DlG—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 28,1983
Dairy Pipeline
(Continued from Page Dl3)
when the crop is flowering but
before their kernels reach the milk
stage.
Moisture Levels
Moisture level at time of harvest
affects field losses, storage losses
and forage quality. At about 55 to
65% moisture, the crop can be
chopped and ensiled in a trench,
stack, bag or conventional tower
silo. Drier materials at 45-55%
moisture can be preserved in
sealed units.
At 23-30% moisture, with ar
tificial drying or the use of
preservations, hay can be baled
and stored safely; without their
use, you risk having moldly hay,
hot hay and spontaneous com
bustion. At 20-23%, hay can be
baled without the use of preser
vatives. Below 20%, you start
experiencing loss of those nutrient
rich leaves.
How do you determine moisture
levels? The best way is the use of a
good moisture tester. Every
dairyman who is feeding a lot of
ensiled feeds needs one. It’s as
important to his operation as a
tractor? To do a good job of
making top quality forages and to
feed cows properly, he needs to
know the moisture content of feeds
going into the silo, and of the feeds
as they are being fed out. He also
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Berks County:
Maryland: JOE RUTH
LEROY HILDEBRAN RD , 4 133 Fleetwood, Pa. 19522
Woodsboro, Md. 2X5-944-7571
301-845-8929
Lebanon County: Lancaster County:
UMBERGER'S MILL JOHN L. LANDIS
Rt. 322. RDI4 Lebanon, Pa. 1801 Colebrookßd.
717-867-5161 Lancaster, Pa. 17601
717-898-7689
STOLTZFUS WOODWORK
MFD.
BY:
needs to know the moisture content
of hay if he is using a preservative.
Moisture levels are hard to
estimate accurately. However, in
the absence of a moisture tester
here is a rough guideline for
chopped forages. Grab a handful of
chopped forage and squeeze it
tightly for 20-30 seconds. Then,
release your grip. If the ball holds
its shape and your hand is moist, it
probably contains 71-75%
moisture. If the ball expands
slowly and your hand is not moist,
moisture content is probably 61-
70%. Below 60%, the ball expands
more rapidly, and at 50% it will
quickly fall apart.
Beating The Weather
Speeding up drying time helps us
get an edge on the weather.
Crimping the hay will help. If the
ground is dry, hay will probably
dry faster in the swath. If the soil is
moist and if there is a good breeze,
it may dry faster in a light, fluffy
windrow.
Research is also being conducted
on the use of drying agents such as
potassium carbonate. These
materials, when applied to the
standing forage just ahead of the
cutter bar as it is being cut,
reduced drying time by about one
half.
Another alternative, if we have
the equipment or can hire a custom
operator, is to ensile the crop.
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RD 2, Box 2280, Gap, PA 17527
717-442-8972
In addition to moisture content,
length of cut is also important.
How long a cut you need depends
largely on your feeding program.
If you are feeding a lot of high
moisture feeds, com silage and
high moisture com, you should be
thinking about a 3/8 inch
theoretical cut. At this setting,
expect about 14% of the fibers to be
over 1.5 inches' in length. That
should be enough to help stimulate
rumination and maintain a more
normal fat test.
A finer cut will pack better, and
may be necessary under some
conditions. So, you may have to
compromise cud chewing (fat
tests) for “keeping quality.”
For a more uniform cut, keep the
knives sharp and properly ad
justed, and keep the windows full
and uniform.
Use a good distributor for
uniform packing. Fill rapidly to
prevent deteriation of quality. Seal
the top of the silo, or apply
preservatives to the top layer,
between lapses in the filling
operation. Discard any poor
quality material from the surface
before resuming the filling
operation. Cows can be very
sensitive to changes in quality and
to heated silage; it can set them
back temporarily, and that can be
very costly!
Will preservatives be beneficial?
That’s difficult to answer. I
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Ensiling
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association of Hamshw* Pa. 17112
DIESEL SPECIALISTS
DIESEL FUEL INJECTION AND
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LOCALLY OWNED AND
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Authorized Sales & Service For;
ROBERT BASCH AIRESEARCH
ROOSA MASTER ROTOMASTER
CAV-SIMMS SCHWITZER
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JB COCALICO EQUIP. CO. ¥■?
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RD #3. DENVER, PA 17517 PH: 215-267-3808 \/
discussed the use of hay preser
vatives earlier.
Silage preservatives probably
have the greatest potential for
being useful, especially when
forages are ensiled outside the
recommended moisture ranges. At
higher moistures, you’ll want
products that enhance the proper
kind of fermentation necessary for
good preservation and longer bunk
life. Basically, that’s the lactic
acid producers. At lower moisture
levels, your chief concern is to
inhibit mold growth and prevent
excess heating in the silo and on
the bank.
Uniformity of Quality
Strive to have uniformity of
moisture and uniformity of quality
in your silo. Avoid chopping
forages when they are too wet or
too dry. If they become too dry
stop. Resume chopping when the
crop has picked up more moisture,
or let it continue to dry down, and
bale it.
You can also* help regulate the
speed of drying by adjusting the
haybine to make windrows of
varying widths and densities. Start
off with light, wide windrows for
fast drying and early chopping.
Make tighter, more dense and
slower drying windrows for the
last material to be chopped.
When kind or quality of the crop
changes, consider blowing a
“marker” (chopped corn, straw,
etc.) into the silo. As you are
feeding the haylage, these
markers will alert you to when you
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are coming into a different supply
of forage and remind you of the
possible need for adjustments in
your feeding program.
Put only your best quality
forages in the silo, and keep the
“junk” out; store it in a stack, bag,
etc. That way you can feed the
"junk” separately to whatever
animals you wish, and it won’t
hamper your access to good
quality forages for your high
producing cows.
Inventory Control
To make the best use of your
forages consider storing different
kinds and qualities separately so
you can gain access to them
whatever desired. I realize this is
not possible on most farms, but it is
a goal worth striving for as long as
it doesn’t cost too much to do it. By
doing this, you can select the
forage you want to feed to specific
groups of animals.
Also estimate the quantity of
different supplies of forage
available in the silo and in the hay
mow, and plan your feeding
program for the year accordingly,
to make optimum use of forages
available to the herd.
If you need to buy forages, hunt
for good buys at harvest time. If
the bargain is good enough, it may
even be profitable to borrow
money to finalize the deal. Besides
getting a better buy you also have
a better opportunity to secure a
sizeable quantity of fairly uniform
feed. This is very beneficial when
(Turn to Page Dl7)
a'beef
CONFINEMENT
CONTACT
ROBERT McCOMSEY D
Codir.nv.lle PA 19330 345
Pti 215 593 2157 Ph 717 345 3290
RICHARD PRICE CHESTER STOLTZFUS
Boi 305 RDZWJisontown PA 17777
Arendlivilte PA 17303 Ph 717 649 5321
Ph 717 677 6986
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