Page 1 of 1

Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:12 pm
by gnbrotz
Does anyone know if corn yields more chaff per acre than grass? In the real world, this would clearly be the case due to the difference in size of the plants, but I haven't yet tested it in the game. I thought perhaps someone else already knew the answer.

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:35 pm
by bassaddict
Yield of grass is 3.2l/m², yield of fertilized maize (as chaff) is 7.8l/m²
In 10 ingame days (at normal growth rate) you can harvest 24 times grass and 9 times maize.
24*3.2 = 76.8
9*7.8 = 70.2

So in yield per time span, grass is the better choice.

grass:
+you don't have to sow it every time
+harvesting machines are cheaper
+you don't have to fertilize
-you have to do all the work yourself
-you're pretty bussy with harvesting

chaff:
+higher yield per area
+hired worker can do some work for you (cultivating, sowing, harvesting)
+less work for you if you use hired workers
-you have to sow the field every time after harvesting
-machines are pretty expensive
-you have to fertilize every time to get max yield

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:46 pm
by BULIGO
grass:
+can be baled and stored for later use :)

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:50 pm
by Farmer_Bob
You can now "wrap" bales of grass which in effect turns them into silage, which I assume is the point of this thread?

nothing here

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:54 pm
by BULIGO
carry on, forum glitch...

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:57 pm
by BULIGO
Farmer_Bob wrote:You can now "wrap" bales of grass which in effect turns them into silage, which I assume is the point of this thread?
Bob, you need an dedicated baler for that? And astacker too? How about transporting? And lastly, how do you use it? Dump it (the bale) in the mixer and it accepts it as 'silage'?? Have an half-idea to try the system, just for kicks.
Have fields 41 and 42 as a big grassland and only 1000-2000 cows, way too much grass and making silage from grass anyway. Some variation would come as a refreshment.

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 6:09 pm
by Farmer_Bob
I use the bale spike and trailer from NI-Modding's small bale pack, they seem to manage all shapes and sizes of bales ok. To be honest I've never actually made silage from wrapped bales as yet just that I read somewhere that this was the case. Apparently you do just dump the wrapped bale in to the mixer and it see's it as silage. Not sure about a dedicated baler, the only one I know of that wraps them is the "Lely Tornado" and that has it's own problems (it likes to dance when it's not connected to anything!!) but once you attach the bale wrapper on the back it settles down again, just make sure you get it attached to a tractor before it waltz's away. :lol: :lol:

I'm going to send you a PM!! :hi:

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 6:42 pm
by mayoollie
In reality cows will always go better on a mixture of corn and grass silage.

If you are growing maize then put it in an arable rotation with other crops. Also apply slurry to the field prior to ploughing or drilling, this negates the need for fertiliser.

Re: Corn vs. Grass for silage

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 9:31 pm
by pigpen
couple of points here. if using the grass cutter on the bigx the output is higher making chaff with grass than corn but the header is narrower so it takes longer. with wrapped bales when sold at the straw shack you get $5000 per bale on normal mode so its worth the extra time to wrap them. nothing like having a bunch of drunk cows from eating fermented silage.