Taking silage off grazing ground

[Stockwell]

I’ve got a ten acre field with a few cows and calves on and the grass is now well ahead of them. How long is it likely to take before I could silage it without much contamination from the cow dung? Do it with sheep grazing all the time but not done it with cattle before.

 

[M-J-G]

If you leave a slightly longer stubble and bale it out of the mower rows to avoid driving over it you could get away with just leaving it a couple of weeks.
The longer the better, so as long as you can afford to be without it.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

We did it for years , we did not have cutting fields ,just cut everthing that got ahead of grazing

 

[Shann_mann]

Depends how many cows are walking round it? Got a mate that has a 70acre block with about 15 cows and calves on it. He mows it with the cows there and chops it.

 

[Sharpy]

As above, leave a longer stubble and it will be fine. About 25 years ago my father topped a grazing field with a drum mower then decided that the swathes would rot the grass out. I was told he was going to row up with the haybob and I was to bale it. I asked where we were dumping the bales and he said we would be wrapping it! I wasn't happy at this obvious waste of time and money, baling and wrapping grass full of cow shite but did as I was told. Come winter the silage was lovely..........