Page B—Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 11, 1998 JUD HEINRICHS Dairy And Animal Science Extension Penn State This spring and summer, as you are making haylage and hay, keep in mind some basic management principles of good forage making. First of all, proper maturity counts. In fact it is likely the most important pan of a good forage program. Second, check dry matter. If it is haylage, we know that there are speci fic moisture ranges that encourage good packing and fermentation. If we go too wet, which is less than 30 per cent dry matter, or too dry, greater than 60 percent dry matter, we drastically increase the likelihood of a poor fer mentation. High quality silage requires a proper fermentation to promote good intakes and high levels of milk production. The only way to know the dry matter of haylage is to measure it. Use a micro wave, oven, or koster tester —but you must measure the first load and check it periodically. If you are good at squeezing a handful to monitor mois ture, then calibrate your handful with a few measured analyses in the micro wave. Very few people can retain their band squeezing calibration over the winter or from cutting to cutting. A next point for haylage is to check panicle size as you chop it Nothing you do to haylage after harvest increas es the particle size but everything re duces particle size post-harvest. Silo filling, solo unloading, TMR mixers, and feed delivery'systems all reduce panicle size of forage. Some systems are minimal in their effects and some are great If moisture raises are monitored tor haylage. it is strtmgly suggested to try to achieve the greatest particle length possible that bale splitters Distributed By: [g