Cutting cornstalks for bedding

Super Steve · Oct 11, 2013

Im not going to have enough straw this year for bedding so im thinking of baling cornstalks. I know lots of people do it for both bedding and feed.

Couple of questions:

Will a NH 489 mower work to cut them? how hard on it will it be?

Also, what kind of nutrient loss will I have in the ground? manure will go back on this field in 2 years after a crop of beans next year then wheat the following year.

formenwhogrow · Oct 11, 2013

I think it would, I have better luck with a flail mower or a brush hog. Take the tension off the rolls and watch for rocks. As far as nutrient loss, those stalks don't provide much other than some organic material. You'll be fine cutting them.

rrlund · Oct 11, 2013

I use an MC Rotary Scythe. I don't think a haybine would work very well. You're going to get more nutrient loss than you think. I've been baling all of mine for several years now. Going back to oats and alfalfa the next year,I've had a noticeable loss in nutrients. Have had to go to more fertilizer even though I try to get the manure back on the same ground. I was putting manure back on that ground anyway,but need more by taking the stalks off and putting them back versus putting manure with straw back on ground and leaving the stalks.

Nate V. IA · Oct 11, 2013

I would NOT use a sickle mower on the cornstalks, it will be running in the dirt a lot, a brush mower would be much better.

A ton of cornstalks contains about 17 pounds of nitrogen, 4 pounds of phosphorus, 50 pounds of potash, and 3 pounds of sulfur. Big bales usually weigh 1000-1200 lbs. around here in Iowa.

Nate

El Toro · Oct 11, 2013

We always ran the corn stalks through the Papec silage cutter. We removed the knives and installed the shredding knives. It made good bedding & some of the cows ate it. I forget the year, but once when the Papec was used someone forgot to remove a pitchfork lying in the bed of the Papec. Had to send it to a dealer to be rebuilt. It sure did a number on it. Hal

caseyc · Oct 11, 2013

Like others have said, don't use traditional hay cutting equipment. You are gonna want a stalk chopper or a bush hog/flail mower like said. A lot of guys here have chopping corn heads on their combines so no cutting is needed, just rake and bale. I buy around 50 bales every year from neighbors. I build wind breaks for winter and use them for bedding in spring when things get muddy. Works great and the cows will eat them too.

Casey in SD

IowaJohn · Oct 11, 2013

A Wheel rake works well for windowing the stalks. It depends what your going to bale with. Bigger is better for a round baler, but if you"re baling small square bale you probably should use a rotary scythe.

fixerupper · Oct 11, 2013

Corn stalk bedding is far superior to straw in my view only corn stalk bedding doesn't look as good as bright straw, if that bothers you. I used to bed exclusively with corn stalk bedding because of it's absorbancy. When I would pitch straw manure there almost always was water on the cement floor under it. Cornstalk bedding absorbed the water so the floor didn't have water on it unless I was lazy and didn't pitch it out for a few days. For bedding little pigs I would pitch the straw bales into an old Gehl silage chopper to make a softer bed for the pigs. Drawback was it was dusty and itchy.

Nutrient wise, if you're putting manure back out there you won't have any nutrient loss. If you are raising corn-on-corn, the trash removal will benefit you by giving you blacker, warmer soil next spring. Some guys around here drop the chopper off the back of the combine and only bale the two rows directly behind the combine. This gives you all the cobs for more absorbancy but some guys say the cobs are hard on the knives in a small square baler. Jim

hrRoss · Oct 11, 2013

I use a 8 row stalk chopper behind the combine when the stalks have dryed for maybe a good week of drying weather, rake up with a 12 wheel v rake, makes a perfect row for my nh 855 round baler with netwrap, works better than twine. if using twine use plastic as the sisal twine rots off the bale will fall apart when you try to move it. if the stalks are a little tough, sometimes the bales wont slide off the spears, then use pallet forks

Cutting cornstalks for bedding

Super Steve

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formenwhogrow

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rrlund

Well-known Member

Nate V. IA

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El Toro

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caseyc

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IowaJohn

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fixerupper

Well-known Member

hrRoss

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