What equipment is needed for hay farming?

What equipment is needed for hay farming?

Hay Equipment A compact tractor is the staple of every operation, but mowers, conditioners, hay rakes, balers, and sometimes hay tedders and bale wrappers are also needed.

How do you make hay Baleage?

8 basic steps to make baleage for livestock

1. Quality. Make haylage from high quality/early growth forage (late boot to early head) since it has higher sugar content that is needed to produce good haylage fermentation.
2. Don’t condition.
3. Wide swaths.
4. No tedding.
5. Bale it tight.
6. Wrap it up.
7. Stack and store.
8. Check back.

What is the machine called that bales hay?

baler
A baler or hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, flax straw, salt marsh hay, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store.

What is the difference between hay and baleage?

Balage, silage, and haylage are names for the same basic product: ensiled grass. It doesn’t matter whether the grass is going into a massive silage pit or a plastic-wrapped bale – the process is the same. The grass is baled when much greener than hay. Hay is typically baled with a moisture content between 15% and 17%.

Is it cheaper to buy hay or make it?

In most environments where forage production is based on natural rainfall, you can almost always buy hay cheaper than you can produce it. Most farmers and ranchers initially don’t believe this. When full cost of production is accounted for, hay generally costs between $70 and $140/ton to produce.

What size tractor do you need for hay?

Most standard square balers on the market require 35 horsepower at your tractor’s PTO, and a minimum tractor weight of around 3000 pounds. That means that they cannot be run with today’s compact tractors.

What makes the best Baleage?

The key to making high quality baleage is to make a bale within the recommended moisture range that is as dense as possible (> 10 lbs DM/ft3), and wrap it in plastic as quickly as possible. This will allow oxygen depletion to occur rapidly inside the plastic.

How long does it take for Baleage to ferment?

HOW SOON AFTER WRAPPING CAN I FEED BALEAGE? Forage baled in the correct moisture range and wrapped with the correct amount of plastic will undergo the full fermentation process within six to eight weeks and but can reach a stable pH in four weeks.

What is a hay cutter called?

Choosing the Right Hay Tedder A tedder is a machine that spreads and turns over loose hay in the field. This action exposes the hay on the underside of a pile to air and sunlight, speeding up the drying process. Tedders use a rotary motion to grab the hay with spinning tines and cast it out the back of the machine.

What is the difference between Bale and bail?

Here are the most common uses of the words: Bale is a large bound stack of material, such as hay or leather; Bail is the security deposit that’s paid if someone who’s been temporarily released from jail pending a trial doesn’t appear in court.

Is Baleage heating for horses?

The sugar in ensiled forage is changed to volatile fatty acids, so can be useful in sugar-sensitive horses. Baleage contains a lot of water (around 50%) which can help maintain hydration as well, which is important in regions where water butts can become iced over. The next issue is creating warmth.

How long will Baleage last?

HOW LONG CAN BALEAGE BE STORED BEFORE FEEDING? In general, forages baled at 40-60% moisture will maintain feed value for about 12 months as long as the integrity of the plastic is maintained.

How do you make hay bales?

Steps Decide what type baler you want. Hook the baler up to your tractor. Install the string or net wrap in the appropriate compartment. Perform maintenance checks before beginning to bale. Drop the pick-up wheels from each side of the baler and make sure that they are barely touching the ground.

What is a bale of hay used for?

Hay Bale. Hay bales are decorative, flammable blocks that can also be used to feed horses, breed llamas, and reduce fall damage.

What is a hay baler used for?

A baler, most often called a hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, flax straw, salt marsh hay, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store.

How many square feet in a bale of hay?

A bale usually will cover somewhere from about 30 square feet to about 120 square feet at 2.5 to 3 inches deep. You should always ask so you know how much straw you are supposed to be getting and at what cost per square foot of coverage.