Dung still visible in silage ground

[farmer notsurewhattodo]

Hi, i'm concerned about seeing strawy dung still in the some of my feilds earmarked for first cut silage.
I spread it the beginning of April after a very wet winter.
Plan to clamp silage it, any thoughts ideas of how best i could deal with it as its 40 acres out of 90 acres of first cut.
cheers

 

[Al R]

Personally I wouldn’t ensile it, I’ve still got sheep poo on the fields they came out from 35 days ago.
Still got muck on the ground which was well rotted and spread very well on December 4th.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

How long is the grass . I tine rake mine 2 weeks after spreading . But no straw

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I learnt the hard way...I’ll never spread muck on silage ground in the spring ever again, always the back end.
I had to make hay with mine

 

[milkloss]

Don't ted it out and use a rake. We had some that went on more strawy than we'd like but we don't ted and rake anyway if we can help it. It's the same field I jack knifed the chopper in as I hit a lump of muck under the grass.... silage came out fine. I should imagine it'll look fairly washed out and a bit of straw bleached and washed probably won't hurt...., all in my opinion of course.

maybe put the additive on a bit stronger?

 

[Jackov Altraids]

If the grass hasn't got going yet, flail topping does a good job of blowing away loose straw and rolling in lumps of muck.

 

[farmer notsurewhattodo]

How long is the grass . I tine rake mine 2 weeks after spreading . But no straw

I'm wishing id done the same just after i spread it. its not more than 30cm tall, not very heavy crop as Organic. I did wonder if im too late to run through with spring tine harrows

 

[farmer notsurewhattodo]

Don't ted it out and use a rake. We had some that went on more strawy than we'd like but we don't ted and rake anyway if we can help it. It's the same field I jack knifed the chopper in as I hit a lump of muck under the grass.... silage came out fine. I should imagine it'll look fairly washed out and a bit of straw bleached and washed probably won't hurt...., all in my opinion of course.

maybe put the additive on a bit stronger?

Yeh a few lumps but mainly dried out straw, was fairly rotted, but dried out after spreading due to warm weather, grass has grown and pushed it up!

 

[farmer notsurewhattodo]

Personally I wouldn’t ensile it, I’ve still got sheep poo on the fields they came out from 35 days ago.
Still got muck on the ground which was well rotted and spread very well on December 4th.

Did think i could bale it up, least then its not spread in the clamp, best of a bad job ;/

 

[Treg]

I'm wishing id done the same just after i spread it. its not more than 30cm tall, not very heavy crop as Organic. I did wonder if im too late to run through with spring tine harrows

I would have thought to late to harrow it as you will be lifting it , whereas ideally it needs to be in contact with the ground so the soil fauna can deal with it.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I'm wishing id done the same just after i spread it. its not more than 30cm tall, not very heavy crop as Organic. I did wonder if im too late to run through with spring tine harrows

I would not stress to much . Most of it will be straw that's left , wilt it well to aid fermentation

 

[milkloss]

Yeh a few lumps but mainly dried out straw, was fairly rotted, but dried out after spreading due to warm weather, grass has grown and pushed it up!

I shouldn't worry too much..... maybe some bio additive if you're worried..... we use the genus one which seems quite good.

 

[Green farmer]

I've often see small dung patches from the sheep after taking a cut of silage off dual grazing/silage fields, but never see anything when opening the bales later in year. and yes I've checked many times, as it would be something on your mind, having seen it earlier in the year.

 

[Chae1]

Did think i could bale it up, least then its not spread in the clamp, best of a bad job ;/

Don't rake it. Get it picked up straight out back of mower.

 

[cattleman123]

If the grass hasn't got going yet, flail topping does a good job of blowing away loose straw and rolling in lumps of muck.

Why would he do that? its his silage grass

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Why would he do that? its his silage grass

I didn't think the OP spread fym on a field with the intention of cutting it within a month.
He said there was some strawy stuff left in fields "earmarked" for first cut.
If this has been grazed and is now considering setting it aside for first cut, flail mowing does a brilliant job of taking of seed heads, lifting straw which blows away and rolling in lumps of muck.
Obviously this isn't an option if there is already a lot of grass but it is something I've done with excellent results and is something I will be doing this week when I take sheep out of the silage ground.