Additive in round bale silage

[James]

So with not always being able to make it at the perfect time I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe an additive might help. Am I right?
Anyone do this with a round baler? What applicator and product?
Tia

 

[kill]

So with not always being able to make it at the perfect time I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe an additive might help. Am I right?
Anyone do this with a round baler? What applicator and product?
Tia

I treat 1000's of bales every year via both Fusions and last year I upgraded to 100 litre quad bike sprayers with normal sprayer nossels for less than £150 a piece as these are cheap and fully controllable. Clear containers really help to see how full the liquid is. Never bothered with higher dry matter silage/ haylage as these are not what an additive is designed for unless a specific type is used.
Innoculants are always supplied by the customer as other wise the tighter element of a farmer shows through as you get caught for waste and bad, out of date products etc.

 

[James]

I treat 1000's of bales every year via both Fusions and last year I upgraded to 100 litre quad bike sprayers with normal sprayer nossels for less than £150 a piece as these are cheap and fully controllable. Clear containers really help to see how full the liquid is. Never bothered with higher dry matter silage/ haylage as these are not what an additive is designed for unless a specific type is used.
Innoculants are always supplied by the customer as other wise the tighter element of a farmer shows through as you get caught for waste and bad, out of date products etc.

Got a link to the sprayer?

 

[Boysground]

Always do it. Built a frame that holds a Couple of 200l blue plastic barrels. Has a simple silage additive applicator and a nozzle that sprays onto the swath. Hooks onto contractors front linkage with an a frame. He just flicks a switch fed back to the cab. Use whatever additive we get a deal on for the clamp silage.

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[kill]

Got a link to the sprayer?

It was an end of line at mole valley last year and I got a managers special on buying 2. Plenty on flea bay tho

 

[farmsuk]

Please look at the Kelvin Cave website we have 2 products for bales, Safesil Challenge for up to 50% DM and Balesafe for Haylage and Hay
Trial just finished at SAC reduced Bacillus Licheniformis by over 90% with the Challenge product

 

[andybk]

agree with kill above , quad bike sprayer , sit on quad flick the switch , run around in front the baler , spraying on swath , could easily fit it on the baler or front of tractor , just dont get to far ahead of baler as sunlight might affect additive , we have gone for very high dry matter stuff now for sheep (almost hay) so dont use additive now

 

[jamesy]

@davieogrutha ?

 

[farmsuk]

Always do it. Built a frame that holds a Couple of 200l blue plastic barrels. Has a simple silage additive applicator and a nozzle that sprays onto the swath. Hooks onto contractors front linkage with an a frame. He just flicks a switch fed back to the cab. Use whatever additive we get a deal on for the clamp silage.

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Please note this may work with an Inoculant as they multiply but not so good with a preservative, needs to be mixed thoruoghly

 

[davieogrutha]

I would say it's worth while doing. Used a few products over the years. Settled using HM inoculant from Agri-Lloyd. Easy to mix and works on all types of silage /haylage. Have a 200 litre drum with a tap at the bottom connected to a clear tube up the side of drum to see liquid level. Have it up front with the pump, control switch in the cab and 2 spray nozzles pointing in behind pick up real towards the knives.

 

[Sharpy]

I would say it's worth while doing. Used a few products over the years. Settled using HM inoculant from Agri-Lloyd. Easy to mix and works on all types of silage /haylage. Have a 200 litre drum with a tap at the bottom connected to a clear tube up the side of drum to see liquid level. Have it up front with the pump, control switch in the cab and 2 spray nozzles pointing in behind pick up real towards the knives.

If you don't mind what is the cost per bale?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Used innoculant on round bale peas this year and was seriously impressed, was baled out of the mower row after 2+ days wilt.
It meant we put on a large amount per bale as you'd normally hook 3 rows together but only cost around £2.30 per bale even then, good insurance for that type of crop based on what I've read about legume ensiling.

Wouldn't be afraid to do it again.

The baler had a small applicator tank and a few nozzles in front of the rotor, we used to use the granular type, the liquid seems much better in many respects.

They are in clear wrap and can report ensiling was much quicker than I'd thought possible, not a dot of mould to be found either.

 

[davieogrutha]

If you don't mind what is the cost per bale?

£1.37 a ton, so be about a £1 a Bale. They do powder as well as liquid but not sure the cost of the liquid stuff. I add extra water as it works better for the pump I have. Didn't use any additive a couple year ago and found I had a little bit more waste and my cows were slower to come back to bulling. Biggest difference is when there is bales left over from the year before, open them up and still fresh. I use 6 layer of wrap as well.

 

[Sharpy]

£1.37 a ton, so be about a £1 a Bale. They do powder as well as liquid but not sure the cost of the liquid stuff. I add extra water as it works better for the pump I have. Didn't use any additive a couple year ago and found I had a little bit more waste and my cows were slower to come back to bulling. Biggest difference is when there is bales left over from the year before, open them up and still fresh. I use 6 layer of wrap as well.

Thank you. Food for thought.

 

[PFH]

I treat 1000's of bales every year via both Fusions and last year I upgraded to 100 litre quad bike sprayers with normal sprayer nossels for less than £150 a piece as these are cheap and fully controllable. Clear containers really help to see how full the liquid is. Never bothered with higher dry matter silage/ haylage as these are not what an additive is designed for unless a specific type is used.
Innoculants are always supplied by the customer as other wise the tighter element of a farmer shows through as you get caught for waste and bad, out of date products etc.

Do you mean something like this?

 

[kill]

Do you mean something like this?
View attachment 644800

Yes. I cut the lance pipe and put a nozzle on it and cable tied it pointing at the pickup and added enough wire to the controller so it's in the cab.

 

[PFH]

Yes. I cut the lance pipe and put a nozzle on it and cable tied it pointing at the pickup and added enough wire to the controller so it's in the cab.

Where do you position the tank on the Fusion?

 

[kill]

Where do you position the tank on the Fusion?

I put a peice of wood across the netwrap holder and sat the tank on that and then ratchet strapped both back to the grap rail and then I carry a roll of netwrap behind the grab rail which I ratchet strap forward to the grap rail. Every where else seamed to get in the way.

 

[kill]

Easy enough to set a flow rate on these sprayers by adjusting the leak off. I set mine at a litre every 40 seconds as that's fairly close on an average need for a litre a Bale. Any more is a nightmare for lost time due to refilling. Some customers think they need 2 litre's a Bale but we just mix it stronger as I apply customers additive as a free service but they never understand the time lost and running around comes directly from my pocket as very often 30 minutes of production is lost per tank due to collecting and filling.

 

[Agrivator]

The baler itself is the most cost effective additive. After normal use it will be hotching with beneficial lactic-acid producing bacteria - lactobacillus.
Try to keep one of last year's well preserved bales, and put some of it through the baler. Or get the smallest packet of lactobacillus additive, mix with water and spray everything on the baler that the grass comes into contact with.
And at the end of the season, keep the baler stored in a dry place and don't wash any of the internal workings.