May 27, 2005

It's a wrap: Big 'marshmallows' latest haymaking process

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - At first glance, some Indiana hay fields appear to be growing giant marshmallows.

Although from a distance the white objects look like they belong in the world's largest s'more, they actually are plastic-covered cylinders of hay silage called "balage."

"Balage is silage in a bale," said Keith Johnson, Purdue University Extension forage specialist. "I'm sure people have traveled the countryside and seen these large, round marshmallows. Those are individual round bales that have been wrapped in white plastic.

"The plastic keeps the forage anaerobic. With balage, we're trying to exclude air, which allows the fermentation process to occur. As long as air is excluded and crop quality is excellent, we can get a high-quality forage preserved in the form of silage."

Hay growers can learn more about balage during Purdue Forage Day. The annual event, in its 25th year, will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST June 23 at K&K Farms, located just north of Logansport, Ind., near U.S. 35. Admission is free, with lunch available at a nominal charge.

At the forage event, producers can watch a balage demonstration and examine other hay harvest equipment.

Balage production is on the rise, especially in states like Indiana where frequent rainfall makes it difficult for hay to dry down to a proper baling moisture of 20 percent or less. Forage can be wrapped at much higher moisture levels within a day of cutting.

"Balage allows us to wilt the crop from a standing crop moisture of around 72 to 75 percent down to 50 percent, which takes a lot less time than drying it down to 20 percent or less," Johnson said.

"If the crop is above that critical haymaking moisture level of 20 percent, mold formation is possible. But if growers wait for a stretch of dry weather to allow the hay to dry down to that moisture level, we can wait and wait and wait. Then, all of a sudden, instead of having a high-quality hay made in the middle of May, we have a product that's no longer as digestible or as high in protein content."

Growers will need the right equipment to produce balage. A platform wrapper or in-line tuber costs less than $20,000, with the in-line tuber being the more expensive option. Plastic wrap runs about $3 per bale. But with quality hay selling for $100 to $125 a ton, the up-front costs are worth the investment if forage quality is routinely sacrificed to inclement spring weather, Johnson said.

"A platform wrapper takes the bale and wraps it in the plastic automatically," he said. "There's also a wrapper called an in-line tuber, which places the bales end to end. The advantage of the in-line tuber is that it takes about half the amount of plastic to get the job done.

"While wrapping a bale is going to be around $3, within that bale there's only about 500 to 600 pounds of dry matter. So the cost of the plastic on a dry matter basis is about $12 per dry ton."

Balage does present challenges. Among them:

• More bales must be made and handled because there is less dry matter per bale.

• Bales should be fed to livestock within a year, since the plastic wrap could break down, causing the silage to begin spoiling.

• Disposing of plastic wrap adds work.

For more information about balage, read "What Using an In-line Tuber has Done for Us" by Jason Tower, superintendent of the Southern Indiana-Purdue Agricultural Center. The article can be downloaded from the Purdue Forage Day Web site.

In addition to balage demonstrations, forage day will feature educational sessions on weed-related issues in hay production, hay and pasture evaluation, and moisture testing and preservative applicator equipment.

Additional details are available at county offices of Purdue Extension, or by contacting Johnson at (765) 494-4800, johnsonk@purdue.edu.

Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu

Source: Keith Johnson, (765) 494-4800, johnsonk@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page

Related Web site:
Purdue Forage Information

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