Silage 2021

AntrimGlens

Deleted User wrote: »

McHale fusion here.

Silage grass grew an awful lot in the space of a week, was surprised, a bit stemmy and a bit of chickweed but it should be good for sucklers.

Have a field here that's got serious chickweed problem this year. Was planning on cutting it for silage but turned the ewes into it last night and they'll stay in it until its skint bare. Will reseed it after. I presume that the chickweed just grew away during the cold weather when the grass didn't grow and has now pretty much taken over.

AntrimGlens

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Have a field here that's got serious chickweed problem this year. Was planning on cutting it for silage but turned the ewes into it last night and they'll stay in it until its skint bare. Will reseed it after. I presume that the chickweed just grew away during the cold weather when the grass didn't grow and has now pretty much taken over.

Maybe it was a good year for chickweed, I see it in a lot of silage fields.

Sure a small bit is harmless enough.

Sheep are great at clearing down ground and fertilising it.

Danzy

It's been a great year for any plant that isn't grass.

That I suspect will revert back to normal.

SuperTortoise

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Have a field here that's got serious chickweed problem this year. Was planning on cutting it for silage but turned the ewes into it last night and they'll stay in it until its skint bare. Will reseed it after. I presume that the chickweed just grew away during the cold weather when the grass didn't grow and has now pretty much taken over.

Have same problem here, could'nt spray either, normal year i'd see small bit of chickweed in silage ground but nothing too serious, this year is different, the only thing that grew in april and may was chickweed.

Timmaay

Danzy wrote: »

It's been a great year for any plant that isn't grass.

That I suspect will revert back to normal.

Maize got a very very poor start here. Knee high by 4th July, its barely through the plastic here yet.

Siamsa Sessions

Cut 6 acres here on Sunday, raked it up yesterday, ready to bale today but the rain has put paid to that.

The contractor-neighbour who cut ours cut some for himself at the same time. He baled his own this morning while it was raining. I thought he was a bit hasty but looking at more rain here now so I’m thinking maybe he was right.

Would it want to be turned or raked again to help dry it out? Or would a few hours drying as is be enough before baling?

Bass Reeves

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Cut 6 acres here on Sunday, raked it up yesterday, ready to bale today but the rain has put paid to that.

The contractor-neighbour who cut ours cut some for himself at the same time. He baled his own this morning while it was raining. I thought he was a bit hasty but looking at more rain here now so I’m thinking maybe he was right.

Would it want to be turned or raked again to help dry it out? Or would a few hours drying as is be enough before baling?

If you get a dry 6-8 hours, rake it up into rows hopefully a good breeze will drow the rows. Then bale it. Generally its surface water is the problem. Do nothing until you are going to get that window

Siamsa Sessions

Bass Reeves wrote: »

If you get a dry 6-8 hours, rake it up into rows hopefully a good breeze will drow the rows. Then bale it. Generally its surface water is the problem. Do nothing until you are going to get that window

Thanks for that. 6 acres isn’t much for most people but it’s a first cut for a part-timer like me so I’m hoping it’ll turn out OK. Forecast isn’t great for tomorrow either so it might be Thursday before we get that 6-8 hours together.

Fingers crossed and thanks again.

RedPeppers

Just wondering how soon after making a silage pit could you open it again to put more in? Thanks

Grueller

RedPeppers wrote: »

Just wondering how soon after making a silage pit could you open it again to put more in? Thanks

I'm actually wondering how soon I can take it out!!!!!
I had to take out paddocks that were just waaay too strong and will be tight for grass now for a fortnight.

Dunedin

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Cut 6 acres here on Sunday, raked it up yesterday, ready to bale today but the rain has put paid to that.

The contractor-neighbour who cut ours cut some for himself at the same time. He baled his own this morning while it was raining. I thought he was a bit hasty but looking at more rain here now so I’m thinking maybe he was right.

Would it want to be turned or raked again to help dry it out? Or would a few hours drying as is be enough before baling?

If it gets very wet then it will definitely need to be shaken out again as it won’t dry in rows alone. Also, depends on how good a drying day comes. If it’s not too wet and it’s a good day then you might get away with rowing it and baling. And it depends on how heavy the crop is. You’ll need to check it yourself and make the call but remember wet bales are a disaster so try to get it as dry as you can and if that means another tedding so be it.

