Harvester

Today's the day ...................... to make baleage while the sun shines

We've been surrounded today on all sides with tractors, trailers and a variety of grass-cutting equipment.  They have been driving up and down the fields, closely watched by a wake of red kites, as they cut, gather-up and bale the crop.

It's a completely different world from the old days of hay-making when the grass was left to dry after cutting - and then it was put into manageable oblong bales and stacked in a big barn.  Nowadays, it's all about bailing efficiency and storage.  If properly baled, hay can be stored outside and can last a long time without degrading in quality.

Farmers have three choices of materials to wrap bales – twine, net wrap, or plastic wrap. The ones in this field were being immediately wrapped in plastic which will allow them to ferment like silage.  Baleage can be made from grass with a 40-65% moisture content, while traditional hay is dried to 16% percent before it is baled. Because forage is at its highest quality when cut, baleage is higher in protein and apparently is more palatable for livestock than dry hay.

So now you know ...................!