last few years and not making it back the other end. I'll let it bulk up and cut a decent crop of good quality silage mid May.

Have you saved on ration making better silage.? If you can I would always go for the best stuff you can. Bad silage will need supplementing and good stuff won't, a protracted spell inside and performance suffers then

jaymla627 · 27-03-2019 11:17am

Mooooo wrote: »

Have you saved on ration making better silage.? If you can I would always go for the best stuff you can. Bad silage will need supplementing and good stuff won't, a protracted spell inside and performance suffers then

When making rocket fuel bales I find you run into the issue of cows getting very loose in the dung and you end up having to go in with hulls/nis to dry them up, which defeats the purpose of making this stuff if you have to add lots of fibre to dilute it, moving away from bales here that we used to make for Milkers to nearly all pit, as the costs have gotten out of control with plastic/contractors etc spent five k on wrap last year here and said never again, going to be a huge problems down the line getting rid of plastic to

Bullocks · 27-03-2019 11:24am

jaymla627 wrote: »

When making rocket fuel bales I find you run into the issue of cows getting very loose in the dung and you end up having to go in with hulls/nis to dry them up, which defeats the purpose of making this stuff if you have to add lots of fibre to dilute it, moving away from bales here that we used to make for Milkers to nearly all pit, as the costs have gotten out of control with plastic/contractors etc spent five k on wrap last year here and said never again, going to be a huge problems down the line getting rid of plastic to

Some difference in the roll of plastic for a few bales and plastic for the pit price wise. I was surprised how many bigger farmers switched over to bales in the last few years.
I suppose the price difference must be worth it in the trade off to being able to graze or sneak bales whenever suits and silage quality

jaymla627 · 27-03-2019 12:37pm

Bullocks wrote: »

Some difference in the roll of plastic for a few bales and plastic for the pit price wise. I was surprised how many bigger farmers switched over to bales in the last few years.
I suppose the price difference must be worth it in the trade off to being able to graze or sneak bales whenever suits and silage quality

3300 for plastic to do 800 bales plus 700 for net, the plastic to cover a pit of 70 acres of silage would be less then 400 for two new sheets, fair difference alright haha

freedominacup · 27-03-2019 1:11pm

Mower half way through what's to be knocked here now. Tedder coming shortly. TRD again once dew gone in the morning. Rake and bale tomorrow evening. Looks like a 5 or 6 bale/acre crop.

uck51js9zml2yt · 27-03-2019 5:30pm

freedominacup wrote: »

Mower half way through what's to be knocked here now. Tedder coming shortly. TRD again once dew gone in the morning. Rake and bale tomorrow evening. Looks like a 5 or 6 bale/acre crop.

Rookie question...is that the big bales?

Trying to gauge what I could expect off my few acres.

freedominacup · 27-03-2019 8:04pm

Laney Hallowed Needlepoint wrote: »

Rookie question...is that the big bales?

Trying to gauge what I could expect off my few acres.

Round bales. I'd be sorely disappointed if it was small squaresðŸ˜ðŸ˜

uck51js9zml2yt · 27-03-2019 8:46pm

Guys, can I ask.how much are round bales being sold for?

charolais0153 · 27-03-2019 9:37pm

Laney Hallowed Needlepoint wrote: »

Guys, can I ask.how much are round bales being sold for?

25 euros each locally

Dunedin · 27-03-2019 10:30pm

jaymla627 wrote: »

3300 for plastic to do 800 bales plus 700 for net, the plastic to cover a pit of 70 acres of silage would be less then 400 for two new sheets, fair difference alright haha

Ah, does the contractor not charge for gettthe grass from the field to pit????

Firstly I don’t think you’d have 800 bales from 70 acres, more like 600.

€9 a bale x 600 bales = €5400 + €2400 on plastic = €8000 rounded up. 70 acres at €110 acre + €400 on plastic €8170

All of the above subject to many assumptions such as local contractor baling and pit/acre prices, how many bales per acre, farmer time and cost drawing in 600 beautiful bales, etc. etc.

Point is, there ain’t a whole of difference and can often come down to heavy crop - pit best value, lighter crop = bales, not too mention that a long draw is a nightmare drawing in bales. But much greater flexibility on bales to take a paddock here and there.

CloughCasey1 · 28-03-2019 8:59am

jaymla627 wrote: »

When making rocket fuel bales I find you run into the issue of cows getting very loose in the dung and you end up having to go in with hulls/nis to dry them up, which defeats the purpose of making this stuff if you have to add lots of fibre to dilute it, moving away from bales here that we used to make for Milkers to nearly all pit, as the costs have gotten out of control with plastic/contractors etc spent five k on wrap last year here and said never again, going to be a huge problems down the line getting rid of plastic to

I've a straw bed shed and the leafy soft grass costs me more in straw also. Will still be cutting mid May so will still be excellent silage for beef cattle. All they get is some soya mixed with minerals for winter. Ok for ye dairy boys and white gold making 4 bales an acre early in year.

Robson99 · 28-03-2019 9:30am

Have a field here grazed tight with sheep in mid December
Slurry approx 2500 gal / acre mid Feb. Would I get good quality silage mid may if I leave it closed and give it nitrogen or do I need to graze it first ?

GrasstoMilk · 28-03-2019 10:03am

Robson99 wrote: »

Have a field here grazed tight with sheep in mid December
Slurry approx 2500 gal / acre mid Feb. Would I get good quality silage mid may if I leave it closed and give it nitrogen or do I need to graze it first ?

Let it up for silage if you dont need the grass for grazing. 60 units of N should give you a decent crop

uck51js9zml2yt · 28-03-2019 10:32am

Guys any ideas what it would cost me to get a contractor in for 4 acres to cut and bale silage?

