We finished filling silo for the year...Jim finished baling and wrapping fifth cutting hay...and it was the final day of the fair...
Each year we chop corn to fill the silos, and a few weeks later we top them off with "late corn". Late corn is corn that has intentionally been planted later than the rest...usually after wheat or barley has been harvested...for the purpose of refilling, or topping off the silos. It's a way to make sure that we have enough corn silage to make it through the winter and until next summer when we chop again.
A forage wagon full of corn silage...
Unloading silage into the blower at the bottom of the silo...
What is he looking at?
He's looking at Jim who is at the top of the ladder, watching to see when the first silo is full. Jim will wave at him, and he will stop unloading until Jim can swing the gooseneck at the top over into the other silo. Rather him than me, up there at the top!
It didn't take them long here at home. Then they unhooked the blower and took it over to the other farm to chop a little more corn over there for the heifers and dry cows...
It's a great feeling to have this job finished for the year. Tomorrow, Jim will level off the silage in both silos, and we'll get the unloaders set up. That sure will be a lot nicer to feed silage using an unloader rather than a pitch fork!
I made it over to the fair tonight for the livestock sale and to pick up a few things that I had entered. Jim finished up wrapping the hay that he baled this afternoon. Fifth cutting is now history, and as I walked in the door from the fair tonight, it started drizzling. We could use a little moisture again!
What kind of things are you finishing up?
Filling the silage silos is quite a big job and I remember the men doing the same thing at our farm. Now silage is baled and wrapped in those big marshmallow and stacked. Over the years the silos deteriorated to the point that the cement was very corroded with the fermented juices so George tore them down.
ReplyDeleteI finished cleaning two flower beds.
Hugs, Julia
Filling the silos is a big job. I remember the men filling the silo with grass silage and over the years the silos go so corroded that they had to be to be down. We now store the silage in those big marshmallows.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend.
Hugs, Julia
Out of curiosity, how many hay bales over all is 5 cuttings? Are these large rounds or small or medium squares?
ReplyDeleteWe primarily feed hay to the cattle in the winter, supplemented with some mixed grains. Do you fee mostly corn because it's easier somehow than hay?
That's a good question...and one I'm not easily able to answer! :) The amount of bales will vary, depending on the acres in hay and the weather, of course. We do a lot of large round bales...bales when they're still wet...and wrap them in the white plastic where they ferment. Jim still prefers to have small squares of dry hay because he feels it's the best type of hay for the cows, but it's really hard to get at least 4 consecutive days of hot, dry weather! We feed mostly balage, but some dry hay each day to the milking cows. We try to save the best dry hay for the fresh cows and cows that might not be feeling well, to keep their rumens moving.
Deletewe feed corn silage every day, twice a day to the cows in addition to the hay/balage that they get.
The silage cutters were supposed to come here last week, but we got 3.40" of rain, so that was delayed. Randy started planting wheat today.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, we got 3 cuttings of alfalfa this year. The 3rd cutting was paltry because of the lack of rain this summer. The silage and sudan help supplement our cattle feed for the winter.
I love silage cutting. We don't use a silo, but pile it. It may sound strange but I love the smell of fresh cut silage. I always thought the cows liked a warm treat on a cold day. I'm cleaning up the beds and using this year's berries in jam and wine.
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