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SAVE GRifSI WITH BETTER

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office for Food and Feed Conservation
Information Supplied by
Agricultural Research Administration
Bureau of Dairy Industry

HAY CROPS PROVIDE an important part of the
feed on every dairy farm. Hay crops provide rekfc-
tively economical feed. New and better ways of puttif^g
up hay crops have been found. Farmers using the im-
proved methods are getting better roughage at less co^
acd are able to feed efficiently with less grain.

There are three practical ways of putting up hay crops.
One is the customary method of field-curing. A second,
which has become fairly popular with the spread of rurai
electrification, is partial field-curing followed by barn-
curing (using an electrically powered blower arrange-
ment). A third method, now being used by more and
more farmers, is to make grass silage.

The grass silage method shows up in tests as the best
way to put up hay crops. Barn-curing shows up as next
best. Field-curing gives the lowest return.

A majority of farmers put up hay by the age-old method
of curing it in the field. The door of oppor^anity is wide
open, therefore, for most farmers to get more out of
their hay crops by improving on their forage-preservaticsi
methods.

United States Department of Agriculture experiments
show that field-cured hay, made during good weather,
will lose as much as 25 percent of the dry matter and 30
percent of the protein found in the standing crop. If the
crop is damaged by wet weather while curing, the losses
may nm as high as 40 and 45 percent, respectively. Barn-
curing will reduce such losses by a few percent and give a
better quality hay. The most outstanding results come
from turning hay crops into silage, when such losses may
be reduced to as little as 15 percent.

Here is a 3 -point program that will help every farmer
get the most from his hay land :

1. Use legumes or legimte-grass mixtures.

2. Cut tlic crop eorly.

3. M^e grass sHofe, if possible.

More than 70 million acres of hay crops are harvested
annually in the United States. Hay production totals 90
to 100 million tons. This vast tonnage represents only a
part of the feeding value of the fresh-cut crop. Enor-
mous quantities of dry matter, protein, and other nu-
triencs are lost through faulty methods of harvesting and
storage. Some of the loss is unavoidable, but it could be
reduced considerably by following modern hay-making
methods. And losses could be reduced still more by
making silage of all or part of the crop, particularly in
humid regions or under other conditions where it is
difficult to make good quality hay.

Use Legumes or Mixtures

The first step m producing good roughage for dairy
cows is to start with legumes or mixtures. Legumes, or
mixtures of legumes and grasses, or mixtures of legumes
and small-grain crops will usually make a more palatable
and nutritious feed (either as hay or as silage) than the
grasses alone or the small-grain crops alone.

Legumes such as alfalfa, red clover, or Ladino clover,
grown in combination with timothy, or bromegrass, or
orchard grass are especially well suited for use either as
hay or silage. Usually a small-grain -nurse crop seeded
in such combinations will provide a part of the forage
harvested from the first year's growth.

OFFC-16

June 1948

NUTRIENTS SAVED FROM ORIGINAL CROP BY MAKING
GRASS SILAGE AND FIELD-CURED HAY*

PtRCENT

50

I

!

1

NUTRIENTS
IN ORIGINAL
CROP

GRASS
SILAGE

HAY CURED
WITHOUT
RAIN

HAY
DAMAGED
BY RAIN

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8r Trie mcAu Of BttRr iwJsiRr: we ema of naij imsTRt, soils, uu x-snaLWRiL eici-
umiK: m m pmoucrion m mmErmG iHnimsimiOH, u. s. DEfufHinr of ioncuLTuK.

Cut Crop Early

Whether a crop is to be made into hay or into silage,
it is important to cut it at an early stage of maturity —
that is, before it becomes stemmy, dry, and otherwise
unpalatable. Crops cut before they become mature are
higher in protein content, have more green color and
carotene (provitamin A), and less crude fiber than crops
that are allowed to mature and form seed.

Much of the potential feeding value of the hay crops
is lost every year by delaying cutting time too long.

Early-cut crops are leafy. The leaves contain most of
the protein, carotene, and other nutrients. When the
crop is in the swath, the leaves dry faster than the stems
and tend to shatter off if drying is carried too far. Ex-
posure in the swath also causes rapid loss of green color
and carotene. These losses can be reduced considerably
by windrowing the crop before the leaves become dry
enough to shatter, and by handling the crop carefully
throughout. The side-delivery rake rolls the forage up
and the leaves are protected so they dry more nearly like
the stems.

Grasses and small-grain crops should be cut after the
heads emerge but before they bloom.
Alfalfa should be cut when it is from one-tenth to
one-fourth in bloom.

