o/t dairy guys,processor question

phillip d · Jan 10, 2010

I've for years been bothered like most others are by the presence of corn kernals in manure.A few others near me have added processing units to their choppers to eliminate that problem on their farms.They use a long chop to save on the hp to run the roller and they do a good job.I've asked both of them if they noticed any increase in production per cow and they both reluctantly said "well,no not really",I than asked if the longer chop resulted in a notice in butter fat percentages and again,"well not that I noticed",this time both with a chuckle.If the kernals were really being wasted before and now their being digested,and now the length of chop is increased,why is there no financial bennifits being realized at all from a 6000 dollar investment that takes more fuel and managment to opperate?I'd like to add one to our chopper,but if these results are what's to be expected,than why wast my time and money (or atleast the banks lol)?

Bigdaddy4430 · Jan 10, 2010

We have been feeding processed silage for 4 yrs,iam definately sold on it.We have both increases in production and fat.

BCnT · Jan 10, 2010

i dunno if this would be practical in your operation but i got a deal on some shelled corn few years back...didnt look forward to grinding it with my grandfathers old hand mill so i tried a MTD 5 hp leaf and limb grinder i was working on...worked like a champ...was grinding about 2 sacks a minute...coulda done more but dust was so bad i couldnt see hopper till it settled down.

my beef cattle really benefitted from corn weight wise.

rrlund · Jan 10, 2010

Just telling you what I know about it. A guy north of here was feeding high moisture corn right out of the silo to steers without grinding or cracking it. There was an awful lot of shelled corn in the manure where it was going straight through them. He was going to put some hogs in there to clean it up,but before he did,he sent a sample of it to MSU to have it analysed to see how many hogs it would support. After the testing,they told him that if he put ANY hogs in there,they would starve to death. Said there was NO feed value left in the corn whatsoever. The cattle were digesting everything out of it.

Nebraska Cowman · Jan 10, 2010

I have watched enough cattle get fat on whole corn to know they digest it. I let my cattle grind their own feed. They ain't got nothing else to do.

LouNY · Jan 10, 2010

With the processor and a longer cut, you should end up with a silage that has more digestible protein and fiber, this should result in an increase in butterfat and working with your nutritionist you should be able to reduce the amount of protein in your supplemental grain at a cost savings. My brother has been using a processor for several years and that has been the results. The new chopper had to have a processor when he bought it.

Bruce from Can. · Jan 10, 2010

I do not have a processor on my harvester , and I chop long . The most important thing in my opinion is to chop at the right moisture level and use a silage specific corn variety. Our average butter fat for past 12 months was 5.5% ,we have had one moth averages as high as 6.2% and yes we milk Jersey cows ,and we store our silage in pit silos .

o/t dairy guys,processor question

phillip d

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Bigdaddy4430

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BCnT

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rrlund

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Nebraska Cowman

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LouNY

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Bruce from Can.

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