Big Bale Silage Tips

Big Bale Silage Tips CROP STORAGE Round Bale Silage 6-2-7 When it gets too wet to put up good hay, LaVerne McDanel, a Florida cattleman, puts up his round bales as silage. "I try to dry them down to 50% moisture, then roll them as tight as I can and placed end-to-end, seven to a row," he says. "I can cover this many with a 20 x 50 ft. sheet of 6 mil black plastic which I weight down and seal with dirt." McDanel rolls up his silage bales with an Owatonna baler. "A New Holland baler also works, but I've tried other kinds and any models with rubber belts just won't handle the higher moisture hay," McDanel notes. His tips for successful silage bales are as follows: •Dry hay down to 45-50%. • Roll the bale as tight as possible. •Tie with plastic twine (sisal will rot). •Make a size stack that cattle can eat in about a week. •Cover with 6 mil black plastic (white deteriorates in sunlight). •Remove as much air as possible and weight down the edges. •Feed out in 6-9 months. McDanel used clear plastic bags at first but can't get them now. The black sheets are easy to get and cost about $20 each. When he opens up a stack, his 40 cows eat about one silage bale a day, cleaning up a stack before it gets a chance to spoil. "It's a way to salvage forage in wet weather without going to a lot of extra expense," he says. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rocking "L" Ranch, Rt. 3 Box 1421, St. Cloud, Fla. 32769 (ph 305 892-4461).

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