Red clover and alsike clover should be cut at the
half -bloom stage.

Soybeans and Lespedezas should be cut when the
first seed pods have filled.

Making Grass Silage

It often is possible to make good silage from hay
crops when weather and other conditions make it diffi-
cult or impossible to make good quality hay. Crops re-
quire less drying time in the freld for silage than for hay,
which makes it easier to avoid damage from sudden
showers or loss of leaves from coo much drying. A
farmer who plans to make hay, but who is also prepared
to make silage if rain threatens, can often save a crop
after it is down by running it into the silo.

Heavy first cuttings and weedy crops are often difficult
to make into satisfactory hay, but such crops usually can
be made into palatable and nutritious silage.

Ungrazed portions of the pasture, or surplus pasturage,
can be harvested and run into the silo along with the
regular silage crop. This not only saves feed that might
otherwise be wasted,, but also clears the pasture for new
growth.

Losses of nutrients, from the time the crop is cut until
it is fed, are less than half as much when the crop is
preserved as silage rather than field-cured hay.

Grass silage as a feed. — Grass silage has a higher

protein and carotene content, and a lower crude fiber
content, than field-cured hay made from the same field at
the same time. The dry matter in grass silage is equal in
feeding value (pound for pound) to the dry matter in the
best quality of field-cured hay and is superior to the dry
matter in poor quality hay.

Grass silage adds variety to the dairy ration. Variety
encourages cows to eat more roughage, and then they
require less grain. A little grass silage fed to animals
on low-grade hay or dry pasture will provide the carotene
(provitamin A) that otherwise would be lacking. When
fed liberally to milking cows on winter feed, grass silage
helps maintain summertime yellow color in the milk and
a high vitamin A content.

Grass silage that is not too high in moisture content
is as palatable as dry hay made from the same crop, and
it can be fed to replace either hay or corn silage or both.

Other advantages. — Putting forage crops in the silo
is the best way to carry over surplus feed from one year
to the next, which is good insurance against short feed
supplies in drought years.

Putting crops in the silo is an effective way to destroy
the germinating power of weed seeds, which might other-
wise be spread over the farm in manure.

Putting crops in the silo eliminates the possibility of
fire, which sometimes results from spontaneous ignition
of uncured hay in the mow.

Grass silage takes up less storage space than long hay,
baled hay, or even coarse chopped hay.

Grass silage can be put in the empty silo or on top of
any corn that remains, and since feeding can start within
30 days the silo may be emptied in time for corn in the
fall.

When suitable machinery is on hand to make either
grass silage or field-cured hay, there is little if any differ-
ence in the cost of harvesting and storing a crop by either
method.

How to make good grass silage. — Although hay
crops differ widely, they can all be made into good silage
with little trouble.

There are two important things to keep in mind:

1. Air must be forced out of the silage and
kept out.

2. The chopped material must not be too
moist.

AH crops will make more palatable silage if they are
allowed to wilt slightly in the swath, but crops that have
a high-protein content when cut must be wilted.

Crops such as the true grasses and small-grain crops, or
mixtures of these crops with legumes, will be medium in
protein content if they are cut after the heads are out.
They can be put in the silo as soon as they are cut — in the
same manner as corn or sorghum crops — if necessary, but
they will make better silage if allowed to wilt a little.

Crops such as the legumes, or immature grasses, ^r
small-grain crops that are cut before the heads are out,
are all high in protein and must be wilted in order to pro-
duce good quality silage. When it is impossible to wilt
these crops, they can be made less moist by adding dry
chopped hay, corn-and-cob meal, or other dry grains as
the crop goes through the cutter, or molasses may be
added as a preser^^ative.

Wilting is desirable with all hay crops, not only
because it produces more palatable silage, but also be-
cause it reduces the weight to be handled, eliminates the
need for a preservative, reduces the pressure on the silo
wall, and eliminates seepage from the silo.

After many years of experience, the Bureau of Dairj"^
Industry now recommends the following procedure in
making wilted grass silage. It will consistently give good
results under practical farm conditions if followed care-
fully.

1 . Silo should be airtight and have smooth walls. —
Air must be forced out of the silage and kept out. Other-
wise, considerable moldy silage will result. Silo walls
should be smooth so the silage will pack tight and pockets
of air cannot form along the walls. Steel hoops on
wooden-stave silos should be tightened before filling
starts. The silo should have good drainage.

