• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Netwrap

I'm with Denny. Plastic freezes in and is a PITA to remove. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to know that a cow can't digest plastic........... WE CAN'T!


Yet, guys still run twine and all through a proccessor and wonder why the odd cow tips over from too much protien in the plastic. :roll:
 
We use net wrap, and really enjoy the speed of baling. The Kosmo Kid thinks that one baler using net wrap can bale nearly as much hay in a day as two balers using twine tie. We feed with Hydra-beds, and go to great efforts to gather all the net wrap before unrolling the bale. Some of the hay that I buy is tied with solar degradable twine. Under the frozen conditions of the past month, especially since it thawed some and then froze some more, the twine is very much harder to remove from the bales than the net wrap. I have been carrying along big garbage bags to put the net wrap and twine into. About once or twice each day, I drive by an old house foundation. The net wrap and twine are dumped into this old basement, and periodically it gets burned. The garbage bags get used for quite a while before they eventually get tossed away also.
 
I use either net wrap or plastic twine depending on the type of hay. I prefer the polypropylene twine because it lasts longer and is easier to get off the bales. I like net wrap for barley hay. I pull it all and put it in the burn pile.
 
Soapweed said:
We use net wrap, and really enjoy the speed of baling. The Kosmo Kid thinks that one baler using net wrap can bale nearly as much hay in a day as two balers using twine tie. We feed with Hydra-beds, and go to great efforts to gather all the net wrap before unrolling the bale. Some of the hay that I buy is tied with solar degradable twine. Under the frozen conditions of the past month, especially since it thawed some and then froze some more, the twine is very much harder to remove from the bales than the net wrap. I have been carrying along big garbage bags to put the net wrap and twine into. About once or twice each day, I drive by an old house foundation. The net wrap and twine are dumped into this old basement, and periodically it gets burned. The garbage bags get used for quite a while before they eventually get tossed away also.
Click to expand...
+1
 
As far as I'm concerned none of its good in a stomach. I can remeber as a kid seeing a calf posted with twine, before plastic was even used
 
If you remove the net wrapping before tub grinding, the bales fall apart or a lot of mine sure would. Cows don't get tub ground hay but the feeder calves do. I'll see tiny pieces of netting here and there in the ground hay. Pieces might be an inch long. As fast as my tub grinder guy goes after it, it would take an Army to keep up with bringing the bales, cutting net wrap and feeding the grinder. :shock: Next study will find this was incorrect. Sort of like rat poison will kill you if you eat 10lbs a day for the next five years. :D
 
The size of the screen in the grinder will have some bearing on the size of the netwrap/twine debris. However, getting the grinder man to switch screens may beike pulling teeth, even though with a Mighty Giant (Jones) grinder it takes less than a minute to do it. Not sure on other makes.
 
DejaVu said:
If you remove the net wrapping before tub grinding, the bales fall apart or a lot of mine sure would. Cows don't get tub ground hay but the feeder calves do. I'll see tiny pieces of netting here and there in the ground hay. Pieces might be an inch long. As fast as my tub grinder guy goes after it, it would take an Army to keep up with bringing the bales, cutting net wrap and feeding the grinder. :shock: Next study will find this was incorrect. Sort of like rat poison will kill you if you eat 10lbs a day for the next five years. :D
Click to expand...


How much plastic is in your personal diet? Do you use a blender to get it fine enough to pass through?
 
Probably no plastic in my diet but I don't have a rumen and I don't pick up unknown objects to eat like, wire, bones, plastic bottles, grocery store bags. I just looked at my ground feed. You can see random little pieces of netwrap. They're maybe 1.5inches in length. I've been tub grinding for over 10 years and have no plans to quit. The study appears to deal with large pieces. Before I make a big change, I want to see more evidence. My grinder man carries several screens with him and the individual he grinding for can ask for changes based on however the bales are going through. What about the other side of it that shows netwrapped bales retain more nutrients longer with less spoilage. How do you view the study and what changes are you planning to make because of it, gcreekrch? Everything in moderation. :wink:

I buy most of the bales I feed my cows. It's impossible to find anyone with a twine tie baler. Implement dealers say the twine balers have no re-sale value. I'm not saying the study is without merit but it would be good to expose calves to several different lengths and types of netwrap in their feed and follow them through to slaughter. If this was a problem, wouldn't the major feedyards be the first to see problems? You'd think Packers would be saying something.
 
I can agree that baling with netwrap is quicker. I have also thought that it would be nice to use it in the meadows where or hay is short and slippery. One of life's little peeves is seeing twine fall off the end of a bale.

The thoughts stop there.

I have no intention of burning more diesel to do what a cow's rumen does naturally. Unless one is feeding a mixed ration I feel that grinding or processing hay is a waste of time and effort. I have no intention of cutting wrap or plastic twine and leaving the cows to chew the frozen hay off it either.

I will keep using sisal as long as I can find it.

I still don't agree with intentionally mixing material that is not digestable into any animal's ration.
 
Interesting discussion; ground net wrapped hay will leave much smaller pieces of plastic in the pile than twine tied, especially versus big squares. Sisal tied may be more digestible, but they don't transport any distance well. If net wrap is fatal to a bovine, it must take a while. I agree with the cut the net off as you feed camp, and keep your matches dry for a calm day. The baling speed isn't even a debate. Sort'a reminds me of some other debates around these parts.
 
Haytrucker said:
Interesting discussion; ground net wrapped hay will leave much smaller pieces of plastic in the pile than twine tied, especially versus big squares. Sisal tied may be more digestible, but they don't transport any distance well. If net wrap is fatal to a bovine, it must take a while. I agree with the cut the net off as you feed camp, and keep your matches dry for a calm day. The baling speed isn't even a debate. Sort'a reminds me of some other debates around these parts.
Click to expand...


Debates are good for using up long winter nights. :D
 
I just bought a new Vermeer bale. Twine is a $2,700 dealer installed option. :?

I got the twine option as I have never used wrap so wasn't sure if I wanted to not have the twine. Guess we will see.

I have tub ground bought net wrapped bales, after the first time I took the net off before grinding. Very seldom found twine that came through the tub grinder.
 
When I was part of the family farm we had our own tub grinder. It was pretty slow and we always took the strings off the bales because of the problems in cleaning it out after grinding. With that being ancient history, I now hire a commercial grinder. He can do 60+ bales an hour. It takes two people to keep up. He's upgrading to a bigger grinder and says he'll be able to do over 100 bales an hour :shock: I always have several pens of feeder steers and mix the ground hay with wet distillers grain. My cow herd gets bales rolled out and I am careful about the netwrapping. I don't want a cow eating it or a horse catching a shoe on it.

In the world of feeding cattle it seems like there has been all sorts of junk mixed in feed trying to cut costs, etc. I don't agree with it either. But, I do think a more through study of the effects of net wrap should be done before anyone can draw a positive or negative conclusion. Lots of testing being done for who-knows-what. Maybe there's some givverment money out there for this!
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
I just bought a new Vermeer bale. Twine is a $2,700 dealer installed option. :?

I got the twine option as I have never used wrap so wasn't sure if I wanted to not have the twine. Guess we will see.

I have tub ground bought net wrapped bales, after the first time I took the net off before grinding. Very seldom found twine that came through the tub grinder.
Click to expand...

Ha Ha just bought a new Vermeer and the Net wrap was a $2700.00 option wanna trade. :lol: :lol:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top