Baling corn stalks

samn40 · Oct 19, 2012

What uses do you have for baled corn stalks?, I have seen postings on here about chopping and baling corn stalks , but as we can't do corn in N.Ireland like you do, I am interested as to it's uses, how you chop, sting or net tie or even what the other options are. I would like to see picrtures also please. I have never travelled in America this late in the season to see much corn harvest.
Thanks....Sam

gregger · Oct 19, 2012

we just rake with a V-rake and bale, fresher the better as long as they are dry --- gregger

gtractorfan · Oct 19, 2012

Long ago when dad was short on straw he baled cornstalks in small squares for bedding. Used a stock chopper and rake into windrows... harder on baler than hay and wheat or oat straw.

Tx Jim · Oct 19, 2012

Last year during the drought in Texas 1000's of acres of Cornstalks were shredded,v-raked & rd baled for cattle feed. It's not great but it beats a snow ball.

Bruce from Can. · Oct 19, 2012

Some dairy guys around me will wait till the end of winter, around March, so the stalks have "frezee dried". Then , after the snow is gone, and on a cold day , so there is frost enough to make the mud in the field hard. They will go out with a disc bine, and cut the stalks, and bale right behind in big squares. These bales are used for bedding in free stall barns or feed lots.

paul · Oct 19, 2012

Cattle like about 2/3 of a bale for roughage. The last 1/3 of the bale you either use for bedding, or you grind the bale and mix with hay, or add sweetener or something so they eat the whole thing. It is low energy, but good feed for brood cows, or other that just needs filler.

Some bale them for just bedding.

I've seen small squares, many round bale with string or netwrap, and quite a few big square bales of them.

Very popular around here the past decade or so. Cornstalks are sort of a negative out in the field in a cold wet climate like mine, hard to plow or get rid of the stalks, they don't break down well on their own, and they tie up a lot of N as they break down for a year in the ground. So it doesn't hurt much to bale them off & get rid of them, hopefully bring them back as manure in a year or 2.

Mosy common is to run a stalk chopper (flail mower designed to chop up stalks) and rake them and round bale them. Takes a good baler to get anywhere, older units it's a miserable job...

--->Paul

JDseller · Oct 19, 2012

samn40: I posted the picture above to show you The finished product of baling corn stalks. We usually bale 2500-3000 for our own use. We also do 13-15K as custom baling for others.

I have a Haybuster 2564 bale buster. I just load the bales and blow the stalks into the cattle sheds. The bale processor will just chew up the mesh wrap and you don't have to remove it. You rarely find any in the manure big enough to cause any problems.

I have attached a video of a Haybuster baler processor working.

The few corn stalks bales we feed are usually tub ground with grass hay just for fiber in a finish beef feed ration.

Haybuster baler processor

samn40 · Oct 20, 2012

We also use machines very similar to your bale buster,but also use this type , it doesn't have any chain and slat system to break....Just thought you might like to see it. I asked the question about the stalks as I cannot imagine cattle chomping on thick corn stalks, but obviously they can. Do you ever wrap the bales and turn the stalks to silage....does that work or is it even better but more costly?
Just curious.....Sam
http://youtu.be/1q4rozVX_JU

retired farmer · Oct 20, 2012

We feed them to the cows. They eat what they want and use the rest to lay on.

JDseller · Oct 20, 2012

(quoted from post at 08:57:54 10/20/12) We also use machines very similar to your bale buster,but also use this type , it doesn't have any chain and slat system to break....Just thought you might like to see it. I asked the question about the stalks as I cannot imagine cattle chomping on thick corn stalks, but obviously they can. Do you ever wrap the bales and turn the stalks to silage....does that work or is it even better but more costly?
Just curious.....Sam
http://youtu.be/1q4rozVX_JU

By the time we usually make stalk bales the corn stalks do not have enough moisture to ensilage. The stalks are dead when we combine the corn so the stalks are fairly dry.

JDseller · Oct 20, 2012

Samn40: Just watched the video of the type you have over there. They would be good for a few bales each day. I think the dirt and stuff in the corn stalks would be rough on the knife system they have. The Haybuster ones have more of a hammer miller type of processor. It is more forgiving of dirt and field debree. I find wood limbs and old roots all of the time in the coen stalk bales.

Also the time to process eash bale would be longer. Some days I will use 20-30 bales just to bed with. In real good dry bales I can process a bale every 2 1/2-3 minutes.

The machine like yours would be nice in clean straw and dry hay.

Baling corn stalks

samn40

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gregger

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gtractorfan

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Tx Jim

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Bruce from Can.

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paul

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JDseller

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samn40

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retired farmer

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JDseller

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JDseller

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