# Oats for silage



## milkman (Feb 3, 2007)

I have about 5 acres oats I planted last fall and I have purchased a silage cutter with a grass pickup head. I will have mow and rake the oats, how long should I wait to chop? Going to just pack oats in a dug out pit and cover. Any advice ? 
Thanks


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## kycrawler (Sep 18, 2011)

i planted 40 acres of a neighbors corn field in oats rye and turnips last fall grazed about 10 acres of it in strips and put the rest in the silo i mowed it with a mower conditioner and put it in a tight row never raked it used cheap ebay hay moisture tester and chopped it at 45% moisture took 3 days in the field to get to 45% but this had a good bit of corn fodder in it as well . If your feeding a bunch of cows you can feed it as green chop too . i have a barge wagon i chop about half full every other day when available and feed it to the cows in a fenceline bunk feeder just shovel it out into the troughs dont cut more than 2 days worth though as it will get hot and make sure to switch then onto green chop gradually as they get pretty loose if you dont


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

For cereal silage the moisture content should be 60 to 65 % when it is delivered to the pit. This moisture level will permit both good packing and silage fermentation. In cereal crops, dry down begins shortly after heading and accelerates with kernel development. For both barley and oats the moisture content of the standing crop can reach 65% by the late milk to early dough stage. Harvesting at earlier stages such as the milk or early dough will help in avoiding the problem of the silage becoming too dry for proper packing and ensiling.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

why chop for silage, bale it and feed as needed or just graze it. the cost of chopping is going to be expensive and 5 acres won't be enough of a pile to keep it from spoiling a lot.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

Oats are terribly hard to get dry enough to bale especially if cut in the boot stage for best protein levels.
If it is for use at a later date then silage would make plenty of sense. 
The size of the pile is adjusted to the amount of forage made. If done properly spoilage would be minimal with 5 acres or 50.


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## CesumPec (May 20, 2011)

I have no personal experience, but I've read about people making small amounts of silage with success in ?50? gallon garbage bags.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

Done plenty of it that way


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## ycanchu2 (Oct 21, 2011)

milkman said:


> I have about 5 acres oats I planted last fall and I have purchased a silage cutter with a grass pickup head. I will have mow and rake the oats, how long should I wait to chop? Going to just pack oats in a dug out pit and cover. Any advice ?
> Thanks


Roll bale it with high moisture and wrap it...you got silage in a bale.


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## dcross (Aug 12, 2005)

Personally, I'd prefer it in a pile on the ground, drive on it to pack thoroughly. Cover with heavy plastic, weighted with tire sidewalls and screenings or soil all around the edges of the plastic.

Design the pile to minimize the amounts left exposed to oxygen while feeding it out.

We tried baling oats and peas once when I was little. Just the once, it was always silage after that


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