proprionic acid?

[ddelawaredale]

Well I've finally had to break down and do it I bought a preservative rig for my baler it's not in yet but I'm looking forward to maybe not having to be so completely at the mercy of the east wind I'm 8 miles from the Delaware Bay and an East wind can almost be as bad as a rain. Does any one have any advice or experience with this type of product. I'm using the buffered type that is not supposed to dissolve the baler in front of my eyes but we are going to find out. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

Jump over to Yesterdays Tractor website. Find the "Using your tractor" board, OR Implement Alley. Post your question to the attention of "Kyhayman". He-da-man! (UK Ag school alum, Vo-Ag teacher, Farmer of the 1st level, and, as his screen-name indicates, a top-of-the-line hay producer. Tell him I sent you....

You can take his answer to the bank....

 

[cowboydoc]

We use alot of acid. The most important part of it is getting a good system that is going to apply the acid at the proper concentration and moisture level. You really need to install a good moisture tester on your baler that you can read in the baler. Our system is automatic. We set the amount of moisture that the acid should come on for. They also have manual ones that are less expensive. With this one you coordinate the moisture level to the level of acid being applied. There is a book to determine this. It's more complicated but costs about $2k less.

As far as the acid it isn't a problem. Regardless of whether we use acid or not we always clean our balers after each cutting. With the acid systems you just lightly hose it down after you've blown all the particulate matter out. Then we use the air gun again to dry everything out and grease it. We then run the baler and apply oil to all the chains.

 

[ddelawaredale]

I bought the mid line harvest tec one with a harvest tech moisture meter, it's 2 seperate units but I'm pretty adept at doing about ten operations at once, so it shouldn't be too overwhelming. The feed rate is going to be the tricky part as far as ton per acre I imagine that has to figure in to the equation at some point do you just take some samples and go with a high average and adjust by eye and sound or are the full auto ones actually full auto. I'm a little confused as to how much the spray will throw off the meter. how much moisture are you adding I can't imagine much. Sorry so many questions but I don't have the unit or the instructions yet so I'm just running my head.

 

[cowboydoc]

You should have a dial for the different moisture contents on that midline model. You will get a digital reading of your hay moisture. The moisture gauge should be set in your chamber walls of your baler. Once you get the moisture reading you just set the dial to the appropriate # for the moisture you have and the unit will automatically put on the proper amount. The full auto ones are completely automatic but I've used quite a few of the manual ones too. If you haven't installed and can afford the extra $ it's definitely worth it if time is of an essence to you.

 

[MikePA]

Just curious...How does applying acid deal with baling hay that's too wet?

 

[cowboydoc]

The acid is a preservative. It prevents the microbial breakdown and halts the curing process that hay normally goes through. If a person could afford to do it you could keep hay for years and it would still be just like the day you baled it when the hay was opened.

 

[Bird]

Thanks for asking, Mike. I've learned something new, too. I've baled a few hundred round bales, but never heard of an acid preservative for hay.

 

[cowboydoc]

Dale,

I just thought you might not have the automatic adjuster. How does your monitor look? Does it just have the #'s on it? If it does you are completely manual. If you are completely manual then it's a little more complicated. On those the first thing you need to do is determine how many ton/hour that you bale. Bale four or five bales and time it. That will give you your average time/bale. Then you need to know how much your bales weigh. Once you know that then you can figure your tons/hour. Next you will need to know what % the acid that you are using requires. For havest tec spray 17-22% moisture is 4lb/ton, 23-26% moisture is 8lb/ton, and 27-30% is 16lb/ton. In your manual there should be a chart that will tell you at what psi you need to run your gauge on the applicator at. For the completely manual ones you need to go by the gauge pressure. The control box only controls the pump speed which controls the psi. The psi is what you have to set to get the flow right. Also remember to flip the switch off when you are unloading a bale. On the completely manual ones the spray is going all the time. You can waste alot of applicator letting it run while you are dumping a bale. If you have anymore questions or if I've confused you more let me know. If I know the applicator system you have I can tell you exactly how it will work.

 

[ddelawaredale]

I bought the 441. It's the pump speed dial model. We used to row crop 800 acres not counting double cropping and small square bale 100 acres of alfalfa orchard grass which probably explains the condition of my back. We have years ago used the drying agent and if things go well this year I probably will look it up again we had very good results with it. I have resisted going to the preservative because people seem to have a negative peception of it real or imagined. I have a reputation for selling only the best possible if it doesn't meet my mark I'll sell it for mulch, cow hay or push it off in the woods. I've had some people call me crazy for this policy but we were out of the hay business for ten years and as soon as people found out I had the first ten acres of hay back in the ground the phone started ringing. I'm not bragging it's just how it is. Right now though it is do or die for me and any thing I can do to remove some risk I will. If I don't have to use it so much the better but it's nice to have the option. I got back in to farming basically because I need some thing to keep my blood pressure up HA HA. No actually we are in the fastest growing county in the nation housing wise and this is the only type of farming that I can see as paying it's way and maybe the property taxes to boot. God knows no one is in farming strictly for the cash.

I bought the 441. It's the pump speed dial model. The fully auto unit is not an option at this point so I'll be timing and probably slightly over applying chemical I'm using Baler's Choice which is pretty high active ingredient of course that's what the rep say's if there is some thing better and cheaper let me know. Does it harm any thing other than your your bottom line to over apply the product slightly. Can you actually bale at thirty percent? and not get yellowing and bleaching. Do the bales shink up and the strings get loose like crazy there has to be a catch. Alot of times here it will get to the point of almost ready to bale I mean just so close and not break over some times you can go ahead and get lucky, or wait another day and hope you don't cach an East wind or an afternoon thunderstorm By almost I mean your not going to burn the barn down but you know your going to have carmelization throughout and a good heat. Now come February you can sell it and it won't hurt a thing but it sure would be nice to to have customers saying wow.
I have a New Idea Hesston baller and a New Idea disc bine by the way and we are still hand handling everything on 24 acres of alfalfa and 7 soon to be 37 acres of orchard grass. On the Alfalfa it is achievable on this sandy ground to get 8 tons per year after the first year and get 5 to 6 actually productive years out of a stand. You do have to pour the lime and the potash on it though. One year we took 5 cuttings off of a stand I have no idea what the yield was but it seemed tremendous. Now that you know more than you ever wanted to know about Mid Atlatic Alfalfa production any advise on the acid and set up would be appreciatted. If you have ever used or do use the drying agent let me know where I can obtain it We used a product called Coservit that made the hay so palatable it was unbelievable. Thank you