2. Wilt the crop just slightly. — The chopped mate-
rial should have not more than 68 percent of moisture and
not less than 60 percent. Very little wilting will be
needed to reduce the moisture content to this point. The
crop should be left in the swath or windrow only long
enough for the leaves and stems to become limp; the
leaves should not become dry or curled. On a good dry-
ing day, 1 or 2 hours of wilting will be enough unless the
crop is very heavy or is immature. On very humid days.

a half day or a day may be required to wilt the crop suffi-
ciently. During long dry spells, crops will usually be
lower in moisture than normally. If cut at the best hay
stage, they will be dry enough to put in the silo within a
few minutes after cutting.

The crop should be mowed just far enough ahead so
that at filling time it looks moist when twisted but shows
no free moisture. At this stage the whole stems will
twist in two. After chopping, the silage will feel cool
and moist when rubbed between the hands, and will hold
its shape but will not be dripping wet when pressed into
a ball.

Scattered loads having as much as 70 percent moisture
or as little as 55 percent may be put in the silo without
causing any particular harm. If part of the forage gets
too dry, it may be left for hay or may be run through the
cutter with some freshly cut, unwilted forage. Forage
that has wilted considerably should not be put in the
upper part of the silo.

During rainy spells, the rain-wet portion of the crop
can be siloed without wilting if filling is done slowly at
the rate of 3 to 4 feet a day, without tramping, so that
some heat will be generated. Or, it can be siloed at a
normal rate by running 10 to 20 percent of dry hay, or
8 to 12 percent of ground dry grain, or 3 to 5 percent of
molasses (by weight) through the cutter along with the
wet crop.

3. Chop the crop fine. — The cutter should be set for
the shortest cut available, 14 if possible. When the
crop is cut fine it will pack quickly and closely, forcing
out the air. Wilted crops ?nust be chopped fine, other-
wise air will be trapped in the silage and mold will form.
The cutter knives and cutter bar should be kept sharp so
they will cut cleanly and not shred.

4. Distribute each load evenly in silo. — By chopping
the crop fine, distributing it evenly, and tramping each
load thoroughly in the top part of the silo, more tonnage
can be put in the silo and the added weight will help
force the air out of the bottom part.

5. Put 4 to 6 feet of heavy, unwilted, fine-chopped
crop on top. — This will complete the job of forcing the
air out. No preservative will be needed in the wet top
layer, since it will warm up naturally and produce mild
palatable silage without any preservative.

6. Keep the silage well tramped while it is set-
tling.— When filling is completed, level off the top but
leave the silage slightly higher near the wall than at the
center. Keep the material well tramped and packed
tight against the wall for the first 3 or 4 days, when the
silage will be settling most rapidly. Then tramp the
edges twice a week for 2 or 3 weeks, keeping the silage
packed tight against the wall until it has finished settling.
This will seal out the air and also reduce the amount of
top spoilage.

♦

Heavy, reinforced, waterproof paper over the top of
the silage also will help seal out air. The paper should be
lapped 8 to 12 inches at the joints and against the wall,
and covered with enough chopped green forage to keep
it pressed tight against the silage and the wall. Even with
this seal it will be necessary to tramp the silage next to
the wall.

Kind of silo. — Good grass silage can be made suc-
cessfully in any kind of silo, if proper care is taken to
pack it well and keep the air out of the silage. Less loss
will occur during storage in a permanent upright silo, or
in a pit or semipit silo, than in other types. But good
silage can be made in trench silos, and in temporary snow-
fence or steel-fence silos lined with tough, reinforced
waterproof paper.

Usinf Grass SiSof e

Experiments at Beltsville and at a number of other
experiment stations, and practical experience on many

farms, have shown that dairy cows will thrive on an all-
silage roughage ration. Cows usually crave some dry
hay in addition, however, and will eat more total rough-
age if a little dry hay is fed with the silage.

It is good practice, therefore, to put up some hay
from the best fields during good curing weather. The
hay should be fed along with grass silage to young calves,
to high-producing cows, and to cows that (do not ccm-
sume silage liberally when it is fed as the sole rougha^.
It is particularly desirable to feed dry hay if the grass
silage has a high moisture content.

In feeding trials at Beltsville, wilted alfalfa silage has
consistently been more palatable than a good grade of
alfalfa hay. The cows have produced as much nulk or
more, and they have made greater gains in live weight,
when fed grass silage than when fed alfalfa hay. Calves
fed wilted alfalfa silage consumed as much alfalfa dry
matter after they were 90 days old and made larger gains
in live weight than similar calves fed field-cured hay.
Neither calves nor cows suffered from a lack of vitamin
D, and no reproduction difficulties were noted in the cows.

■^r U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OfFICE : 1948— 0-792861