Post by rosalind on Jul 10, 2022 18:17:14 GMT -5
A local farmer posted this recently and I thought some of you might enjoy reading about his process of making small-scale haylage/silage:
www.facebook.com/BrythstoneRanch/
If you are like me, you are constantly trying the find ways to get more production out of your homestead. Over the years I’ve taken input from several sources and developed a gardening system that uses less water, increases yield per square foot and allows me to both grow my own fertilizer and high-quality feed for my animals. I mow my paths and turn the grass clippings into high nutrient haylage.
First, my gardening system revolves around a system of deeply prepared 4’ wide raised beds. The details about the bed system deserves its own post, but between each bed there is a 24-30” wide mowed path. Those paths then lead to 8-10’ wide “roadways” fit for truck or tractor to drive on, that are also mowed.
These paths aren’t like your typical mono-culture hybrid-golf course-suitable-heavily fertilized-dandelionless-suburban source of pride and satisfaction. It is literally whatever comes up. There are several types of grass, several species of clover, forbs, thistles, lambs quarter and pigweed, and a whole host of other weeds too numerous to mention. For the first time this year I scattered some perennial ryegrass (which I would HIGHLY recommend), but other than that I just mow what grows.
I mow once a week and cut it at the highest setting my mower will accommodate, which on a little uneven ground (it’s a former pasture after all) it’s @ 4” tall after being mowed. The perennial poly-culture is PERFECT for a forage blend to go through the silage process. The clover keeps up protein, while the mostly grass provides ample sugar for the anaerobic digestion process. I think the weeds help balance out the nutrients, and because it is a diverse blend I’ve never had trouble with toxicity (nitrate or anything else). Most suburban dads would frown over their beer cozy at the mottled appearance of the mixed greens, but I smile every time I cut it.
The insiling process is actually pretty simple, once you understand the basics. Your forage needs to be more grass than anything else. It needs to be damp when you cut it, and you need a good garbage can and heavy duty trash bags that fit the can.
I usually mow in the morning right after morning chores, when the dew is still on the grass. I just use a regular old push rear-bagging mower, because that works best in the narrow paths between beds. I put a trash bag in the garbage can (I use a Rubbermaid 33 Gal can and bags that are a little over-sized.). When the mower bag is full I dump it into the bag-lined can and stomp it down a little to try to compress out as much air as possible (this helps with the anaerobic digestion process). When the contents are just a couple of inches from the top of the can and packed reasonably well, I’ll pull the excess trash bag off of the lip of the can and twist and press a little as I close the bag, again to expel as much air as is reasonable. Then I close it with a twist tie.
I have a flat surface on one side of the garden where I lay down old plywood, some roofing metal and even some used political signs, Anything that keeps gophers and rodents from digging up into the bags as they cure. I invert the can onto the surface and the packed bag of grass clippings slides out and lands on the surface. I found out that drilling holes in the can or using one that is cracked down the side works well to allow the bag to slip out. By inverting the bag the twist-tied opening ends up being under the bag now and the moisture and weight of the bag helps to keep it sealed.
That’s it.
Repeat until you are done mowing.
I have found it is best to only feed haylage for about 1/3 of the over-all bulk of your animal’s daily diet. For dairy cows or goats I usually feed it right beside their hay and only provide enough to maintain that 1/3 ration. It is a really “hot” food. High in sugar and protein. By mixing in good hay and other forages it provides an excellent daily feed mix.
I will cut this all Spring / Summer and usually start feeding it out in the Fall after frost begins to diminish protein content in the pasture. When I feed it out in the pasture I’m cautious about location. I try to pick a thistle patch or some old rank forage they might not prefer because they will eat whatever is beneath the silage down to nothing. It is by far their favorite food on the farm.
This means that by a wide margin my highest volume product from the garden is trashcan silage. I found that “Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats” also talks about this process, so I’m not just a crazy person (or maybe the Storey’s folks are just as crazy as me and that means I’m in good company.)
www.facebook.com/BrythstoneRanch/
If you are like me, you are constantly trying the find ways to get more production out of your homestead. Over the years I’ve taken input from several sources and developed a gardening system that uses less water, increases yield per square foot and allows me to both grow my own fertilizer and high-quality feed for my animals. I mow my paths and turn the grass clippings into high nutrient haylage.
First, my gardening system revolves around a system of deeply prepared 4’ wide raised beds. The details about the bed system deserves its own post, but between each bed there is a 24-30” wide mowed path. Those paths then lead to 8-10’ wide “roadways” fit for truck or tractor to drive on, that are also mowed.
These paths aren’t like your typical mono-culture hybrid-golf course-suitable-heavily fertilized-dandelionless-suburban source of pride and satisfaction. It is literally whatever comes up. There are several types of grass, several species of clover, forbs, thistles, lambs quarter and pigweed, and a whole host of other weeds too numerous to mention. For the first time this year I scattered some perennial ryegrass (which I would HIGHLY recommend), but other than that I just mow what grows.
I mow once a week and cut it at the highest setting my mower will accommodate, which on a little uneven ground (it’s a former pasture after all) it’s @ 4” tall after being mowed. The perennial poly-culture is PERFECT for a forage blend to go through the silage process. The clover keeps up protein, while the mostly grass provides ample sugar for the anaerobic digestion process. I think the weeds help balance out the nutrients, and because it is a diverse blend I’ve never had trouble with toxicity (nitrate or anything else). Most suburban dads would frown over their beer cozy at the mottled appearance of the mixed greens, but I smile every time I cut it.
The insiling process is actually pretty simple, once you understand the basics. Your forage needs to be more grass than anything else. It needs to be damp when you cut it, and you need a good garbage can and heavy duty trash bags that fit the can.
I usually mow in the morning right after morning chores, when the dew is still on the grass. I just use a regular old push rear-bagging mower, because that works best in the narrow paths between beds. I put a trash bag in the garbage can (I use a Rubbermaid 33 Gal can and bags that are a little over-sized.). When the mower bag is full I dump it into the bag-lined can and stomp it down a little to try to compress out as much air as possible (this helps with the anaerobic digestion process). When the contents are just a couple of inches from the top of the can and packed reasonably well, I’ll pull the excess trash bag off of the lip of the can and twist and press a little as I close the bag, again to expel as much air as is reasonable. Then I close it with a twist tie.
I have a flat surface on one side of the garden where I lay down old plywood, some roofing metal and even some used political signs, Anything that keeps gophers and rodents from digging up into the bags as they cure. I invert the can onto the surface and the packed bag of grass clippings slides out and lands on the surface. I found out that drilling holes in the can or using one that is cracked down the side works well to allow the bag to slip out. By inverting the bag the twist-tied opening ends up being under the bag now and the moisture and weight of the bag helps to keep it sealed.
That’s it.
Repeat until you are done mowing.
I have found it is best to only feed haylage for about 1/3 of the over-all bulk of your animal’s daily diet. For dairy cows or goats I usually feed it right beside their hay and only provide enough to maintain that 1/3 ration. It is a really “hot” food. High in sugar and protein. By mixing in good hay and other forages it provides an excellent daily feed mix.
I will cut this all Spring / Summer and usually start feeding it out in the Fall after frost begins to diminish protein content in the pasture. When I feed it out in the pasture I’m cautious about location. I try to pick a thistle patch or some old rank forage they might not prefer because they will eat whatever is beneath the silage down to nothing. It is by far their favorite food on the farm.
This means that by a wide margin my highest volume product from the garden is trashcan silage. I found that “Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats” also talks about this process, so I’m not just a crazy person (or maybe the Storey’s folks are just as crazy as me and that means I’m in good company.)
