A niche in the forage equipment market: balage.

A Niche in the Forage Equipment Market: Balage It's the practice of putting up silage in round bales, then storing the product in air-tight plastic. It requires very good management, but it can provide some nice benefits.

BIG BALE silage, or balage, permits farmers to harvest and store high-quality forage with minimal investment and reduced weather risk. However, some people don't believe it's an economical, long-term alternative to conventional silage.

But Dick Salisbury, Ford New Holland product manager, says, "Balage can be an alternative to dry hay and chopped silage, although few farmers harvest all their hay as balage. They may have surplus crop, or are in a high rainfall area where it's hard to field-dry early and late cuttings.

"They use balage to store that hay sooner. If they feed a lot of silage, they probably should have a silo and chopper. Maybe a small herd is better off with balage, but there's no set herd size for making a switch. If they don't have a chopper, and use a round baler for hay, they can make balage without buying more equipment."

Some balage proponents say the longer material is better for cows' digestive systems and that it helps produce more milk and butterfat.

Square bales can be ensiled, but high labor requirement and other problems usually limit balage to more easily mechanized, large round bales. Most balage is stored in individual plastic bags, some in silage tubes made for chopped forage, or piles or trenches covered with sheet plastic. Some European and North American farmers wrap balage in continuous strips of plastic.

Bales should be brought to the storage area, wrapped, and not moved until fed to avoid damaging covers. Excellent management is needed from field to feeding, and final feed quality depends on maintaining airtight storage. As with any silage system, feed quality can't be any better than the quality of the crop ensiled.

In a Pennsylvania State University study, baling alfalfa silage used one-third the energy of chopping per ton of dry matter. Hauling and placing balage in storage required less energy but more labor than chopped forage. For the machine, crop, and baling rate used, power used for baling increased in direct proportion to bale weight, and increasing weight of silage bales 550 pounds boosted tractor power required by 8 hp. Bagging is best done by three persons -- one on the tractor to lift and hold bales while two more pull bags onto bales.

Bale Weight

Silage bale weight is a major concern of baler manufacturers. Most tell users to make silage bales no heavier than maximum recommended weights for hay bales. This means silage bales should be no more than three-fourths to two-thirds the maximum possible diameter. This can be a problem with some fixed chamber displacement round balers.

But University of Kentucky researchers say farmers there argue that larger bales are quicker and cheaper to make and store and give better fermentation with less deterioration during storage. The researchers agree, but add that larger bales are more difficult to handle and may result in more waste during feeding, depending on herd size and amount fed at one time.

Page Harrison, University of Alberta ag engineer, says a fixed-chamber baler continues baling until pressure in the chamber reaches a certain level. This results in bales with low-density centers. They have widely varying density if rotated without more forage entering the bale chamber. Hay moisture and type of forage also affect density. Inadequate density may permit too much oxygen to remain in bale centers after bagging, thus increasing spoilage and reducing fermentation. Low density bales slump badly and form very unstable stacks.

Fixed-chamber balers are widely used in Europe for balage, but some users report problems in baling silage with belt-type balers having fixed or variable chambers. Experiences vary, but chain and raddle balers and those with highly textured belts appear to have the fewest problems in making balage. Some round balers require balage kits for best performance, usually scrapers to prevent buildup of gum on belt rollers and possibly shields to prevent wrapping of hay.

In the Penn State study, balage dry matter losses were generally higher than for chopped silage. An earlier test showed balage field dry matter losses of 10 percent versus 24 percent for field-cured round bales. Bagged balage and round hay bales stored inside had similar chemically estimated feed quality and storage losses. Of course, quality of field-cured hay depends on weather exposure and elapsed time between cutting and baling.

Hay drying time for bales can be four to five times longer than that needed to wilt silage, enough in much of North America for severe weather damage. Unless preservatives are used, bale spoilage is likely if hay has more than 20 to 22 percent moisture. But most experts recommend starting to bale hay silage at about 65 percent moisture, with 50 percent about the minimum level for safe ensiling. If moisture content is too high, juices seep from the hay, collect in the bag and impede fermentation.

Wrap It Well

Oxygen must be excluded for silage fermentation, and unless balage covers are airtight, spoilage and loss of quality are inevitable. Much improper fermentation and storage loss of balage can be traced to the failure of plastics, bag seams or seals or to damaged bags and covers. Mold often found just inside bag seals indicates sealing problems, and double-tying is recommended.

