Baleage is fermented hay. In damp regions with less chance of speedy drying and high quality hay production, baleage is a good alternative. Most farmers can get one to two additional cuts off the same fields each season.
Farmers making baleage typically cut and gather baleage 12 to 24 hours after cutting. Round bales must be wrapped in plastic within eight hours of baling. This prevents overheating and reduced quality.
Bales should be stored on their flat ends to reduce settling, air infiltration and reduced quality. Jim Booth of Aquidneck Farms in Portsmouth, RI said, “We have reduced our waste to 5% from 20% eight years ago.” The farm’s Kuhn Knight VT 132, Vertical Maxx® (see here) twin auger feed mixer saves another 10%. Booth said the feed alleys are completely empty each winter morning.
2013 Baleage Yields
Booth said, “This has been such a wet year that we bale as little as 2 hours after cutting. The fiber content is so low that the windrows just disappear if we wait 8 hours.” Booth’s best field typically yields 140 round bales of first-cut hay. This year that field only produced 90 bales. This significantly raises his feed costs/bale. Fuel and labor costs have not dropped. “We make the same number of trips across every inch of the field, whether we get 90 or 140 bales,” said Booth.
Booth said a good year allows four harvests of baleage. Average seasons allow three harvests. Booth typically makes all first cut hay into baleage. Second cut is generally harvested as dry hay.
Cut, Bale & Wrap
Booth cuts hay in active growth, before seed set. “If the fields get too high, cows will not eat it fresh or as hay,” said Booth. He will cut high fields with a rotary mower and look forward to new growth with better quality. A decade ago, Booth would have made construction or mulch hay on fields like these.
After cutting, Booth knows it is time to bale when the clover looks silver in the windrows. He opens the machine after making the first bale. If there are smears on the inside, Booth waits about an hour before continuing baling. Typical bales are 42% to 45% moisture.
Booth leases several local hay fields. Either landowners love to see bales on their land or they do not. “Some landowners call me when I have barely finished baling. I can be on my way to get the truck and they already call to remind me to remove the bales. Other folks let me store wrapped bales on field edges. I can collect them later at my convenience,” said Booth.
Baleage technology was invented in Ireland, long known for wet seasons. Most Irish farmers use black wrap during cool springs, white wrap in summer heat and green wrappers for late summer and fall harvests. The plastic wrap is similar to that used for winter boat covers.
Round into Square?
Booth said farmers turn round bales into traditional bales. Booth used to have space in a long barn where he could unroll a round bale. With just one tractor and baler pass, he could ‘bale’ the dry hay into rectangular bales for local horse farmers or other customer requests.
Forage Varieties
Typical pastures at Aquidneck Farms have a blend of sweet brome, orchard and timothy. Pasture blends also include Festulolium, a high-energy grass from a cross of perennial or Italian ryegrass with meadow or tall fescue.
Booth said his soil pH is too low (5.2 to 5.5) to grow alfalfa, which needs a soil pH of at least 6.2. To add that much lime would be cost-prohibitive.
Booth is trying a new warm season crop this season – Birdsfoot Trefoil. This spring, a field was ready for forage blend seeding. Booth knew the seeds would rot with all the June rains. Instead, he planted a field of straight Birdsfoot Trefoil. If successful, Booth will over-seed existing fields with Birdsfoot Trefoil drilled in at 15 pounds of seed per acre.
Efficiency
Booth uses his low maintenance hay rake to combine three windrows. Then he makes one pass with his high maintenance New Holland baler. Booth said his baler is eight years old. He hopes newer balers are less sensitive to bump and ruts. “Electronics were not made for bumpy fields and damp conditions. Sometimes a bump triggers the wrapper to start wrapping without a full bale inside, meaning we have to stop, get out of the tractor and reset everything.”
Aquidneck Farms’ bales have been so moist and heavy this year, Booth has had to run his baler at maximum pressure this year. His tractor’s clutch and backup gears have needed major repairs costing over $10,000.
Booth’s baler can make round bales 44” to 60” in diameter. Booth prefers to work with 48” bales. His Anderson bale wrapper (see here) works for bales at least 44” in diameter.
Minerals
Booth sprinkles a mineral mix over the feed row each winter morning. The mineral blend is high in selenium for breeding cows. High quality summer forage means pastured animals need fewer supplemental minerals.
Extra Hay
Aquidneck Farms typically sells extra baleage and dry hay to local dairy, beef and horse farms. 2013 yields are already 600 bales behind past seasons. This year’s low yields mean the farm will not have extra to supply neighboring farms. Booth is considering whether to bale construction hay this fall after ensuring his herd’s needs of 2,000 bales.
Farm Background
The Van Buren family has owned this farm since 1979. In 2003, Farmscapes, LLC. was formed to return the farm to beef production, operating as Aquidneck Farms. Their grass-fed beef has been sold at local Farmers Markets since 2009.
Aquidneck Farms beef and chickens are cryo-wrapped and sold frozen. Meats are available at 20 restaurants across southern New England. Chefs order online for delivery twice a week through Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s Market Mobile.
Consumers can purchase Aquidneck Farms’ beef, chickens and eggs at four RI Farmers Markets (see list here). Meats can be ordered online, at the farm store or purchased from specialty markets and suppliers.
Online orders can be picked up at farmers markets or the farm store. Orders over $350 can be delivered on weekdays within 45 miles for a small fee. Meats can be ordered online here.
Contact
Learn more at www.aquidneckfarms.com, email Jim Booth, Farm Manager at jim@farmscapesllc.com, James Booth, Markets and Distribution Manager at james@farmscapesllc.com or Michael Victor, Livestock Manager at michael@farmscapesllc.com. Call the farm store at 401-849-0337 or visit on Friday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. at 333 Wapping Road in Portsmouth, RI.
A similar story ran in the New England edition of Country Folks.
