Minimum wilting period

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:26 am

With this weather, rain, sun, rain, sun, I'm going to try and dodge the weather and make wrapped haylage/silage.

What is the minimum time that you would wilt for when big bale wrapping?

Note that the grass on this particular field is dry, stemmy grass with little clover and can always be taken much quicker than other, leafier fields.

PS. I don't care if the bales can't be stacked because they are a bit soft/wobbly.

acrossthesea · Post by **acrossthesea** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:18 pm

Hi Clive,
we make haylage most years. I kick it out after cutting and twice more according to the weather. If damp I leave untill mid afternoon if dry ish mid morning. Three days will do it usually. They say bale the day before hay. It sounds as if the field that you refer to will be ready earlier. I have had it in 2 days in a storky field. If you bale it when its too dry it will get dusty. If too wet it will be silage and will heat up when opened. I have heard it said go for hay and bale if it gets wet and call it haylage. It doesent work like that. Go for haylage and treat as haylage. If you are big baling ask your man to double chop.( We make small round bales) You will get a heavier bale that is better sealed. We stack end on end that way they hold their shape. Good luck.
Howard Hilton. Hillhead Dexters N.Ireland.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:15 pm

Thanks Howard. As it turns out it's rained all day here and we're soaking wet. Weather forecast now looks really good for next week so instead of trying to fit into a gap I'm going to mow and bale the whole farm next week in one go, which will be a first and will wilt for 2/3 days but also going to try for some hay if weather holds out. We stack end on end as well. Got a bale grab on my JCB which does it nicely.

davidw · Post by **davidw** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:33 am

A great deal depends on the amount of sun and wind that we get and also the characteristics of the field. You should be able to bale and wrap haylage in 3 days or even two given some reasonable weather. Hay will take a bit longer, but its all down to individual circumstances.

I'm out of the country right now and planning to make hay when I get back at the end of the month. Save me some fine weather please.

BTW, I used to design and test balers.

Edited By davidw on 1245299626