Ford New Holland's Salisbury urges farmers not to make bales too heavy to move and to match bale and bag size. He adds, "You'll tear a 5 1/2-foot bag putting it on a 5 1/2-foot bale. If bags are too big, too much air stays inside, spoilage starts and bags flap in the wind."

Experts say wind over holes in a bag starts a pumping action that increases airflow in and out of the bag, thus accelerating spoilage. Tiny holes in tight plastic wraps may cause some spoilage without loss of the entire bale.

Loose, wind-flexed plastic develops stress lines that leak air, then break. Damage is worse when plastic is stiffened by cold. Even plastics with ultraviolet inhibitors deteriorate in harsh weather and sun. Some people argue that darker plastics absorb more radiant heat which increases plastic degradation, impedes fermentation and may increase spoilage. This is still debated, but black-inside/white-outside balage bags show mixed test results, and sell well.

High-quality bags pay off in better silage, while recycled plastics may have tiny pinholes that permit air passage and excessive spoilage. Covering stacks of bagged bales with a net helps prevent wind damage to individual bags.

Machines are available in Europe and America to fully wrap balage in continuous strips of plastic as bales are turned on rollers. This is not the same as plastic wrapped on the outer circumference of round hay bales with ends open for drying. This wrap replaces bags, can be applied by one man running the machine, and resists wind better than bags because the plastic is stretched as it's wrapped. If the wrap is punctured, the tighter cover reduces spoilage because there's less chance for air to move completely around the bale inside the wrap.

Reuse the Bags?

Mike Liskey, Harrisonburg, Va., recently told Hoard's Dairyman that he stacks silage bales with tied ends to the south so that snow and ice melt and it's easier to open bags in the winter. Heavy reusable bale bags are available and many farmers use them.

Ed Epperson, John Deere Ottumwa Works, says, "To reuse bags, take special care to prevent bag damage by stubble, rodents and other animals during storage."

But Liskey and others argue that there's little or no savings considering the time required to inspect and patch bags before reusing them. It is also very difficult to avoid damaging bags when removing them in extremely cold weather -- when the main thought is to get back inside as soon as possible.

Liskey and others say bales must be bagged as soon after baling as possible, at least on the same day, for heating and spoilage begin quickly. Vacuum cleaners may be used to remove air from bags before sealing, but the results are questionable. Gas from fermenting silage soon refills the bags and there's been little if any improvement in silage quality when air was removed before sealing. Making higher density bales and providing a close fit between bales and bags are probably more beneficial in the long run.

Packing balage in a trench increases chances of producing good silage, says Kevin Sartain, New Idea product manager, but he says it's hard to remove balage "as a bale" after it's been compressed. One Alberta farmer piles balage in a trench, then packs it with a 4-wheel drive tractor. Engineers say this can be extremely dangerous, and that only dual-wheeled tractors with wheels spread as wide as possible should be used to reduce danger of overturning.

University of Kentucky researchers say balage must be wrapped with twine to maintain bale density during ejection, transport and bagging. Natural twine breaks down during storage and is presumably digested, but synthetic twine must be removed at feeding.

Where Does Balage Fit?

Deere's Epperson says balage fits wherever it's hard to dry hay -- the Pacific Northwest, Southeast, East Coast, New England. But Sartain says balage is very labor intensive and bags are expensive. The extra cost of labor and bags, he said, might well pay for a silo over several years.

Anyone choosing between balage and chopped silage should consider the availability and cost of labor; the volume of crops to be chopped annually versus crop baled as hay or balage. If herd size changes suddenly, it's easier to sell surplus hay than to get rid of silage. If hay gets too dry for balage, it can be baled as dry hay, and the baler could bale corn stalks, straw or other crop residue for feed, bedding, etc.

Investments must be compared for forage harvester, wagons, blower and silo, plus the cost of interest, repairs and annual silo upkeep with the cost and higher labor requirement of a baler/balage/hay system. An automatic bale wrapper increases balage system investment and would need to be balanced against savings in labor and potential spoilage, although reduction of spoilage is still being debated by researchers and farmers.

PHOTO : ONE FORM of balage production is to put the bales into heavy plastic tubes that extend to

PHOTO : 200 ft. This Ag-Bag unit consists of a carriage which holds the high-moisture bale, a ram

PHOTO : activated hydraulically from the tractor, a circular entry chamber or throat and the tube.