How agriculture works thread

[jjp8182]

I never thought, I should have taken a picture of them harvesting low bush blueberries in the field in back of me. They had two good sized Kubotas with harvesters on front, and cleared a 15 acre field in about 4 days.

That would be interesting to see

 

[ptsg]

Plowing time in Italy, on some hilly ground:

 

[Jstpssng]

That would be interesting to see

I was thinking the same thing about the poster above you, and his cotton picking.

 

[jjp8182]

I was thinking the same thing about the poster above you, and his cotton picking.

That was also mine .... will have to see if I can get the wife to drive me around during cotton harvest so I can snap a few pictures.

There's generally not much space on Alabama country roads to pull over as the road "shoulder" tends to be the width of the white line .....which has occasionally crumbled off and might be found laying down in the ditch 18 to 36 inches below the road level ....at least until the next time the county comes through to clear/deepen the ditches

Though as interesting as cotton growing is, I'm quite sure the cost of getting into it makes grain farming seem "cheap" to get into by comparison (though cotton, corn and wheat seem to be a favored rotational crop combination). From what I understand the local cotton gins are owned/operated as a joint ventures among several farmers. .... so in addition to the cost of the specialized equipment there's the cost of owning/maintaining the processing facility. Granted that helps the farmers by cutting out some of the middle layers in turning cotton into a marketable product, but it adds to the overhead and skill set required as well....

Probably part of the reason why I've had such a hard time finding US farmers on youtube that grow cotton, but did find the Griggs Farms channel. This is from the start of cotton harvest there last year:

....this video shows the full cotton to clothing process (using newer equipment in the harvest) and seems to be patched together from several different sources:

Really puts it into perspective how/why clothing can be as cheap as it's gotten compared to 100 years ago with all the machinery that's been added into the process from picking to spinning and weaving the natural fibers into fabrics that can then be turned into everything else that's used.

 

[Elvenhome21]

Silage and chaff vs corn feed. When I had carpal tunnel surgery I had to keep occupied so I played farm sim and never really understood silage. Being wisconsin and having pretty big dairy farms around me some have silage bunkers and other don't. What does fermented silage do for cow food vs grains and corn?
Does compacting it speed up the fermenting?
Round hay bales left out in the field that rot, is the rotten bales considered fermented or did the farmer just have to many bales and its a throw away so its left there instead of moved to dryer location.

 

[jjp8182]

Silage and chaff vs corn feed. When I had carpal tunnel surgery I had to keep occupied so I played farm sim and never really understood silage. Being wisconsin and having pretty big dairy farms around me some have silage bunkers and other don't. What does fermented silage do for cow food vs grains and corn?
Does compacting it speed up the fermenting?
Round hay bales left out in the field that rot, is the rotten bales considered fermented or did the farmer just have to many bales and its a throw away so its left there instead of moved to dryer location.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge chimes in, but from my (limited) understanding:

Silage is fermented plant matter, and requires the higher moisture content of green/wet plant matter and a limited oxygen supply to make. Grain corn is harvested in much drier state and if stored properly won't rot (which is different than fermenting in that rotting occurs when oxygen is readily available and the moisture content is high).

Grasses & other "hay-making plants" can be turning into silage/haylage if harvested wet and wrapped to keep the moisture in and the oxygen out. Otherwise it too is dried down and turned into hay for long term storage. Since it's not isolated from oxygen it can/will rot if/when it gets wet.

Fermented products can retain more and provide different nutritional value than hay or grains and are usually easier for to digest as they've been partially broken down through the fermentation process.

Feed products that have rotted can contain all manner of fungi and bacteria and as such really can't really be used for feed. Ideally hay should be stored under cover to reduce exposure to the elements and reduce potential for rotting, but storage space isn't always readily available....

I'm also under the impression (perhaps wrongly) that dairy cattle require a higher protein diet than beef cattle, so given the overhead of making silage it's generally not fed to cattle being raised for beef. I would also suspect that beef-cattle only farms/ranches would arise in proximity to large dairy farms just to buy and fatten out the male calves born on the dairy farms leaving the dairy farmers to focus on raising cattle for dairy production.

....again just my understanding from being on the periphery of different types of cattle & farming operations and looking into learning more about the various types of operations should I ever decide to get (back) into some type of agricultural operation.

 

[ArlyA]

Hopefully someone with more knowledge chimes in, but from my (limited) understanding:

Silage is fermented plant matter, and requires the higher moisture content of green/wet plant matter and a limited oxygen supply to make. Grain corn is harvested in much drier state and if stored properly won't rot (which is different than fermenting in that rotting occurs when oxygen is readily available and the moisture content is high).

Grasses & other "hay-making plants" can be turning into silage/haylage if harvested wet and wrapped to keep the moisture in and the oxygen out. Otherwise it too is dried down and turned into hay for long term storage. Since it's not isolated from oxygen it can/will rot if/when it gets wet.

Fermented products can retain more and provide different nutritional value than hay or grains and are usually easier for to digest as they've been partially broken down through the fermentation process.

Feed products that have rotted can contain all manner of fungi and bacteria and as such really can't really be used for feed. Ideally hay should be stored under cover to reduce exposure to the elements and reduce potential for rotting, but storage space isn't always readily available....

I'm also under the impression (perhaps wrongly) that dairy cattle require a higher protein diet than beef cattle, so given the overhead of making silage it's generally not fed to cattle being raised for beef. I would also suspect that beef-cattle only farms/ranches would arise in proximity to large dairy farms just to buy and fatten out the male calves born on the dairy farms leaving the dairy farmers to focus on raising cattle for dairy production.

....again just my understanding from being on the periphery of different types of cattle & farming operations and looking into learning more about the various types of operations should I ever decide to get (back) into some type of agricultural operation.

jjp8182 You've got it pretty right. Farm animals and us, when we consume this or that vegetation, gets more good out of fermented foods, than non fermented ones. Its like its partially digested and easier for animals (and us) to get energy from it.

 

[sixdogs]

Plowing time in Italy, on some hilly ground:

That sure is some dry ground. Almost no moisture.

 

[ptsg]

That sure is some dry ground. Almost no moisture.

Yes, we're having a very severe drought all over Southern Europe, and of course loads and loads of wildfires, while the Northern Europe gets smashed with loads and loads of rainstorms and floods.

 

[ptsg]

Silage can also be made out of grass. Here is a grass silage operation here in Portugal a couple months ago.