The Rural Voice, 1998-06, Page 571
Advice
maturity and quality. Often poor
growing conditions prevail and the
producer is unable to observe the
physical changes in the plant and
must rely on other methods to
determine harvesting time. When
they are unable to make the visual
observation, they should fall back on
the calendar method. This method
pays attention to the time of the year
when the plant reaches maturity: at
the end of May to early June in
established stands.
Harvesting early allows producers
to get several cuttings in a year,
increase the level of production and
improve the quality of forage. Once
the first cut is taken, the second cut
should be made 35 days later. Any
additional cut should take into
consideration the time required to
build plant reserves for the winter.
The first three weeks of growth
drains the root system and the next
two weeks rebuilds the reserve. A fall
cutting should have either no
regrowth or five weeks of growth.0
Round bale silage
and the problem
of molds
By Joan McKinlay
OMAFRA Soil and Crop Advisor
What's growing on your round
bale silage? Bales that have been
kept until the warm spring weather
will show mold growth.
Silage systems preserve the forage
by the bacteria producing so much
acid that it "pickles" the material.
This means that the pH of the mass
drops down below 5.0. At this point,
we refer to this as stable silage since
molds and yeasts cannot grow in
these conditions. As air enters the
silage mass the pH will rise until it
reaches a point where molds vf,ill
grow. This is commonly referred to
as "bunk lift" and usually occurs in
the feeder.
Conversely, round bale silage
never drops the pH below 5.5-5.7.
The long stems of forage do not
favour good acid production so,
although we think of it as silage, it is
really in a state of "suspended
animation". This means that the
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JUNE 1998 53