Bass Reeves

Dunedin wrote: »

If it gets very wet then it will definitely need to be shaken out again as it won’t dry in rows alone. Also, depends on how good a drying day comes. If it’s not too wet and it’s a good day then you might get away with rowing it and baling. And it depends on how heavy the crop is. You’ll need to check it yourself and make the call but remember wet bales are a disaster so try to get it as dry as you can and if that means another tedding so be it.

I do not think so. It's silage not hay you are making the more you beat it the more you damage it. You are trying now to remove surface water the will have wilted in four days. Getting it up for not rows and off the ground will allow the sward to dry. It the grass surface you now want to dry not the inside of the grass

Timmaay

RedPeppers wrote: »

Just wondering how soon after making a silage pit could you open it again to put more in? Thanks

Don't think there is any timeframe. I opened mine up 10days after 1st cut to put in more, what was there was still very green.

wrangler

Timmaay wrote: »

Don't think there is any timeframe. I opened mine up 10days after 1st cut to put in more, what was there was still very green.

I'd imagine that if you didn't leave it open too long before putting more grass in it'd be alright

Dunedin

Bass Reeves wrote: »

I do not think so. It's silage not hay you are making the more you beat it the more you damage it. You are trying now to remove surface water the will have wilted in four days. Getting it up for not rows and off the ground will allow the sward to dry. It the grass surface you now want to dry not the inside of the grass

If grass is very wet and a heavy crop it simply won’t dry by rowing alone. Simple as......

DBK1

Dunedin wrote: »

If grass is very wet and a heavy crop it simply won’t dry by rowing alone. Simple as......

I’d agree with that but the problem in Siamsa’s case is it was already rowed. If it’s in small rows like after a haybob I’d be saying definitely shake it out but if it’s in a big 30 foot row there’s no haybob or tedder going to be fit to break it out again.

Mooooo

Grueller wrote: »

I'm actually wondering how soon I can take it out!!!!!
I had to take out paddocks that were just waaay too strong and will be tight for grass now for a fortnight.

Keep on top of the fert, now is the time year to be brave so you may well get away with it

Siamsa Sessions

DBK1 wrote: »

I’d agree with that but the problem in Siamsa’s case is it was already rowed. If it’s in small rows like after a haybob I’d be saying definitely shake it out but if it’s in a big 30 foot row there’s no haybob or tedder going to be fit to break it out again.

Thanks again for all the replies folks.

It's not too heavy and isn't in big rows, so I'll shake it out and leave to dry. Rain again here this morning but supposed to clear this afternoon. The next few days are supposed to be OK so hopefully all is not lost yet.

My brother emigrated to Spain with his wife on Sunday and at times like this, I'm half tempted to lease out the whole lot and ship meself, herself and the young lads over after them.

Bass Reeves

Dunedin wrote: »

If grass is very wet and a heavy crop it simply won’t dry by rowing alone. Simple as......

Biggest mistake lads make in broken weather is taking grass out of rows. If grass is cut with a conditioner mower it will wilt away in rows. I never turn grass out. Taking gldamp grass up off the ground to dry is the trick

The more you turn and go at grass in wet or broken weather the more likely you are to blacken it. Water holds on damaged pieces of grass where the tedder or hay bob hit it

While you may not get grass as dry as you would like neither will you end up with grass that is black in colour.

If it's light and in rows I leave it until I could see a dry 6+ hour window and row it up. Even if it get a shower on it rowed up remember less of the grass is exposed to rain. 2-3 rows taking the area of a bit over one row. As well less grass has contact with the ground so less dampness is an issue

Neighbour got caught with you unraked grass when I was making mine. It only got raked 2-3 hours before baling ( it was in rows) it got rained on that morning. It was raked at 2pm and baling started at 5 pm. Virtually no effluent out of it.

Siamsa Sessions

Just checked the rows and it's wet thru to the bottom now. Not soaked but the rows are heavy enough (especially with the extra moisture) so I don't think it'll dry without throwing it out again.

