lazy ace said:
Denny
Sounds like you are experienced with baling stocks. We have never done it (we can't find any corn stalks close enough to make it pencil.) How do you bale them? stalk chopper with a rake? Is it hard on equipment? Just wondering how it works?
Thanks
Last year was the first time that we baled cornstalks but the way we did it worked really good.
We left them in the field til spring then we raked them with an old New Holland side rake because the gear box was out of our rotary rake. We raked them cross-ways because it seemed to pick them up cleaner, but a rotary rake would probably do it either way. Another cattleman I know rakes them same way the rows run.
The advantage of raking them in the spring is two-fold; they are dry as soon as the ground is dry and they are softened up a lot from the winter weather.
But be prepared for some major dust when you rake, bale and spread them! We also found that we picked up quite a few small stones with our 648 NH baler.
But they do make pretty good bedding.