Silage Insights - Testimonials
Harvest timing is the Alpha and the Omega

Günther Linneweh, his sons Maik and Kai, with three full-time employees and two trainees, operate a private agricultural contracting firm in Lower Saxony, in Langlingen-Wiedenrode, some 50 km northwest of Hannover. Among the services the firm offers are planting potatoes, corn, beet seeding, grass gathering, but also production of round bale silage, with about 15,000 bales per year.

With over 15 years of experience in the production of bale silage, Günther Linneweh has a few tips on how to succeed with bale silage and what one must watch out for:

1. Harvest timing, height of cutting and the correct sugar content

"Harvest timing is the Alpha and the Omega", says Günther Linneweh. "In making bale silage for cattle, the rule of thumb is that the grass should be cut when it is bottle high, while when making silage for horses, the grass is usually harvested during blooming or shortly afterwards. Besides grass height, it is also important not to mow too close to the ground but rather 5 to 7 cm above it, so to reduce to the minimum the risk of contamination from soil, worms and other animals. The right amount of sugar content is also key for obtaining good quality silage. The grass no longer contains sufficient sugar when the stem has dried out."

"Sugar is critical as it enables the fermentation process to begin", Günther Linneweh continues. "So, you can obtain good silage only when the grass contains a sufficient sugar level". To date Günther Linneweh has achieved the best bale silage by adding molasses, since it contains a lot of sugar. It is also possible to add sugar beet cuttings. "Unfortunately the price of milk is currently so low that few are willing to use molasses or sugar beet cuttings as they are relatively expensive" comments Linneweh.

Due to the economic situation and the rapidly dropping milk prices, the current motto is "as cheap as possible". At a milk price of 43 to 45 cents per liter, Günther Linneweh would consequently also be willing to invest more money in the production of qualitatively higher valued bale silage.

2. Bale silage vs. bunker silage

Bale silage is also of interest for larger enterprises when meadows have to be mowed, to provide connecting pastures. In this case bale silage is prepared from two or three hectares of pasture, since it is not worthwhile to build a bunker silo. In this way fodder for calves is also immediately available to the owners for the summer.

"A large grass stockpile would become warm with these small amounts and could then no longer be used for fodder." Sometimes silage in a bunker can become so hot that it cannot even be touched with a naked hand. At these temperatures in the silo, nutrients contained in the silage are largely ruined.

3. Bale production

The Linnewehs had their best experiences in producing bales using a two-armed winding device. According to Günther Linneweh, when comparing with a single-arm device, the two-armed wrapper allows for the silage stretch film to be applied evenly on all sides of the bale and bales remain stable on the turning plate and can be more easily stretched in.

In principle, bales should contain as little air as possible and not remain on the field for more than eight hours, to avoid mould formation.

4. Stretch film quality and bale storage

The Linnewehs are used to wrapping bales with six layers of quality stretch film of at least 25 microns, while eight layers are used when silage contains particularly hard stems. "In our experience it is completely wrong to use the cheapest films", remarks Linneweh.

When it comes to storage, the contractor recommends no to stack the bales more than three high and to protect the bales with a net to keep birds and mice away. As an additional protection measure against mice, Linneweh stores the bales on square timber pallets, to provide as much freedom of movement as possible to the martens that catch the mice.

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