How many dairymen here are using baleage

[JoshuaGA]

Would be interested in hearing some experiences, opinions you might have.

[jrtheoriginal]

I haven't ever used it but I was wondering how you planned on feeding it? Are you using a mixer to process,or feeding it free choice?

[glowplug]

Guess I'm an "un-real" ex-dairyman. But yes, I both bought in and also make my own baleage. The cows loved it and milked very well on it.

[papapap]

I had some ryegrass/clover mix wrapped this year. Makes it more palatable. The advantage is being able to bale w/out delay,and not mold or worry with catching fire in the barn. Some leave the windrow ~baler width and don't rake.

Just be sure to put enough wrap on the bale. My guy did not and I'm paying for it now. Defeats the purpose with holes allowing air to penetrate.

Most of the dairymen here are using mixer wagons and grinding for tmr.

How would you price the baleage compared to dry hay?

[bcreech]

I don't dairy but use baleage for beef cows in the winter
I fall calve and anything I can do to boost milk production helps
I have seen a pretty significant increase in my calves from feeding the baleage
I bale Rye in the spring and millet in the summer has worked pretty good so far
I have a neighbor that is a grass fed dairy and he uses baleage all the time

[rowfarmer]

The dairy i worked on in college thats all we used. We mixed it in a verticale mixer wagon with ground corn, ddg, soybean meal, and cotton seed meal along with minerals. Execept for all that plastic you had to handel it's no big deal if your set up for it. The biggest advantage for us was the weather. We planted a lot of rye grass and would be cutting hay in early March and it's almost impossible to dry it down at that time of year down here. We would usually bale twenty four hours after cutting, it's been a while but i think moisture was usually running 45-50% One word of advice DO NOT SKIMP ON THE PLASTIC if you think you can save a few bucks by cutting back on the plastic your wrong it's a disaster. Stack them on their ends not on their sides.

[Sofakingwhat]

The dairy I worked on in college had a tumble mix TMR in a feed shed. Could never get baleage in there. Fed it free choice in the feedlots. Generally it was not in windrow long. I'd start early morning with the discbine, the farmer's son would head to field an hour after me with the 16 wheel rake and the baler would be there an hour later. Time I got done cutting, I'd head back to the farm, drop the discbine, grab a bale rack with hoist under it and barn doors in back, and meet the boss in the field to start hauling them to the home farm. Once school got out for the day, the son of the neighbor with the wrapper would come over and the wrapping began while i did night milking. Made good feed, but was kinda frozen in the winter. The lines of wrapped bales were atop the bluff the home farm was on so they caught all the cold and wind all winter long. A few times they were froze so tight we couldn't budge them loose with the 940 Mustang, so went out with the 3pt. stack mover on the magnum and busted a few loose to haul back to the heated shop. Took a few days to thaw them to workable conditions, then fed them. Was just like rotating stock on grocery shelves.

[JoshuaGA]

Sept 7, 2011 5:16:20 GMT -5 papapap said:

How would you price the baleage compared to dry hay?

Pricing against silage actually. Bit out here on my own, no livestock except cow calf so I have to own all of my equipment. Not sure whether to go bagging or baleage or other at this point, something I have to figure out fairly soon.

[johnwayne360]

Have a friend who milks about 100 cows. Him and his family. They wrap all their hay, call it a one man chopping operation. Instead of hiring their chopping done, they can do it themselves and pay themselves to do it. If I had to own the equipment, id choose the wrapper and baler any day over chopping equipment. But im another one of those ex dairy farmers...