Still misty and overcast here so won't be doing anything until that lifts

mengele

Ifarmwefarm and tom pemberton got free silage covers for their pits using no tyres. If there's any mould in the pit it will be the worst advertising ever for those businesses as the results will be seen

funkey_monkey

Did Alan Clyde (Farm Flix) not have some system where he was continually able to tighten it up with some type of ratchet mechanism?
Seemed a lot better than what those two are doing. The photo of IFarmWeFam's clamp didn't have as much weight on it as I expected. Advertising for next years sales though. I seen the lads themselves done Ifarms cover.
You'll only know if there is mold on the silage if they show it to you . Caveat emptor.

Jb1989

mengele wrote: »

Ifarmwefarm and tom pemberton got free silage covers for their pits using no tyres. If there's any mould in the pit it will be the worst advertising ever for those businesses as the results will be seen

If they take the notion, to edit the video, and make a rotten pit look good, for those businesses, then false results will be seen.

Takes your own eyes to believe anything.

Looks to be a good window coming up to do silage from tomorrow to Sunday

Mooooo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Looks to be a good window coming up to do silage from tomorrow to Sunday

Contractors are well booked up, would want to be ringing to see if they are available

foxy farmer

My own contractor has only a handful of customers for pit silage left to do. A few more gone for bales this year. Had 2 Big Ms and a tractor with doubles mowing. They had 2 harvesters going on a few occasions where draws were short or slow. No one left with grass on ground during wet days. Picked up for 2 customers in the first week of May. Nothing then for 2 weeks. Had a few late nights when they got going again. A lot of tedding done this year. Other years they'd have only 2-3 to do.

K.G.

Deleted User wrote: »

Looks to be a good window coming up to do silage from tomorrow to Sunday

Down south id say we ll get only Saturday and Sunday out of it.tis turning into a pure c##t of a year if you dont mind saying so.from slow grass growing to slow crops to messy silage its just been one long slow drawn out pain

GrasstoMilk

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Did Alan Clyde (Farm Flix) not have some system where he was continually able to tighten it up with some type of ratchet mechanism?
Seemed a lot better than what those two are doing. The photo of IFarmWeFam's clamp didn't have as much weight on it as I expected. Advertising for next years sales though. I seen the lads themselves done Ifarms cover.
You'll only know if there is mold on the silage if they show it to you . Caveat emptor.

Those green covers are weighted, you don't need alot of tyres
On the list to be bought here, they're the bees knees tbh

orm0nd

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Just checked the rows and it's wet thru to the bottom now. Not soaked but the rows are heavy enough (especially with the extra moisture) so I don't think it'll dry without throwing it out again.

Still misty and overcast here so won't be doing anything until that lifts

Shake it out whenever it clears and dry it best you can.

If you get a couple of hours sun it dry and save way faster than in rows or sward

As I said in another post the tedder is the best piece of kit we bought since we started round baling well over 30 years ago.

timple23

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Those green covers are weighted, you don't need alot of tyres
On the list to be bought here, they're the bees knees tbh

Are they only suited to pits that have pit walls?

Did Clyde compare the two pits or test the silage. I know they did a video but they only showed opening it.

squinn2912

Cut today perfect weather where we are thank God. Not a big crop but decent.
Anyone on here go for them fancy ratchet covers? I’d say we’ll be at the same oul craic here but silo has a roof so it’s not so bad
This is the lightest field

GrasstoMilk

timple23 wrote: »

Are they only suited to pits that have pit walls?

Did Clyde compare the two pits or test the silage. I know they did a video but they only showed opening it.

Don't know tbh, haven't looks into them much
Be heavy pulling on a clamp on a December morning I'd say

Mooooo

K.G. wrote: »

Down south id say we ll get only Saturday and Sunday out of it.tis turning into a pure c##t of a year if you dont mind saying so.from slow grass growing to slow crops to messy silage its just been one long slow drawn out pain

Pure bollox really, ground very soft and heavy crop on it. Contractor booked out but trying to avoid heavy ground as well as fields are getting wrecked in places

charolais0153

Mooooo wrote: »

Pure bollox really, ground very soft and heavy crop on it. Contractor booked out but trying to avoid heavy ground as well as fields are getting wrecked in places

Hahhah . Same soup just reheated. Every year it's too wet or too dry . Nature of farming

K.G.

K.G. wrote: »

Down south id say we ll get only Saturday and Sunday out of it.tis turning into a pure c##t of a year if you dont mind saying so.from slow grass growing to slow crops to messy silage its just been one long slow drawn out pain

Growth exploded down here the last 10 days, I thought the silage would be mid june but it had a real burst.

