Harvest & Storage

It is 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and the hay is just finally dry enough to bale. On the first round in the field, my pocket vibrates just as my radio sitting in the cup holders starts to blast; it must be bad news.

From the first mower pass to the last load of silage, every step a producer takes can affect the nutritional value and profitability of their forage crop in some way.

What happens during the first 24 hours after a bale of silage is formed but not yet wrapped? Can forage quality be improved if the bale is wrapped even sooner than 24 hours after baling? The short answer is: yes.

Baled silage, or baleage, is a highly nutritious livestock feed and can help producers better manage their harvest window and harvest their crop at its optimum quality.

“Failage” and garbage are two possible iterations of baleage that producers should actively avoid, said northwestern Illinois baleage producer Kendall Guither. Guither is a commercial hay grower who has been producing baleage since 1997 and marketing it throughout the U.S. Midwest.

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