Baling Corn Stubble

[Broke-T]

A friend of mine was looking for info on baling corn stubble.

It has been so dry around here that we are putting up very little hay.

If you have done this, did you bale directly behind the combine or did you run a mower and rake? I was thinking that if we run behind the combine it will be cheaper but will only get shuck and cob.

Any info will be appreciated.

Johnny

[IL Rancher]

We did it last year.. Use a flail shreader/windrower combo... Folks we bought our baler from run a mower but don't mow the whole field and than rake into the mowed areas to prevent stuble from doing to much damage to the belts... Have seen folks do it directly but they sometimes have problems with too high of moisture in the bales.. We generally wait a couple days before shreading and baling..

[Andy]

The best way I have found is to wait until the fodder is dry (that is most peoples mistake) then v-rake with a loader tractor and run your bucket a couple inches off the ground. Then bale the same direction as you raked. When we get done with a field you can hardly even tell that we baled it other than there are few leaves and husks left. The stalk remains mostly intact.

[tlakota]

i agree with andy...thats a good idea to run the loader pretty close to the ground...it is important to bale the same way as u raked and make sure their isnt moisture in there...it works much better to rake then to cut with a discbind or mower for me anyways, ive tried both...its a lot easier on the rake then on the cutter....what baler are you planning on baleing with? we had an 8480 couple years ago and that wasnt worth a crap for baling cornstalks...now we have a 567 and i was kicking out a bale about every minute

make sure to run the pickup plenty high to prevent breaking teath...cornstalks are a lot more wear on a baler but i believe its worth it and a great way to reduce costs

[Sundancer]

We usually wait a day or two after combining before we bale. We rake with a wheel rake and then bale with Vermeer 605M and net wrap the bales. We have run into trouble when we bale BT corn as those stalks are pretty juicy due to the lack of corn borer activity in the stalk. The baled field will look a little "cleaner" than an unbaled field, but there is still plenty of residue to satisfy the Soil Conservation requirements. We use all bales for bedding during calving. Put them through a Vermeer bale processor and that makes a wonderful, fluffy bed for those babies and mommas to rest on!

[Cowboykevin]

I agree, you want to wait until they've had plenty of time to dry. Around here we use a stock chopper that puts them in to windrows, then give them a couple more days to dry. A wheel rake works best after that to save time baling, my old 530 john deere used to make a nice fodder bale. Just want to take it easy and dont run to fast.
Some guys here actually wait until spring to make there fodder, Bale it the week before they start tilling ground, They say its always drier then.

[alabama]

Well let me ask y’all this.
I don’t plan to combine my corn at all. There just ain’t enough corn in it to pay the combine. I would however like to roll it foe hay.
My thought was to cut it with my disk hay cutter and then rake just like I would a field of hay. Then roll in a JD 435 roller.
It seems to me that the stalk will be way too tough to pick up and roll. Also, I am not sure I can pull the wheel rake through the stalk stubble.
Have y’all done this?

[Mike]

[IL Rancher]

would also depend on how dry the corn was that you shreaded or cut.. We did a coupl smal patches last year because the combine left them behind and he didn't want to go back out for the small areas so we just shreaded them.. But this was October, if not NOvember and it was DRY.. It did make for some thick baling in those areas... I would imagine if it was slighty moist still it would probably take a long time to dry, kindo of like a sudex takes forever..

[Denny]

[alabama]

Well fence is out so i have to harvest some how. I need to see this done first.

[Broke-T]

Wish we could graze but fields are about 45 miles from here so thats out.

Guess we will have to try different options.

Hope we can v-rake and bale as that will get the least amount of stalk and most of the leaves and shucks.

I plan on bringing it home and mixing with peanut skins in my jaylor. This will hopefully be enough for dry cows.

Thanks,

Johnny