Who should be responsible for the quality of harvested hay

Who should beresponsible for the quality of

harvested hay

The preparation of fodder is a responsible thing, because the health of cattle and the profitability of the enterprise depend on its quality and sufficient quantity during the winter period. Farmers start to do it at the end of April or beginning of May.

General rules of forage harvesting

For proper harvesting of hay, straw and greens it is important to coordinate the work of each member of the farm or agricultural enterprise: from the tractor driver and technologist to the agronomist and engineer. It is necessary to:

adhere to the phase in which it is recommended to cut the crop for subsequent storage according to the chosen technology;
control the degree of drying in the field and the humidity of the crop;
ensure the continuity of the laying process (you need to accurately calculate the number of equipment and packing materials);
control the uniformity of compacting of hay, straw or green mass;
carry out fast and reliable packing with subsequent transportation to the place of storage.

Stages of packing in a bale netting

Stage 1: Mowing the grass into a bed or windrow.

Stage 2: Drying with tedding. Depending on the condition and the crop, you may need a few days until the cut grass is as dry as you want it to be before baling:

hay – 18-20 %;
haylage – 50-55 %;
silage – 60-75 %.

Stage 3: Raking in a windrow is necessary before the baler, which will pack hay, haylage or silage into bales, starts to work.

Stage 4: Collecting hay from the windrows and baling. Polypack net wrap is suitable for all the most popular balers in the world.

Step 5: Transport to the place of storage. Net bales can be left directly in the field. But the closer they are to the farm, the less time it will then take to deliver the feed to the cattle.

All processes will require agricultural machinery and operators for it. During the baling phase, you will also need packing materials, i.e. a Polypack hay net.