Silage and haylage, step by step
Interactive lesson: clean forage, wilting and wrapping bales, silage in bags and drums, judging it when you open it and feeding without risk.
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The whole lesson as text
1. Clean forage
Most dangerous bacteria in silage come from soil and manure, so silage starts in the meadow.
- Spread molehills — Spread molehills and anthills in spring. The soil from them mustn't end up in a bale.
- Cut at 7–8 cm — Cut at 7–8 cm, no lower. Set the rake and tedder so they don't scratch the soil.
- No poultry litter — No fresh manure or slurry for 6–8 weeks before cutting. Never spread poultry manure or litter on a meadow cut for silage: it's a frequent source of botulism.
- Walk the meadow — Walk the meadow before cutting. The carcass of a deer, hare, bird or cat in the grass mustn't end up in a bale.
Why: Silage doesn't forgive mistakes. Soil in the grass or a carcass in a bale turns good feed into poison. Bad silage is the main source of listeriosis in goats and sheep and botulism in cattle and horses.
- Spread molehills and anthills in March and April.
- Dew is not a problem if the cut grass is wilted, but don't cut grass wet from rain.
2. Wilting and wrapping
A contractor makes haylage in bales; your job is to make sure the grass is right.
- Cut after the dew — Cut in the morning after the dew. In sun and wind the grass wilts in half a day to one day.
- Wilt to 40–60 % — Wilt the grass to 40–60 % dry matter, with one tedding.
- Squeeze test — Squeeze a handful of grass for 30 seconds. If juice runs, it's too wet. If your hand opens slowly and the grass is moist but without juice, it's right.
- Bale tight — The bale must be packed tight, so that as little air as possible stays inside.
- Wrap within 2 hours — Wrap the bale within 2 hours in at least 4 layers of film, with a 50 % overlap. For lucerne, clovers and storage longer than 6 months, use 6 layers.
Why: Haylage doesn't need three fine days, as hay does, just one. Cut grass has 15–25 % dry matter, and haylage needs 40–60 %.
- If your hand springs open at once and the grass snaps, it's too close to hay and the bale will be hard to compact.
- Use film made for silage, resistant to UV light.
3. Storing bales · Locked
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4. Bags and drums · Locked
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5. Judging it at opening · Locked
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6. Feeding without risk · Locked
Buy the Silage and haylage module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 26 steps.