Our First Time Doing Baleage (Hay Silage)

Check out our first attempt at making baleage/ haylage/ hay silage!

[@johnprince3290]

I don't know anything about the wrapping....Seemed like a lot of wrapping and what does that do?? How much of a additional cost is it, Does it extend the life to the haylage?

[@rugglesridgefarm3264]

Hi, thanks for your questions! In our case, we are doing hay silage, and for it to ferment properly, you need to exclude oxygen, which requires several layers of the plastic. Some people also wrap dry hay so it can be stored outside without spoilage, in which case you could use fewer layers, just enough so they will shed water. It is a bit pricey, the amount we are using means it costs about $8 a bale to wrap. It is worth it, however, because silage is better quality feed than dry hay. As long as the plastic remains intact, the silage should be good for about a year. Some other silage storage methods may be good for up to 2 or 3 years, so this particular method isn’t really an advantage in that regard. The real advantage of individually wrapped bales is that they can be easily moved and sold, unlike tube wrapped bales or haylage stored in a silo. Hope this helps, thanks for watching 😊