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This is how silage making must feel like in countries where predictable and settled weather is the norm.
It is a rare thing in this part of the world to mow grass and feel confident that it won’t be a smash-and-grab salvage operation.
And even if a few showers were forecast, the reassuring knowledge that more dry days were approaching meant this silage season was the least stressful in years.
Nowadays, I tend to stagger fields slightly in the hope that even if conditions are unsuitable, at least some of the grass will be saved in good order.
I cannot remember another year when every batch of bales comprised grass that was cut at the optimum growth stage
However, apart from a 12-acre field that has been reseeded and won’t cut until later in July, I have the rest of the grass baled, wrapped, and stacked in preparation for next winter.
Of the four fields completed, all were mown, tedded (or wuffled) and baled exactly as planned. I cannot remember another year when every batch of bales comprised grass that was cut at the optimum growth stage.
Neighbours
Mind you, I have to confess to another reason for staggering my silage area. I don’t know if you’d call it jealousy, impatience, or just “itchy farmer syndrome”, but I now try to select one field that is ready for cutting at roughly the same time as my dairy farming neighbours.
This is because I am not an easy-going and pleasant character who can stand back effortlessly and congratulate those around him on the completion of their first cut.
Do other farmers get itchy feet when their neighbours pull into a field?
Despite needing as much grass as possible for freshly lambed ewes in spring, I have discovered that it is vital to hold one (smallish) field back, so I can satisfy that strange farmer craving to get at the grass when all around are at it too.
Do other farmers get itchy feet when their neighbours pull into a field?
Or is it just a pathetic character trait that is unique to me?
The earliest field was mown on 25 May, followed by two fields on 3 June, and the last one on 8 June.
Growth stages
Due to the close attention of ewes and lambs on the later fields, the growth stages were remarkably similar, and if I had to make a prediction, I suspect the last field (seven acres) may even be the highest quality.
Certainly, strong sunshine between mowing and baling, plus a run through the wuffler, meant the rows of grass had that glorious smell of summer. We shall see how much of that fragrance wafts out when the bales are opened.
I am also confident of the digestibility because the whole area averaged 9.5 bales per acre
I’ll make another prediction regarding quality that might sound completely stupid to some farmers: while palatability should be good, because dry matters are likely to be in the high 20s or above, I am also confident of the digestibility because the whole area averaged 9.5 bales per acre.
I don’t think that forecast is completely crazy, because all my cutting area receives about 60 units of nitrogen, and years of experience have taught me that if it yields 15 to the acre, then it probably contains too much stem.
Conversely, if it only yields six or seven to the acre, then it may not have been ready for cutting, and fermentation is likely to be less than perfect.
On this farm, somewhere in the region of nine or 10 seems to hit the spot.
Soft hands
I have recently found another “quality predictor”, which maybe only applies to this farm.
Last year, I bought one of these “soft hands” contraptions for handling bales.
I decided that I’d like to have neat and orderly stacks too
Fed up with stacking them one on top of the other incorrectly (and also laddering far too many), I noticed piles of beautifully upright bales all around the country.
Therefore, I decided that I’d like to have neat and orderly stacks too. However, the bitter pill of experience tells me that if you want to have bales that sit up like cans of baked beans on supermarket shelves, you’ll be needing plenty of stem in them.
By contrast, those first 40 bales that were made at the end of May were also stacked neatly in the corner of a yard. And they stayed that way... for about 24 hours. Now they look like a giant potato masher has squeezed them from above. However, if my theory is correct, then surely they will be of the very highest quality, won’t they? Won’t they?
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