Clamping big baled silage

[dairyrow]

Has anybody ever big baled silage at 35 days and stacked it in a clamp as you would normal silage? Just wondering would it work and is it a cheaper option than round baling. Without the plastic of course.

 

[awkward]

it would have to be rolled well to close gape between bales but I don't thi k it would be successful

 

[Sharpy]

My dad said it was done in this area 50 odd years ago with shortened wee bales. More than one year so must have worked.

 

[Great In Grass]

The ingress of air would be one of the biggest problems also round bales are less compacted than clamp silage so will already have air trapped within them, I can see then spoiling very quickly.

 

[Sharpy]

I think the op meant big squares rather than wrapped rounds.

 

[Great In Grass]

I think the op meant big squares rather than wrapped rounds.

Perhaps he could clarify but whatever shape air is going to be his enemy.

 

[dairyrow]

Sorry. Meant square bales and just stack it and sheet it.

 

[O'Reilly]

I know someone who did. They didn't do it twice.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Same as above, I know a couple of people who tried it but never more than once.

I wouldn't have thought it would be any cheaper than wagon silage but with more complications and risk.

 

[dairyrow]

Just wondered really. Wouldn't have to roll the pit and looked like the density was on par with clamped silage.

 

[Penmoel]

@GTB has a neighbour who has done this with round bales for 20 years plus. He would not be someone whose example you would normally follow but he feeds his dairy cows on it every year.

 

[GTB]

It's a good way of turnong good grass into sh!t. Almost impossible to keep all the air out. The farm you mention @Penmoel make clamp silage now but i think they still use this system for some bales.

 

[dave6470]

Have Sean it done worked well only thing was they had 20 acres of cut grass put on top they had just bought another farm 20 miles away and it was a cheep way to get grass home on lorry

 

[Martin Holden]

If you wrapped the entire stack in an envelope of silage pit strength plastic and then added an opening to tie an air exhaust pump to, then you simply suck all the air out. It was called vacuum silage in the old days and worked quite well IIRC

 

[Muddy Boots]

Same as above, I know a couple of people who tried it but never more than once.

I wouldn't have thought it would be any cheaper than wagon silage but with more complications and risk.

Think some one on lower edge of Dartmoor does this but with big squares.
They cut and bale all there off land and stack it in the pit, then get self propelled team in and fill pit to beyond bursting. I think it works but it is for moor stock not dairy.

 

[Agrispeed]

It was done with wire tied conventional bales. Not sure big squares would give you a tight enough packed pit. Even if it did work the wrap would easily pay for the spoilage and extra DM I would've thought.

I know someone who shakes bales out over the pit. Sounds like madness but does seem to work quite well, it gets fed to dairy cows.

Bales with grass over would work quite well I imagine. You can get a hell of a lot in a HD square or round nowadays.

 

[peclova]

About 20 years ago I saw someone put the bales in a roofed clamp and then covered the bales in mashed potato and used no plastic sheet. He swore by it. It looked a horrible mouldy mess to me.

 

[Whitewalker]

I know an old boy did it years ago in a covered silo . The rats arrived and ran through all the joints of the square bales and it was an awful mess . Big losses . 1 year done him too .

 

[mo!]

About 20 years ago I saw someone put the bales in a roofed clamp and then covered the bales in mashed potato and used no plastic sheet. He swore by it. It looked a horrible mouldy mess to me.

We use mash on clamp. It is great but i wouldn't try it on bales.

 

[Irish NZ]

Tube wrapping would be a better option.