Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition?

   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition? #1  

emmonsfarms

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Jan 11, 2013
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Location
fayette, ohio
Tractor
JD 4430 and 4440
I have 100 acres of winter cereal rye I will be cutting in mid-May for silage. It will be stored in a drive-over pile at 65 to 70% moisture. I intend to lay it down as wide as a New Holland 7450 moco will allow and then merge it back together just before the chopper gets to it. "Hay-in-a-day" is my goal but I've never tried it with rye. Should I condition it or not?
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition? #2  
If you intend to cut it with an H7450 how do you propose to NOT condition the crop? If you use that machine, some level of conditioning is going to happen.
If you intend to get it down to 70% in 24 hours in Ohio in May, you had better plan on aggressive conditioning.
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition?
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks for the response RickB. As far as the H7450, the service manager at the local dealer told me the conditioning roles could be manually set apart a small amount to minimize/eliminate conditioning. (I don't own the machine yet so I don't have it in front of me to look at. I haven't actually decided on what make/model of moco I want yet but the NH 7450 is at the top of the list right now.)

As far as the need for conditioning in spring in Ohio...the 'hay-in-a-day' info I'm finding on-line is mostly about alfalfa and its drying characteristics. The research say's if you are aiming for 65-70% haylage, laying it in a wide swath and no conditioning leads to the quickest dry down. Conditioning is required if you are trying to get to 60% or less. The initial respiration is through the leaves pulling air up from the cut end of the stem. If the alfalfa is conditioned it actually slows the initial moisture loss. I'm not sure if rye grass dries the same as alfalfa or not. I'd be interested in hearing from farmers with actual experience because sometimes research results are hard to replicate on farm.
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition? #4  
As far as the need for conditioning in spring in Ohio...the 'hay-in-a-day' info I'm finding on-line is mostly about alfalfa and its drying characteristics. The research say's if you are aiming for 65-70% haylage, laying it in a wide swath and no conditioning leads to the quickest dry down. .

Any research that says a wide swath with no conditioning will give faster drying than the same crop in the same width swath without conditioning must have been done by a bunch of crack addicts. It ain't gonna happen that way. Soil moisture, sun angle, humidity, crop yield and crop moisture content at cutting in your situation will make drying of the entire crop mat to 30% DM in one day attainable, but not a slam dunk. There is simply no reason that I can see that you should not condition the rye as much as possible to facilitate drying. Grasses don't suffer the leaf loss that legumes do from over-conditioning.
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition? #5  
I agree with Rick. At what growth stage are you planning on cutting the Rye? Pre-boot,boot or headed?? Years ago I cut some boot stage Wheat that was conditioned and it lay on the ground for 2 weeks and I thought it was dry enough to rd bale but it wasn't as rd bales turned to straw & molasses.

I don't know how the "thumbs down" got in the heading but I guess it was my fumble fingers.
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
O.k...Thanks RickB. One vote for maximum conditioning.
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Hello Tx Jim...we seeded it thinking we would need extra roughage after the 2012 drought. If mid-May Ohio weather conditions allow we will make pre-boot lactating cow quality ryelage. If its raining every other day, we will end up with heifer quality feed instead. Definitely won't be trying to bale it though.

Two votes for conditioning.
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition? #9  
Dan here, i do about 75 acres of this a year and put some in a 20*60 silo and the rest in bags. I have a new holland 1432 mower, and i condition it and than i even rake it before the chopper gets it. I didnt condition it before and it rotted in the silo. It was like green wet snot. The unloader would nt throw it down or nothing. So from my experience get it 75 percent dry. I am in ct and normally do this around may 20-30 and it normally sits on the ground for three days. Hope this helps
 
   / Spring cut rye for ryelage...to condition or not to condition? #10  
Conditioning set on max. Ken Sweet
 
 
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