Best product for crimping barley with

[Devonian]

We are probably going to try and crimp our spring barley this year. Normally use it dry and rolled, but a. I hate the dust involved and b. We struggle to store it properly if it's a catchy year as we haven't got any blowers etc.
Anyway was wondering what products you guys would recommend putting with it? Would like to get it as close to ripe as possible, so we don't have to leave the straw down for ages. Am I right in thinking some products boost the protein up to 14-15%?

 

[neilo]

Alkagrain/Maxammon is what you’re thinking of perhaps for lifting protein %, rather than crimping. You combine at up to 18%, mix the required quantity of pellets with it, cover with a sheet for a couple of weeks, and job done.

You’d still have to mill it for cattle, but maybe it would be a bit less dusty as it would slightly higher moisture? I think you can roll it before treating, so could it be an option to get a contractor in with a big mill, and just make a heap of pre-milled, treated grain?

A big advantage of the product is that it creates an alkaline product with raised protein, so no worries about acidosis/barley poisoning. I’ve used it to fatten lambs on ad-Lib whole Alkagrain, just adding minerals and chucking it in a hopper. Cheap and simple.
I’ll be doing the same again this year, unless it soon rains.

 

[Devonian]

Alkagrain/Maxammon is what you’re thinking of perhaps for lifting protein %, rather than crimping. You combine at up to 18%, mix the required quantity of pellets with it, cover with a sheet for a couple of weeks, and job done.

You’d still have to mill it for cattle, but maybe it would be a bit less dusty as it would slightly higher moisture? I think you can roll it before treating, so could it be an option to get a contractor in with a big mill, and just make a heap of pre-milled, treated grain?

A big advantage of the product is that it creates an alkaline product with raised protein, so no worries about acidosis/barley poisoning. I’ve used it to fatten lambs on ad-Lib whole Alkagrain, just adding minerals and chucking it in a hopper. Cheap and simple.
I’ll be doing the same again this year, unless it soon rains.

Thanks for that. Sounds like what I wanna do. Spoke to Mole valley farmers about the maxammon earlier. Like you said, you can roll it before mixing, which would save us a job in the winter. About £21 a tonne from them guys. So hopefully it works/keeps OK after spending that amount of money.

 

[neilo]

Thanks for that. Sounds like what I wanna do. Spoke to Mole valley farmers about the maxammon earlier. Like you said, you can roll it before mixing, which would save us a job in the winter. About £21 a tonne from them guys. So hopefully it works/keeps OK after spending that amount of money.

That sounds quite cheap. I reckon Alkagrain costs me about £30/t to make, adding 30kg of pellets to a ton of barley. To be fair, the protein would cost you similar if you were buying it separately, but the alkalinity is priceless ime.

I store & feed mine whole (for sheep) and it definitely keeps well. I treated 10t that was left over from last year’s barley sales, which is sat in the back of the shed with a sheet over it. I’ve been using a few bags for some case lambs and it’s certainly keeping alright.

I’m not sure I believe the ‘vermin don’t like it’ claim though. My sheet has holes where squirrels have been getting at it, sparrows pinching a bit, and I’ve had to bait rats making a bee line for it!

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

We used the home and dry for a couple of years. It works well but we found some cattle wouldn’t take to it and ended up tipping normal rolled barley on top to get them to eat it.

 

[Kevtherev]

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