A nearby field I pass on the way to my house from the interstate grows some kind of grass for hay, which is cut and baled, and then followed by a GMO corn (Pioneer) for silage. Year after year (Ugh). I had noticed his round bales encased in a white plastic over the last year or two, but I finally saw how it's done. I suspect he has the only set-up in the county to do this.
The machine accepts round bales from the back, and they get wrapped as the machine moves them forward, and at the same time the machine inches backwards so the wrapped bales drop off in line with previous bales and it's ready to accept another bale.
I found it fascinating even though I HATE that he grows GMO corn for his cows. Fortunately I think his fields are far enough away from my garden that I'm not too worried about pollen contamination, and I don;t grow corn anyway.
I've always wondered about them too. Most of my family were farmers and I really don't get the wrapping them in plastic thing. I guess so they don't have to have a place to store them. I would think that the plastic would make them sweat and start to decompose. The size and shape don't make a lot of sense either. They can't be moved by a person and would take up more space then the traditional bales to store.
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me like they are making haylage rather than hay.
ReplyDeleteHaylage is a femented hay, which is the reason for the plastic wrapping. It's a cultured food like silage, just made from hay.
I've usually seen it fed to horses.
http://www.ehhaylage.co.uk/
Thanks. That's kinda what I thought, only I didn't have the nomenclature for it!
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