American Dairy Farmer

How to make your own balage and other things you never learned in kindergarten

By

Jeff Richards

So, you are thinking of making some balage. At least you have someone doing balage for you or you probably wouldn't have even read this far! (I wouldn't have!)

Putting up balage can be your sole or primary livestock forage, supplemental feed, or for when you have excess hay and all the silos, bags and haymows are full. If the hay will be a primary forage source for your animals, then you will want to purchase equipment to do the work yourself. If any of the other reasons are the motive, let a competent custom operator do the work. You don't need more iron taking up space in your machinery shed or rusting away outside for the better part of the year. BUT if you have money just sitting there burning a hole in your pocket, then by all means, help yourself to some new paint, or contact me. I'm your long lost nephew and I really miss you!

When my wife and I decided to start milking cows and to buy our farm, we had been looking at forage options. This farm had always put up dry square baled hay and corn silage in three silos. Well our dilemma was that two of the three silos needed replacing (totally), and I wanted a lot less machinery to maintain. So balage was going to be our machinery and labor saver.

We bought all new balage equipment because we needed 2000+ bales per year for our herd and young-stock. But look at what we "didn't need" in equipment: silos, unloaders, choppers, blowers and s.u. wagons. Gone also, are the square baler, wagons and elevators. (Along with the back labor!) The flail chopper and wagons were eliminated too.

Now all we buy each year is the plastic to make our "2000+ little white silo's.

What do you need to get started in balage? If you are planning on making at least 500 or more wet bales every year then it will probably pay to own your own equipment. You'll need a good quality baler, capable of making bales in the rain. NOW I don't recommend rain baled hay, but if you get caught in a pinch to finish, it's nice to have a baler "that can!" The equipment you will need - a bale wrapper, a grabber, a couple of homemade wagons and if your barn is designed for it, a bale cart to unroll the bales.

Four years ago, when we bought this equipment, we paid a total of $25,000. But compared to putting up more silos and machinery maintenance, I think spending that money was a wise decision.

Your baler must be able to handle everything from dry baled hay to direct cut baled hay, otherwise you will be disappointed in it's performance. And just because you have operated a bunch of equipment in your life, or even round baled before, doesn't mean you'll automatically "know what you are doing." The two biggest mistakes in making a great bale are speed and windrow placement. I know, I know, it looks so easy to make a bale. Well, looks can be deceiving.

Mistake # 1- Speed: " SLOW DOWN MISTER!" You hear guys brag about doing 50 or 100 bales an hour. Not on my farm! 20 bales an hour is better. You can get away with a much higher number IF it's just dry bales, but balage MUST BE PACKED TIGHT! The tighter the bale, the less air can get inside it. That means less chance of spoilage. The heavier the windrow, the slower you must go! This allows the baler adequate packing time. Plus, you'll have fewer bales to pick up out of your field once you are done.

Mistake # 2- Windrow Placement: "DON'T STRADDLE THE CENTER OF THE WINDROW". Keep the edge of the windrow to one side of the baler mouth or the other side of the baler, "NOT DOWN THE MIDDLE!" But don't be swerving down the windrows like a snake either. Travel 100, -200, -300 yards down a windrow before moving to the opposite side of the baler to fill with hay. It all depends on amount of hay in the windrow, so it will take a little practice. We use the tractors front wheels to line up the windrow with the 4-foot baler mouth. For example: left front tire at the left edge of the windrow will fill the left side of the baler. We also prefer a 2-3 ft. wide windrow to allow us to make the proper movements to fill a 4-foot pickup on our baler. The best bale makers are generally someone with little tractor and implement experience because they drive slower and listen to instructions better.

You have all seen baler or wrapper ads in magazines where the nice white bales are kind of lumpy or bumpy all around both edges right? WRONG ! Round bales should be perfectly flat on each end and have nice square corners! Round bales should be shaped like "cans". The 'soft and football shape' is out!

Ever seen balage stacked? I know it's not recommended, BUT we do it! Ours are all stacked 'two' to a stack and close together to save on room. We keep them about 100 yards from the barn - sure beats chasing them all over our field edges in the middle of winter. We average about 200 inches of snow a year, so snow banks can be a problem.

While we are on the topic of bale shape and hardness - DON"T MESS WITH A BALE SPEAR! Give it to a neighbor who bales 50-100 bales an hour. If you make your bale the way I said - a good solid round bale, a spear won't penetrate it! It will come off the spear just as hard even if you do manage to pierce the bale. But mostly, the bale will be hanging from the tip of the spear after being skidded around the field by someone who has never spiked a properly made bale. Funny to watch the first time! A grabber is faster and easier to use and won't poke holes in the plastic either. The grabber is also a great way to check density. If the bale doesn't collapse when squeezed, you probably have the proper density.

Our wrapper is the most basic type. There are no wheels or pickup arms and no automatic start and cut for the plastic. Why? Well for one thing - they are half the price, but the main reason is that bales should not be wrapped in the field! If you want the least amount of damaged plastic, do your wrapping at the place of storage. (Note: alfalfa stubble is the worst place to be; it punctures bales as they drop off the wrapper.) Remember it's always best to move the bales BEFORE they are wrapped.

Our bales are kept near the barn, so that's where they are transported for wrapping and stacking. Grab them with the loader and grabber; place them on the "log wagons"; place them on the hydraulically run wrapper and then stack the bales after tipping onto a nice grassy or sandy spot. If you happen to get a hole or small tear in a wrapped bale, tape it up right away. We use a good clear plastic box tape. If the tear or rip is very big, re-wrap the bale.

A few other pointers; if you are baling on or around hills, know enough to drive to the bottom of a hill before releasing your bale. Bales have the speed and jumping ability of a deer when they are released on top of a hill. Occasionally one of us forgets and the bales disappear into the woods. (When doing haying on shares with a neighbor, we tell him that his bales are the ones that rolled into the woods!)

When grouping or stacking bales in a central location, throw down some hydrated lime on the ground. It cuts down on rat problems tremendously.

Around 50% moisture hay (40-60%) does tend to ferment the best. Bale only what can be wrapped before quitting time and use more than the minimum amount of wrap on your bales (four layers of plastic). 21-22 revolutions will just totally cover a bale but we use 25 revolutions of the wrapper to go beyond the starting point on the bale. (This is with 20-inch plastic on the wrapper.) Grab your bales firmly when wrapped and stand them up, flat side down. (They are strongest on the flat side; there is more plastic on the top and bottom of the bale.)

Hint - if using a custom operator, you might want to consider paying him by the hour and not by the bale. It will slow down his speed, and you'll get better-packed bales and you will have fewer bales to pick up later.