which is cheaper pit or baled silage

massey 133

i was thinking of putting down a concrete yard for a silage pit. contractors around are charging 90 to 110 for a acre for pit silage. baled can be done for a 5euro a bale just baled and wrapped. but i will have the bother of draw the bales into the yard which is couple of kms away. what should i do and would pouring a new yard down pay for its self

leg wax

some contractors will charge extra for extra tractors on long draw also

massey 133

maybe i did not ask but i doubt it there is alot of competion around about 5 contractors willing

pajero12

massey 133 wrote: »

baled can be done for a 5euro a bale just baled and wrapped.

Thats probably without wrap.Add about €2.30 a bale and thats still quite unlikely theres many to bale and wrap for that price!

John deere 6920

u get 10-15 bales per acre off silage.. and pit is around 100 an acre. €5 a bale seems very cheap. we had ours done at €16 a bale....that everything thou so we did nothing.. pit is cheaper.. if u have heavy crop but if its really light bales might be slighty cheaper

massey 133

we mow it,pay for the plastic, haul it to the yard and stack. that why it is 5 euro a bale. but i would have to built a new yard due to nitrates costing 5 to 6k.

John deere 6920

massey 133 wrote: »

we mow it,pay for the plastic, haul it to the yard and stack. that why it is 5 euro a bale. but i would have to built a new yard due to nitrates costing 5 to 6k.

but if u get contractor to do pit.. u cud get it for €80 an acre or 75 cuz u mow it urself

massey 133

yes i probaly could but the cost of the silage slab seems just too big make it ever pay.

John deere 6920

how many animals have u.? we spent around €5000 on adding on to our silage slab it can hold around 100-150 acres off grass

massey 133

we have about 80 cows and finish all animals so we have about 275-280 cattle.

massey 133

also we would use about 1100 bales every winter

irish_bob

my brother has 85 cows including in calf heifers , 23 weanlings and ten cull cows yet he will be able to sell some silage after having made 700 bales , he tedes his grass which increases the dry matter and reduces the number of bales per acre to ten

on paper , pit is always cheaper but its easier get quality with bales , thier idiot proof

massey 133

would maize be a option i know a fella selling for 45 ton. it would make grass less on demand. and irish bob we are short of silage like many this year we are making up for the silage with 1,100 pounds of meal a day

John deere 6920

massey 133 wrote: »

would maize be a option i know a fella selling for 45 ton. it would make grass less on demand. and irish bob we are short of silage like many this year we are making up for the silage with 1,100 pounds of meal a day

Bales give almost zero waste true.. we have only about 66cows 51 wealings 20 cattle and 15 heifers.. about 150 aniamls only and we cut 110-130acres.. +12 acres off maize.. u cut about 140acres ? u cud nearly have ur own baler wrapper and trailer.. nearly be as cheap

massey 133

to be honest i dont want the hassle of al that machinery even tho you are probaly right it would pay. what do you think of maize as i am short silage are they many other feed alternatives

John deere 6920

maize is only for milking cows... great to give boost to cows producing milk.Most faarmers dont want the hassle but if it pays i wud

massey 133

maize is also excellent for fatten cattle we fatten cattle last year on maize work very well. maybe feeding barley and wheat would be a option with silage

massey 133

what is arley and wheat making also what is silage making i hear about fellas paid 40 euros a bale bloody fools

John deere 6920

massey 133 wrote: »

what is arley and wheat making also what is silage making i hear about fellas paid 40 euros a bale bloody fools

idk wat barley or wheat making.. but am silage bales is about 20-35 euro.. we selling 100 bales for 25 euro each..

massey 133

this winter i think i will feed more meal which will reduce the demand for silage

babybrian

We are short on silage too and feeding a barley beef ration with rolled barley to some other stock just to keep them filled. Barley beef ration is around €160/t which is probably much better value than baled silage at upwards of €30 anyway.
Have early grass so just hoping to get the cows out early or else I'm screwed.:(

John deere 6920

massey 133 wrote: »

this winter i think i will feed more meal which will reduce the demand for silage

Put ad in papar or local paper looking for bales.. we have nearly too much silage .!

massey 133

baby brian i know i should be telling any one their business but 160 a ton is too much. glanbia are selling hi thrive nuts for 175 a ton there should be a 35 euro a ton gap between rolled barley and hi protein nuts

massey 133

i would never buy in bales meal is better vaule any day. unless they were very cheap and good quality. still its hard to compare silage to meal

babybrian

Thanks massey 133 but its not straight barley, its barley/beef.
I know straight barley is 130/ton.
Thanks anyway.:)

massey 133

sorry baby brian

massey 133

is your ration good and were can i get it

MfMan

Massey, you have a slatted shed I presume? (Did you build this with the intention of it paying for itself?) I can only relate my own experiences; we used to feed 50+ cattle on bales alone. There was a lot of work both in the harvesting and feeding, manual and mechanical.A lot of messing about with plastic, netting etc. Also, in spite of what you hear, there is/can be a certain amount of waste with bales - at least as much with a pit, especially towards the end of the foddering season.

2 years ago I built a slab. A bit costly because I put in side walls plus I had to get an effluent tank. However I got the full FWM grant so this offset the cost quite a bit, plus I did a little of the site work myself. Thus this is the 2nd year I'm feeding pit silage and I'm well pleased. There's a bit of waste along top of walls but nothing too bad. It suits me also because I also work off-farm and feeding is quicker. In both cases, a contractor did all the work, bar drawing in and stacking the bales.

From my point of view
Advantages of pit over bales;
Less costly in general as plastic covers can be reused, plus no recycling charges of wraps etc. Cost my be increased somewhat if a loader plus shear grab has to be purchased.
Cleaner pens as cattle pull in very little (chopped) pit silage as opposed to longer baled stuff. Thus tanks easier to agitate.
Feeding time quicker (because I have a small loader plus grab), plus less scattering about of silage.
A little less labour required, i.e. periodical stripping back pit and stacking tyres and sand bags as opposed to daily stripping of bales.
Bales may contain hard to spot pinholes plus must be handled gently. Pit more resilient to plastic tears, especially if there are a number of layers.

Disadvantages;
Usually all fields must be closed up at once instead of a field now and again. Can put pressure on available grazing ground. Baled system more flexible.
More help needed when covering the pit, critical if doing it in the rain. (An important point this, often overlooked)
Cattle may eat bales slower than a grab, thus longer feeding intervals.
Easier to sell surplus bales, plus probably a lot easier to keep surplus bales for next year.
Farmer-responsible breakdowns could be much costlier with pit equipment.

I'm sure I've left things out in above list. To repeat, after a season and a half, I'm well satisfied with the pit and have no regrets about it's construction; feeding has simply become much more efficient. With all the cattle you are feeding, Massey, a slab to contain all that silage could be quite costly to erect, plus there's the effluent question. However, I feel it would be advantageous labour-wise in the long run.

babybrian

to massey 133
Its actually hard to tell right now, I wont be weighing a few until next week to see how they have been performing on it.
I'll dig out the nutrients info on it for you tomorrow and I'll let you know.

Getting it from liffey mills

massey 133

a pit may be handier if i had all the cattle in one place but i am renting 3 different sheds about a mile away i have tipping trailer which could be handy drawing the silage

dar31

massey 133 wrote: »

would maize be a option i know a fella selling for 45 ton. it would make grass less on demand. and irish bob we are short of silage like many this year we are making up for the silage with 1,100 pounds of meal a day

the value of maize based on the feed value and cost of barley and soya is E33 t/dm. however it was next to impossible to get it for this price, best i heard at cutting was e35-e40 delivered