Siamsa Sessions

orm0nd wrote: »

Shake it out whenever it clears and dry it best you can.

If you get a couple of hours sun it dry and save way faster than in rows or sward

As I said in another post the tedder is the best piece of kit we bought since we started round baling well over 30 years ago.

Mist and rain again here and the forecast is not great for tomorrow either. Looking more like getting the grass off the ground now than trying to make silage out of it. What are the options: Just spread it out and let it “fertilise” the ground? Or bale it and remove completely?

lab man

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Mist and rain again here and the forecast is not great for tomorrow either. Looking more like getting the grass off the ground now than trying to make silage out of it. What are the options: Just spread it out and let it “fertilise” the ground? Or bale it and remove completely?

Check under the rows for slugs and snails

Mooooo

charolais0153 wrote: »

Hahhah . Same soup just reheated. Every year it's too wet or too dry . Nature of farming

Never too dry down here

Siamsa Sessions

lab man wrote: »

Check under the rows for slugs and snails

No sign of any at this stage. If they’re there, then it’s completely gone is it?

lab man

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

No sign of any at this stage. If they’re there, then it’s completely gone is it?

Be grand bale on dont mind turning it out twill only end up in knots if u had the way a muffler be the job if it's raked up only the top will be wet the rest be ok

Sami23

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Mist and rain again here and the forecast is not great for tomorrow either. Looking more like getting the grass off the ground now than trying to make silage out of it. What are the options: Just spread it out and let it “fertilise” the ground? Or bale it and remove completely?

Are you not being a bit dramatic here - it's not hay your trying to get.
Saturday is forecast good country wide so shake it out to dry it for few hours then rake and bale and it be grand.
Do it today or Friday if weather allows

Bass Reeves

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

No sign of any at this stage. If they’re there, then it’s completely gone is it?

As long as the underneath is not heating you are ok. If it was mine I would row it up when it dries and bale it. It will not be great but it will be better than most stuff you would buy

Siamsa Sessions

Thanks for the replies again.

Trouble with silage is all new to me so I’m stressed about what I can do. That’s if I can do anything at all.

All I know is it’s in rows since Monday, it’s wet thru, and it’s raining/misty again today and tomorrow.

But the advice on here has kept me sane. Thanks.

I’m a big boy. I’ll live. And I’ll learn. And I won’t be stressed about silage next year having been thru this. Thanks again

cute geoge

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Mist and rain again here and the forecast is not great for tomorrow either. Looking more like getting the grass off the ground now than trying to make silage out of it. What are the options: Just spread it out and let it “fertilise” the ground? Or bale it and remove completely?

check forecast and shake out when you get chance ,it looks good until monday evening so dont panic .I would even go trough it with a turner a second time if weather allows .Wet bales are worthless if the grass got 2 fine drying days it would turn into haylege been there done that /I have held off cutting myself with a fortnight and the weekend looks as good as we have got this year

foxy farmer

Does anyone put powders, additives or molasses on their grass now?

Water John

My nephew did on his first cut. His advisor recommended it. Powder as the contractor can handle that. To get it preserved quickly and get the temp down.

Mooooo

Not in years. Most may improve good silage a small bit but wont make bad silage good. Molasses prob the most useful in current conditions as sugars may be low but a lot of contractors may not have applicators

foxy farmer

Mooooo wrote: »

Not in years. Most may improve good silage a small bit but wont make bad silage good. Molasses prob the most useful in current conditions as sugars may be low but a lot of contractors may not have applicators

The last time i saw acid used was a wet spell back around 05. Small tank pto pump and boom on tractor up and down the pit. Would turn the grass yellow in minutes. Molasses can be got from the Coop here. They have a few tanks with pto pumps and dribble bar for driving over the swaths or hose for spraying over the pit that they hire out. Pay by weight. Lads might use it the odd time for old grass or late cuts. Haven't seen powder applied through the harvester with 5-6years. The liquid additive applied through the harvester has died out with a few years around here also.

Water John

The sun forecast for Sat and Sun will be the best preservative, even for stuff cut already. Think I would put powder on that to give it its best chance.
Temp in the 20s forecast, hopefully holds up.

Dozer1

cut 10 acres today, fair cloudy rain all around but holding so far going to bale tomorrow if I can