Wide Swath Haylage to Save Time & Nutrients
Transcript of Wide Swath Haylage to Save Time & Nutrients
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Wide Swath Haylage to Save Time & Nutrients
Tom KilcerCornell Cooperative Extension in
Rensselaer County, New York
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
24 – 48 Hours
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
¾ inchJones and Harris 1980
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Traditional Drying - Narrow Swath
20253035404550
Fresh mowed end day 1
begin day 2
begin day 3
begin day 4
DM
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
80%
20%
Initial Phase
Intermediate Phase
Final Phase
20% Time
Moi
stur
e
Biology of Drying Forages
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
80%
20%20%Time
Moi
stur
e
65-70%
Stomatal openingsAxial moisture movement
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Stomate = Lungs of the Plant
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Plant Physiology, Salisbury and Ross, 1985 p60.
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Plant Physiology, Third Edition Wirtten by: Salisbury and Ross 1985 pg. 59&60
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
AIR
moisture
moisture
Conditioning Breaks Capillary Flow
35% of alfalfa stem moisture exits through the leaf (Harris & Tulberg, 1980)Legumes 10X more stomata than GrassStomata Sunlight - open Shade - closed
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
80%
20%
ConditioningRadial moisture movement
20% Time
Moi
stur
e
10 X slower d
rying
than Axial (Bargnall et.
al.,
1970)
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Physics of Moisture Lossor
What Helps or Hurts Drying
-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Soil MoistureSwath DensityRelative HumidityWind VelocityCrop moistureVapor deficitAir TempSwath TempSwath Sun
Rotz et.al 1987
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Swath Sunlight
3 X more sunlight
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
2nd Cut Grass Swath Core Temp
65
75
85
95
105
Dat
e/T
ime
11:3
5 A
M
12:3
5 PM
1:35
PM
2:35
PM
3:35
PM
4:35
PM
5:35
PM
6:35
PM
7:35
PM
8:35
PM
9:35
PM
10:3
5 PM
NarrowWide
Swath Air & Swath Temp
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Swath Density
Density had greater impact on drying than Conditoning, Mixing or Turning Swath Wright et al. 1997
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Swath density decreases moisture removal
5.5X More Dense Wright, et.as 1997 Grass and Forage Sci. 52:86-98
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
No Sun
Stomata Closed
Drying Reduced
10 – 100XHarris & Tullberg 1980
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Swath Core Relative Humidity
2030405060708090
100
10:00 AM 1:00 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM
Narrow Wide -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
RelativeHumidity
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Wide swath
Field Results?
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
12 ft mower opened to wide swath = 8 ft. 66% of cutterbar width
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Width Matters More Than Conditioning –Alfalfa- Swath Not Moved
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
NHC40%
NHC59%
NHC73%
NHC83%
SB 94%
% M
oist
ure
Los
t 2 hour
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Width Matters More than Conditioning –Grass – Swath Not Moved
22.00%
24.00%
26.00%
28.00%
30.00%
NH 40%
NH 59%
Diskmow 65%NH 73%
NH 83%
Sidebar 94%
% D
ry M
atte
r
1 hour
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
1st Cut AlfalfaPoor Drying Conditions/ Swath Not Moved
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
0.75
0.8
0.85
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Hours From Cutting
% M
oist
ure
7.8 Hours
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Moisture Removal Rate/Hour
0.00%
0.50%
1.00%
1.50%
2.00%
2.50%
3.00%
% Moisture removed/hr
TraditionalNarrow
Wide Swath Wide/H&Smerged
14.9 hrs. 7.4 hrs. 4.9 hrs.
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
1st Cut Harvest Window
16 17 18 19 20 21 2223 24 25 26 27 28 2930 31 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
May
June
Light rain Heavy rain No rain
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
What Quality Reaches the Cow’s Mouth
• Wide Swath Makes a Difference!!
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Sunshine Produced Dry Matter
+50
Respiration lost Dry Matter
- 20
+ 30 Net Gain
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Sunshine Produced Dry Matter
Respiration lost Dry Matter
- 20
-20 Net Loss
Shade or Nighttime
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Relationship between overnight DM loss and minimum night temps
56789
1011121314
0 4 8 12 16
Min temp, degrees C
DM
loss
, %
Knapp et.al. 1973
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Starch 2000 to 220,000 sugar units. Moser 1995
Respiration loss
Sugar-11%
-24%
Knapp et.al 1973
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Starch lost- Traditional Narrow Swath
00.5
11.5
22.5
Fresh mowed end day 1 begin day 2 begin day 3
STARCH
92% Starch lost
By 3rd Day
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Sugar lost- Narrow Swath
5.25
6.25
7.25
Fresh mowed end day 1 begin day 2 begin day 3
SUGAR
19% Sugar lost
By 3rd Day
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Sugar 7.72
Starch 3.5
Sugar 6.417.7% loss
Starch 2.917.1% loss
Narrow Swath Milk loss From Respiration in just 24 hours
16% - 30% of Dry Matter loss by Respiration
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Sugar 8.10
Starch 3.075
Sugar 7.685% loss
Starch 3.24% gain!
Wide swath
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
LACTIC/ACETICRATIO
alfalfa narrow 1.520
wide 3.105
Grass narrow 6.67
wide 9.738
2nd Cut Alfalfa narrow 3.888
wide 5.940
BMR narrow 0.890
wide 1.143
More Sugar
& Starch =
Better
Fermentation
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
0.45
0.55
0.65
Nel
1st cut alfalfa 2nd cut grass 2nd cut alfalfa
Narrow Fresh Wide Fresh Narrow Wilt Wide Wilt
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Protein (made of amino acid units) NPNAmino
acid
Soluble Protein
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
0
2.56.5
26.5
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Fora
ge N
PN
Wilt Time Hours
0 2.5 6.5 26.5
Impact of Drying Time on Forage NPN
Table from Brady, 1960
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Impact on Potential Milk/Ton1st Cut Alfalfa 2nd Cut Grass
Narrow Fresh 2652 a 3513 a
Wide Fresh 2731 a 3606 aNarrow Ferment 2279 b 3400 bWide Ferment 2574 a 3705 albs potential Milk/ton 294.9 304.5$/ton DM $44.24 $45.68
275 Acres x 3 T DM/A x $40/T = $33,000
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
Wide Swath Plus Multiple Windrows
• Reduces time & cost
• Fits quality harvest window
• Gives you more milk/ton
Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County
counties.cce.cornell.edu\rensselaer\agriculture
Produced by
Tom Kilcer
Regional Field Crop & Dairy Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension in Rensselaer County, New York
This research was made possible by a grant from H&S manufacturing;
New York Farm Viability Institute
and assistance from New Holland Equipment