Haylage bales ready to provide feed for the following winter.

Novice small block farmers facing their first summer on the land will hopefully have done their research when it comes to hay and silage.

Otherwise they may well find themselves utterly confused when more experienced land owners start talking hay, haylage, baleage, silage, small bales, big bales and a multitude of other terms associated with this busy pasture season.

In a nutshell, silage is fermented high moisture fodder fed predominantly to cows but also to sheep.

It is fermented or ‘pickled’ if you like, then stored in a process called ensiling or silaging – even city-siders have seen the tall, cylindrical silos that are landmarks on many bigger farms around the country.

But using this type of silo is just one way of making silage from field crops. Three common methods are:

- Placing cut green vegetation in a silo

- Piling cut green vegetation in a large heap covered with plastic sheet held down by old tyres (also a common sight in the countryside)

- Wrapping large bales in plastic film sometimes referred to as baleage.

The grass is cut when it is leafy, and highly digestible. Usually it is cut on a fine morning following several sunny days, then sugar levels will be good.

If sunny days are hard to come by then cut after at least four hours of sunlight.

Leave the cut grass to wilt for a few hours to reduce moisture content but avoid wilting for too long in order to maintain the sugar content.

If the grass is left too long it may dry out too much or get wet from rain – both of which will hamper fermentation and result in loss of nutrients.

For the fermentation process to be effective, chop grass reasonably finely and compact as tightly as possible to remove oxygen. An oxygen-free environment is required for fermentation to occur.

In light of this, seal plastic wrap as soon as possible after baling as this will ensure maximum compacting and create the proper environment for bacteria to convert the sugars into lactic acid, thus preventing loss of protein in the feed.

Remember, exposing silage (baleage) to the air can cause it to break down so after feeding out a portion of the bale (or stack) it will need to be resealed.

Hay:

While hay has high feed value it is of lower feed value than silage. Hay is also cut much later in the season, often over the New Year break when long sunshine hours have done their work.

Ideally the new hay should be leafy, green, and have a pleasant smell which will indicate it has been dried rapidly.

It should not contain weeds or mould. With luck, hay that has been rained on soon after cutting may avoid any damage but hay that has been exposed to severe rain or high humidity and which doesn’t dry properly before baling can turn mouldy. Mouldy hay can cause pregnant cattle to abort.

Small block owners running a few cattle should be mindful that large bales of silage and hay are difficult to transport and hard to pull apart if left in the shed. What’s more allowing stock to feed from a silage bale in the paddock can cause pasture damage.

The bales are also prone to rat attack and even stock can break through the plastic so fence them into an area away from the bales or stack.