Chopped Straw

[Patter Merchant]

Hi all, just wondered if there was any demand for supplying chopped straw? Delivered in walking floor or bulk tipping trailers? A lot of people we supply are mixing straw with silage etc. Just thinking on a Sunday morning!

 

[M-J-G]

How would logistics work for bulk?
I wouldn't have thought you'd get the weight to travel far with it.

We used to chop straw with a forager and haul it loose in silage trailers to push it into a shed, almost like pit silage and then fed it through a keenan with molasses and concentrate.

 

[Patter Merchant]

I was thinking of bales as normal and if any demand chop it straight into trailer, but agree not sure how much weight we could get on? What sort of chop length would be required?

 

[Hilly]

How would logistics work for bulk?
I wouldn't have thought you'd get the weight to travel far with it.

We used to chop straw with a forager and haul it loose in silage trailers to push it into a shed, almost like pit silage and then fed it through a keenan with molasses and concentrate.

Wouldn’t it be better to do the transporting in bale form and the chopping on site ?

 

[KB6930]

Or chop it when baleing then it's ready for the mixer wagon

 

[Patter Merchant]

Thanks for the responses so far. Just thought supplying it chopped the customer would buy it just like he buys his other straights for his feed.
Anyone know the weight of chopped verses bales?

 

[M-J-G]

Wouldn’t it be better to do the transporting in bale form and the chopping on site ?

We had been but we were feeding around 4000 sheep on straw diets and the man-hours were roughly halved by not baling it.

We still baled some, but it was a pain to have to deal with bales once you got used to bulk.

 

[Hilly]

How would logistics work for bulk?
I wouldn't have thought you'd get the weight to travel far with it.

We used to chop straw with a forager and haul it loose in silage trailers to push it into a shed, almost like pit silage and then fed it through a keenan with molasses and concentrate.

Wouldn’t it be better to do the transporting in bale form and the chopping on site ?

We had been but we were feeding around 4000 sheep on straw diets and the man-hours were roughly halved by not baling it.

We still baled some, but it was a pain to have to deal with bales once you got used to bulk.

oic so did you roll it in same as silage ?

 

[M-J-G]

Or chop it when baleing then it's ready for the mixer wagon

How about chopping with the combine and baling. I've never done that but have spoken to folks who do.

 

[M-J-G]

Wouldn’t it be better to do the transporting in bale form and the chopping on site ?

oic so did you roll it in same as silage ?

We didn't roll it, just shoved it in as much as we could with a 7m Manitou with a grain pusher.

 

[KB6930]

How about chopping with the combine and baling. I've never done that but have spoken to folks who do.

Tried that but you can't pick it all up again and the baler makes it mostly 4 inch just a good length for feeding