LARGE SQUARE SILAGE BALING

Very careful attention should be paid to the bale pressure depending upon the type and condition of crop being baled. During periods of extended dry and hot weather, for instance, straw bales may be noticeably lighter than during normal conditions, with the baler set to the same bale pressure setting.

Increasing the pressure, in an effort to produce heavier weight bales, will exert greater tension on the twine, leading to potential failures. However, this is not a twine problem. Failures are usually due to the drier crop producing a bale of much less density and of significantly less weight for the same baler pressure setting.

In these circumstances, a decrease in pressure setting will overcome this or, alternatively, a move to the next heavier twine is recommended, such as MAGNUM from CONTRACT 72, for example.

LARGE SQUARE SILAGE BALING

For baling good quality large square silage bales, it is important to follow a few simple guidelines:

• Ensure the crop has wilted to a minimum of 40 - 50% dry matter (DM), which will produce well formed bales as well as excellent fermentation.
• Ensure the twine box tension is reduced as much as possible, as twine friction experienced between silage bales during baling is much greater than between straw bales.
• Eliminate as much air as possible from the crop when baling, as it is essential that sufficient crop is packed into the top of the bale to avoid misshapen bales being formed, which may be difficult for an automatic bale-wrapper to handle properly. A reduction in forward speed will help to achieve this by increasing the number of wads per bale.