# Wheat / Oats Baleage



## broke buckeye

We have a little 8 acre patch of bottom ground that we recently cleared and looking to do some exploratory baleage crops with this field. I want to try some soybean silage next summer but looking for something in the interim such as wheat. I was thinking of planting wheat this fall and wet wrapping next spring/summer. I've seen a few posts on here about oats for baleage and was hoping to get more opinions on it. Wheat or oats better? Particular hybrid preferred? Any advice appreciated.


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## snowball

Oat's works alot better than wheat.. cattle won't eat wheat balage... since it's bottom ground I would try rye grass if it was me....... oats or wheat don't like wet feet !


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## 8350HiTech

snowball said:


> Oat's works alot better than wheat.. cattle won't eat wheat balage... since it's bottom ground I would try rye grass if it was me....... oats or wheat don't like wet feet !


Won't eat wheat balage? I guess the local dairyman that makes hundreds of bales of it every year must just be lucky.

I would agree that choosing something especially suited to lowland conditions would be wise.


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## broke buckeye

I've read a lot on both and thought I may have better winter hardiness with wheat. There's not much oats grown in SE ohio.

This specialty forage is all new to me. I grew up "mining" hay ground and recently discovered it pays to throw some good seed in the ground and fertilize fertilize fertilize.


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## Ray 54

You need a wheat variety that is bred as a forage crop. Some of the stiff straw high yield hard seed varieties are very poor as forage.


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## FarmerCline

I don't know about baleage but for dry hay both oats and wheat make good hay but I prefer oats for a couple reasons. If it's not beardless wheat it needs to be cut in the boot stage before it heads out or it won't be very palatable with all the prickery beards. Boot stage makes really nice hay but can be hard to get dry for hay.....wouldn't be an issue with baleage though. Beardless wheat you can let go until early head, it won't be quite as high in feed value as boot stage but there will be much more tonnage and easier to dry out. Oats cut at early head will out yield wheat at the same stage.

Down here oats are planted in late fall just like wheat. Oats are not nearly as cold hardy as wheat though. In Ohio you might be able to only plant oats in the spring because your winters might be too cold for fall planted oats to overwinter......not sure, someone closer to you will have to answer that.


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## OhioHay

We just planted oats on Monday for baleage this fall. Cows love it. Oats would never survive the winter in northern ohio. If you are looking for spring baleage, a lot of guys are planting triticale around here.


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## broke buckeye

Thanks, Ohiohay! I was at our local OSU research farm Field & forage seminar last week and they had a speaker there from UK that mentioned triticale but I didn't write it down and I didn't know anything about it...I think that might work best for what I'm trying to do.


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## Cattleman1524

im in central pa so kinda the same climate as you guys i've done everyone the crops you have talked about with great success but oats will not survive the winter but you can plant early in the spring as soon as the frost comes out the ground i like the tricale because it gives a 2 week cutting window instead of two days with rye i plant every single acre i farm in forage cover crop and love it


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## snowball

8350HiTech said:


> Won't eat wheat balage? I guess the local dairyman that makes hundreds of bales of it every year must just be lucky.
> 
> I would agree that choosing something especially suited to lowland conditions would be wise.


I bet they aren't making wheat balage.. maybe dry wheat bales and when they are using wheat bales .. it's to tone the ration down so it's not so hot.... A beef cow will starve herself to death before she would eat wheat balage and it must be the breadless wheat ... All the dairies here they use use the wheat straw in the feed ration .. I have never seen a bale or have baled a wheat balage for any dairy in this part of the country so you might be right either he is lucky or there are 100's of dairymen missing the boat.. .I'am baling at the 3rd biggest dairy in Wi. today I will ask them about it


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## 8350HiTech

snowball said:


> I bet they aren't making wheat balage.. maybe dry wheat bales and when they are using wheat bales .. it's to tone the ration down so it's not so hot.... A beef cow will strave herself to death before she would est wheat balage


What do you want to bet? I know the man. It's wheat balage.


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## discbinedr

Lots of wheat baleage and sileage made here in Pennsylvania.


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## snowball

8350HiTech said:


> What do you want to bet? I know the man. It's wheat balage.


I don't doubt you.. How many others beside's him ? cause I don't know of a 1 . in all the yrs I've been custom baling.. But hey You lean something new everyday .. Like I said I'll ask this dairy today when I'am over there


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## 8350HiTech

discbinedr said:


> Lots of wheat baleage and sileage made here in Pennsylvania.


But some farms run green balers here too. It's like a bizzaro world to sno.


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## broke buckeye

Well I'm going to blow both of your minds next year and make wheat baleage with a green baler and feed it to beef cattle. Lol I'll let you know how it works out.

I'm actually in the process of trying to find some triticale but that stuff isn't very plentiful in out neck of the woods. Thanks again for all the great advice guys!


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## 8350HiTech

Some people here will do an oats crop in the fall. That's always an option. Too bad you're not closer, I have some triticale here.


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