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Alberta, Canada | Nathan - Both methods work, and there are pros and cons of each. The biggest reason why I've considered wrapping individually, is because it's in the field, and the bales are wrapped as fast as they're baled. For us, we're picking the bales directly out of the baler, and loading the truck, 32 at a time. Then it takes another 30 minutes to drive home (highway) then another undetermined amount to time to unload the truck and put them directly in the bagger. That all depends on the operator. As well, for us, we need to replace the bag every 40 bales. First few times it took over 1/2 hour to do that, now we can do it in under 10 minutes. Another 30 minutes later we get to the field, another how long does it take to load the truck, get home, and get them in the bag? That was the problem this year at times, and I was able to wait about an hour in between loads (I was on the bagger tractor at home), but we've had up to 3 trucks going at once, and this time it was from quite a ways away. Normally it is nonstop, and sometimes I have 2 trucks sitting at home with full loads. So in normal years, there's not much of an issue with drying time, and we haven't had any spoilage after the first year. First year we did 1,700 bales for ourselves alone... This year however, there's some concern, both because of dryness, and for a number of reasons which I'll mention further down, we'll see when we open up the bags. The only other good thing about individual wrapping, is if you're going to leave them in a pile on the field, and will be hauling them home at a later date. Costs more per bale for that, and it's not something where the custom operator can benefit from that extra cost. Plus, there's a lot more work, and waste. There will always be a limited amount of spoilage around the edges of the silage, whether it's a bunk, bag, individual, or tube. But with individual, there's more edges. For some people, it's practical, for others, it's not. And yes, we'll probably get out of farming, at least cattle, when I graduate. At least so they say.
Scott - Interesting, although why do you find if you try bagging a tube of bales, there will be spoilage, but not with individually wrapping? Seems to me it wasn't done properly.
NWOHyoungfarmer - Yes, your correct about the in-line wrapping, which is why we don't do wrapping. I realize most people consider the bags to be loose silage bags, and they think that there's only one way of putting bales in tubes. There are wraps, which come in rolls, that are identical to individually wrapped bales, just put on a different machine. These just wrap the outside edge, and continue along the tube. We tried that method for a couple years, and were moderately pleased with it, until we found the bag technique. This, is exactly like a sausage. You put the bag on the machine, which is in an O shap of the bale, pull off a couple folds, and tie the end. Stretch it out as needed for the bale (and not too much, that's where the spoilage problem comes in), and as the bale feeds, it pulls off more folds. You can tie it off anywhere along the way, or at the end. You can do 3 bales in a day, then tie it off if that's what floats your boat. Same with removing the bales. You can't do this with the wrap. As well, bags come in all shapes (not really) but sizes. The brand we use, makes 20-bale bags, and 40-bale bags. We use 40-bale bags because it costs less per bale (not drastically) and you have only have to change bags 1/2 as often. And I can relate to your weather problem, we only get 2 cuts of hay in our area, and the first cut is either silage, or poor hay due to rain. You don't sound full of it, just make sure you check all the options first, like you seem to be doing. Also, ensure you have enough customers locally before you start.
Jon - Not sure what else to say about the bagger... it's got a little Honda engine in it, that runs a hydraulic pump. It is totally self-contained, although it needs a vehicle for moving it. Otherwhise it just pushes itself along as you feed a bale in. This keeps the bales tight up against each other. If you know what you're doing, it's very tight. Just decide which size a bale you want(anywhere from 4' - 6', just consider the weight), get that size bag, and make sure you produce the proper size bale. And make sure you don't get an idiot putting the bag on, that'll stretch a 5' bag, all the way out to over 6', happened this year. Of course no man's gonna listen to a kid. Once it's stretched that much, it won't be as tight, and there'll be some air pockets. Another benefit to the bag, is after you're done, you tie it off instantly, and then the next day or so, it'll start to ferment. When it does this, the end of the bag will blow up like a balloon. Pop this with a pen, get all the air out (either by simply tightening the bag, or an air mattress inflater/deflater if you're really fanatical like me), and retie it up tighter. No, we have not had any problems with spoilage with THIS system yet. They have all kinds of bags, different thicknesses, sizes, lengths, etc. You can get them with a black inside layer and a white outer layer, for more UV protection. If done properly, the silage can be left in the bags for over a year. (ie, make it summer 2006, use it winter 2008.) Our neighbor does this, they have 300-500 head of beef cattle, and since the Drought Of 2001, they keep feed for 2 years in advance.
(2000 = $30-40 a bale, 2001 = $100-150 a bale, and cattle prices dropped to 1/5th of their already low price.)
The bags are very thick. For us, we get the 6.0 mil bag, and that's $165 per 40 bale bag = $4.13 a bale. Not sure how this compares up to wrap as we never bought it, just had a custom guy stand next to his machine at $7.00 a bale. We charge $6.00 a bale (includes everything, even a truck and tractors) when we make it with our neighbors. Another thing, is with wrap, it peels away in strips, and sticks to the bales like tape. Not bags. A bagger unit is probably less expensive, and it's just a better system.
Note that these are CAD prices, and look higher than they are. If you're that interested, Google has a currency exchange. I hope I adressed everything. If not, let me know.
-Josh
Edited by JoshA 10/20/2006 14:21
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