H Is For Haylage

Bremer Farms has been busy stocking the cow's pantry this week. We began chopping hay that we will feed to our dairy cows. Haylage is green, freshly cut alfalfa that is cut a few days earlier, then chopped to be served to our cows later.  This is a good alternative to baling hay which requires that the alfalfa be drier.

 

This was my first time running the chopper. I had a beautiful view of a beautiful day, but it took me awhile to get the hang of the chopper biz. After broken parts, and a broken chain, which I thought was something I did, Farmer John came to my rescue, and assured me that "it was their time to go, and I had nothing to do with it." Was he being honest, or just kind? Either way he let me keep my job, so off I went again.

I spent much of  my time looking over my shoulder to make sure everything was running smoothly. All was well until I hit a rather large gopher mound which was hidden beneath the freshly cut row of hay. Everything jammed up. For you experienced chopper drivers, I know now what I should have done to avoid this problem, but give me a break, I'm a rookie. Anyway... it was now 8:30 PM, so in I went from the field, where Farmer John, Sara and I unplugged the chopper, so we are ready to go again...after supper, showers, and a good night's sleep.

This video, from my You Tube page, shows the chopping process in a previous year. 

 Once the haylage leaves the field it is stored in a concrete bunker until it is fed to our cows. The haylage is  tightly packed, using a tractor, or, in this video, a payloader. This reduces the air from causing the haylage to rot. The end of this video shows unloading the wagon that just came from the field. After it is unloaded, the payloader adds the haylage to the pile which is being packed.

The final step is to cover the fresh haylage with a plastic sheet, weighed down with discarded tires. This is again to keep the haylage from rotting. We only serve healthy food for our cows!

Framer John has "invited" me to run the chopper again today. Wish me luck!

Speaking of luck...do you feel lucky?

Enter to win The Dairy Good Cookbook from My Barnyard View. Time is almost up so do it today. Thanks, and Happy June Dairy Month!

 

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Q Is For Quiz

I'm taking you on a journey from A to Z throughout June Dairy Month.

So come on in...the barn doors are open!

  Q Is For Quiz

Remember when you were in school and your teacher announced today we're having a pop quiz? Well good news, today's quiz is not going to be graded. Shown below are close-ups of photos from some of my previous blog posts. Let's see if you can identify what they are. 

1. From  Farming 101-1

2. From Corn's In Now What?
 

3. From Corn's In Now What?
 

4. From This And That Thursday - 3

5. From Earth Day Every Day

6. From Hey Hay Looky Here!

7. From Road Trip And A Date

8. From A Is For Antibiotic

You may also want to read my previous years posts for June Dairy Month...

Q Is or Question 

and

Q Is For Quarter 

 Answers

1. Milking machine

2. Grain Bin

3. Corn 

4. Bunker cover

5. Plate Cooler

6. Round Hay Bale

7. Hoses from Anhydrous applicator

8. Milk Truck

A BIG Lunch Bag

Every so often I get this crazy notion to fill my freezer with make-ahead meals. Have you ever had this thought? Just imagine coming home from a hectic day, reaching into the freezer and a short time later presenting your family with a hearty meal. This idea is still just in my head...not my freezer, but this week we finished make-ahead hearty meals for our cows.

This week we finished filling their lunch bags with silage.  

 Corn silage is made by chopping the entire corn plant into small pieces using a machine called a forage harvester, which is pulled by a tractor. A wagon with tall sides is pulled behind the forage harvester to catch the chopped corn. 

 The wagons are then taken to the bunker where they are unloaded and the silage is tightly packed inside to avoid spoilage, and then the bunker is covered with plastic. Our bunkers are large, but not large enough to store all the silage we need for our animals, so we fill lunch bags too.

These plastic bags are 8 feet high and 150 feet long. They do the same job as our bunker- keep our cows feed fresh and safe.

The field may be bare, but our "cupboards" sure aren't. The silage in our bunker and bags will feed our cows until next fall. You can see how we mix the silage with additional feed by reading 120 Hungry Mouths To Feed.

Pass The Peas, Please

Farmer John spent much of this past week working in the "kitchen." No, he wasn't preparing our family breakfast, or lunch, or dinner either. 

He was making meals for our cows.

The oats, peas, and barley that were planted in early May are now 

ready to be made into "meals."

Oats ready to be cut.

The oats are cut into rows and ready to be chopped.

This is what the oats look like when cut down, waiting to be chopped.

The barley and peas are planted together, and are cut into rows also.

Now in rows, the barley and peas are waiting to be chopped.

 

The oats, barley, and peas are all chopped and blown into a wagon like this which is pulled behind the forage chopper.

You can watch a video of chopping haylage here. It is the same procedure as the oats, barley and peas chopping, only done with alfalfa hay. It will help you get the idea though.

And lastly it is stored in our bunker (kind of a cow-food pantry) until it is time to be served.

We have two 24' x 75' concrete bunkers to store our haylage, oats, barley, and peas.

After several days (and nights) of Farmer John's meal preps, there are many meals prepared. So ring the dinner bell. Let's get another meal on the table.

We take meal prep very seriously, since dairy cows must be healthy and well cared for in order to produce high-quality milk.

The Lifecycle of a Silo

Dairy farmers are committed to providing high-quality milk. This begins with taking good care of our cows. We at Bremer Farms consider this one of our highest priorities. One of the ways we do this is by providing a nutritious diet for our cows. Healthy cows produce more milk for our family and yours!

One of the foods on our cows menu is silage, which is fermented chopped corn, using the entire plant. It is stored in a silo, which is the tall concrete structure you see on many farms. But just like factories, retail stores and other workplaces, Bremer Farms makes up-dated changes too.

In 1952, when Bremer Farms was established, this small 40 foot silo was plenty of silage storage for our small herd.

 Somewhat later our one little silo was replaced by 3 larger 60 feet tall silos.

Down they come! Last year our three silos were removed so that we could have a more convenient and safe way of feeding our animals.

We now store our silage in a bunker with concrete walls 75' long. It is filled and packed using a loader and tractor and then covered with an airtight plastic tarp to keep it fresh and tasty for our cows so they can produce fresh, tasty milk for you!