Larry Olsen, Mitchell, S.D., started harvesting alfalfa as baleage rather than dry hay in 2008 and has gotten pretty good at it.

“We had high humidity all the time; it was nearly impossible to put up good-quality dry hay,” he says.

Cutting the hay at about 60% moisture and wrapping it in a plastic film when it was about 50% moisture eliminated nearly all chances of weather damage.

Some of his best baleage had a relative feed value of 200-plus and total digestible nutrients of more than 80%, he says. The Brix level (sugar content) was in the 12-15 range.

“It was rocket fuel,” he says of the forage.

Most of Olsen’s baleage went to dairy goat farms in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

“People think goats will eat anything — tin cans even,” he says. “But goats really like high-quality forage, and dairy goats produced a lot of milk on our baleage.”

Olsen got out of the hay business at the end of the 2016 season when he lost some key farming partners. They decided to pursue other businesses and farming opportunities. Since he didn’t have enough labor for baleage, Olsen decided to focus on the trucking business he had been running as a sideline to farming.

“The hay business is tough,” Olsen says, “and baleage doesn’t necessarily make it any easier.”

Like dry hay prices, baleage prices go up and down with supply. But dry hay supplies can affect baleage prices.

When there’s a lot of dry hay around, it is tougher to find a market for baleage, Olsen says.

Some buyers — like dairy cow and dairy goat milk producers — will pay a premium for baleage because it can increase their animals’ milk production.

Olsen’s advice on making baleage includes:

• Have a market lined up if you are not going to use the baleage yourself.

• Invest in high-quality wrap, which is also called film. Film tear strength and tack will vary by brand. Holes in the wrap expose the baleage to air, and the wet forage will spoil quickly.

• Don’t skimp on labor and equipment. Putting up baleage requires a lot of both. You’ll need to bale almost immediately after cutting and windrowing, and you’ll need to wrap the bales almost immediately after baling for best results. Olsen wrapped bales in the field and then loaded the bales on a truck to take them either to storage or a market. You can also move the bales to where they are going to be stored and then wrap them there. The less you handle the bales the better, because it reduces the risk of damage to the wrap.

• Pay attention to details. When you cut the forage is important. The alfalfa or grass needs about 60% moisture. When you wrap it, the plants should be about 50% moisture. Windrowing, raking and baler pickup settings have to be precise. You can’t pick up soil in any of those operations, because the bacteria in the soil will cause the baleage to spoil.

• If you are selling baleage, stand by your product. Since you can usually spot bad bales when loading dry hay, you can make sure you only sell customers the good stuff. But you can’t see through the baleage wrap and see spoilage. Just make sure you don’t load any bales with holes in the wrap, and be sure to make good on any spoiled bales you deliver.

More baleage tips
Adele Harty and Ken Olson, South Dakota State University Extension cow-calf field specialist and Extension state beef specialist, respectively, have other tips and suggestions:

• Make sure your equipment is big enough. Baleage will be heavier than dry hay. A 4-by-4-foot or 4-by-5-foot bale will weigh 1,300 to 1,600 pounds.

• Cut forages for baleage when maturity reaches the appropriate yield and quality for your feeding requirements with adequate moisture in the plant. For legumes, this is at about 10% bloom, while grasses are at the boot stage or just as the head emerges. You’ll want to bale them when they are about 50% moisture, instead of 15% moisture as you do for dry hay. Even if forages are past the ideal maturity stage for harvesting, there is still value in creating baleage as long as the oxygen is taken away from the feed. Baleage will not ensile as well when the plants are more mature, but the forage will be preserved and stable as long as there is 60% dry matter or less.

• The denser the baleage bale, the better. Density should be 10 pounds per foot or greater to ensure less spoilage. Slow the baler’s ground speed down and use plastic twine. Other twine or net wrap can be used, but treated sisal twine is not recommended because it can degrade the plastic wrap.

• To feed baleage, place it in a feeder or bale processor. Bales exposed to air should be fed within a few days.