Packin' lunch

[Grassfarmer]

Got my winter feed put up the last couple of days - delivered in from our Hutterite neighbors in trucks of all shapes and sizes. My job was to build and pack the pit.

Some trucks in better shape than others :shock: :shock:

As always I like diversity in my cows feed - started with some very dry, lightly hailed barley.

Then added a layer of fairly green canola.

Water truck driver was a little over zealous when damping down the dust on the roads :lol: :lol:

Next a layer of weedlage - off a quarter seeded to alfalfa but with a healthy crop of volunteer barley plus every weed that commonly grows in an un-sprayed Canadian grain field. Last time we bought a similar weedy crop it was 15% protein and 67 TDN - can't beat "weeds" for feed!

Topped it off with a layer of very green barley but it was dark by the time we finished. Up before the sun (and wind) this morning to get her sheeted down. A good size pit of high dry matter silage - nice to have in a year of serious forage shortage like we are encountering this year.

The most tire-ing part of packing :roll: packed these 2 at a time up the hill to cover a sheet overlap. Still need to put a line up the other side to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Cal]

We've never made silage before. Always looks like an interesting procedure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[garn]

nothing beats the sweet smell of silage, thanks for the pics.

Last summer, I got to tour a Hutterite colony in South Dakota. Quite interesting to say the least, such a simple way of life, but their farming operation made me say "whoa", as to the kind of money that flows there every year.

 

[Justin]

like Cal, i have never made silage either. i kinda remember it as a kid back where i grew up, really all i remember is riding the tractor with Dad packing it. i would like to try it someday, but i don't think they giving those choppers away yet, and there darn sure isn't one for hire in the nieghborhood.
thanks for the pics...

 

[Grassfarmer]

I like silage - we quit making hay about '86 and moved to bale silage. You just beat the weather every time with silage. Making and feeding out of a big pit is as easy as it gets but it needs a good custom operator. Unfortunately in Europe pits are going out of fashion with the strict effluent regulations, inability to burn plastic (any black smoke emitting fire is illegal in the UK) and even owning the scrap tires is regulated. :roll: Ah the lax regulations of Canada!

Speaking of Hutterites how big a factor are they in the Dakotas or any of the other states where they reside? - are they few and far between or are there lots of colonies? I believe there are over 160 colonies in Alberta now so they must own a lot of land between them. One of the girls from our local colony just married into a colony near Havre(?) this spring so there must still be some cross border trading going on!

 

[Northern Rancher]

My last silage making endeavour was when a buddy got killed just before harvest-I went and drove truck-we put up three pivots of corn silage that went 23 tons an acre-it was one big ash pile. We used full size round straw bales to hold the plastic down-they were fun rolling around up there. It doesn't suit our operation but if your starting equipment every day it is a pretty good deal. Back in my younger days we forked it to about 400 cows and 100 coming two year old bulls every day-I was in a bit better shape then lol.

 

[Grassfarmer]

I used to fork several hundred of the silage bales every winter along feed passages in archaic old buildings. I'm in much better shape now - don't have ongoing back troubles any longer. Some times mechanization is a good thing.

 

[Northern Rancher]

Grease and wrenches give me a rash....however I do love a wheatheart heavy hitter post pounder.

 

[Silver]

Grease and wrenches give me a rash....however I do love a wheatheart heavy hitter post pounder.

Post pounder???!? Now I'm getting a rash.