Dunedin · 28-03-2019 1:52pm

Laney Hallowed Needlepoint wrote: »

Guys any ideas what it would cost me to get a contractor in for 4 acres to cut and bale silage?

Contractor costs vary between €8-10 per bale so it’s that times the number of bales which you can guess buts let’s throw in €9 @ 8 bales per acre times 4 = €288. Your plastic costs will be extra as at €9 you’ll be supplying it.

SuperTortoise · 28-03-2019 8:27pm

What do ye think of spreading fert for silage ground this weekend? Bit of rain promised on Saturday but dry for most of next week, nighttime temps hovering around the 1-4 degrees mark?? only thing stopping me is the danger of frost.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 28-03-2019 8:41pm

I spread the last of my Urea today on the heavier silage fields, I thought I would be doing a bit of cutting up while spreading even now. I left barely a mark so I went out with 2 bags of 18:6:12 on the low index silage fields and think I'll do them all now.

It's never been as dry on those fields in March as they are now so I'd say spread away.

Dunedin · 28-03-2019 8:51pm

SuperTortoise wrote: »

only thing stopping me is the danger of frost.

Frost will have no effect on fertilizer- spread away. You’ll never get better conditions this time of year for spreading

degetme · 28-03-2019 9:05pm

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I spread the last of my Urea today on the heavier silage fields, I thought I would be doing a bit of cutting up while spreading even now. I left barely a mark so I went out with 2 bags of 18:6:12 on the low index silage fields and think I'll do them all now.

It's never been as dry on those fields in March as they are now so I'd say spread away.

Is it too dry for urea

Mooooo · 28-03-2019 9:24pm

degetme wrote: »

Is it too dry for urea

No

Robson99 · 28-03-2019 9:27pm

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Let it up for silage if you dont need the grass for grazing. 60 units of N should give you a decent crop

What would quality be like ?

degetme · 28-03-2019 9:28pm

Mooooo wrote: »

No

I always taught you need a drop of rain within 48hrs of application especially on bare ground

Lady Haywire · 28-03-2019 9:29pm

degetme wrote: »

I always taught you need a drop of rain within 48hrs of application especially on bare ground

Get onto your knees to prey & if they're wet when you get up, the ground is damp enough for urea

degetme · 28-03-2019 9:32pm

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Get onto your knees to prey & if they're wet when you get up, the ground is damp enough for urea

Ya often heard that. Savage drying out. Can't see full value in urea in this weather. Went with KAN urea here

Lady Haywire · 28-03-2019 9:33pm

degetme wrote: »

Ya often heard that. Savage drying out. Can't see full value in urea in this weather. Went with KAN urea here

Isn't there supposed to be rain tomorrow? For here in the NW anyway.
Not done anything here yet, no point as can't cut til July so will try to graze out & close up as we go along.

degetme · 28-03-2019 9:36pm

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Isn't there supposed to be rain tomorrow? For here in the NW anyway.
Not done anything here yet, no point as can't cut til July so will try to graze out & close up as we go along.

Looks to be a week away for rain here. Dont want any either

Buford T. Justice XIX · 28-03-2019 9:51pm

degetme wrote: »

Is it too dry for urea

No, it's perfect right now. Soil is damp and a good dew in the morning so plenty of moisture to dissolve the Urea.

Dunedin · 28-03-2019 10:25pm

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

No, it's perfect right now. Soil is damp and a good dew in the morning so plenty of moisture to dissolve the Urea.

Ground is dry as a bone here with us (midlands). Would’nt like to chance urea here to be honest

Lady Haywire · 28-03-2019 10:31pm

Coming back from Manorhamilton today & just outside Drumshanbo there was a tractor & slurry tanker buried up to the axles.
Nice long track across the field too, so it's not like he didn't have warning, fool. Spring sun disease :rolleyes:

jaymla627 · 28-03-2019 10:49pm

Dunedin wrote: »

Ah, does the contractor not charge for gettthe grass from the field to pit????

Firstly I don’t think you’d have 800 bales from 70 acres, more like 600.

€9 a bale x 600 bales = €5400 + €2400 on plastic = €8000 rounded up. 70 acres at €110 acre + €400 on plastic €8170

All of the above subject to many assumptions such as local contractor baling and pit/acre prices, how many bales per acre, farmer time and cost drawing in 600 beautiful bales, etc. etc.

Point is, there ain’t a whole of difference and can often come down to heavy crop - pit best value, lighter crop = bales, not too mention that a long draw is a nightmare drawing in bales. But much greater flexibility on bales to take a paddock here and there.

Was making 1000 plus bales a year here the past 4 years but its simply is to Labour intensive and costly, deal done with contractor here for 75 a acre for pit silage and we mow, game changer here that has made us switch back to nearly all pit again was the increased intakes of pit silage after we put additive on the pit silage in 18 which was one of the main reasons for making bales for the Milkers as intakess/yields where always better from bales even with the exact same quality silage...
Serious time saver when feeding in the winter too, jumping in and out of a tractor bollocking with 10 plus bales a day doesn’t be fun

Dunedin · 28-03-2019 11:05pm

jaymla627 wrote: »

Was making 1000 plus bales a year here the past 4 years but its simply is to Labour intensive and costly, deal done with contractor here for 75 a acre for pit silage and we mow, game changer here that has made us switch back to nearly all pit again was the increased intakes of pit silage after we put additive on the pit silage in 18 which was one of the main reasons for making bales for the Milkers as intakess/yields where always better from bales even with the exact same quality silage...
Serious time saver when feeding in the winter too, jumping in and out of a tractor bollocking with 10 plus bales a day doesn’t be fun

Serious drawing in 1000 bales. Anything over 500 bales is really pit territory

Silage Fertilizer Starting With Heavy Covers

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