Mixing Grass and Hay/Silage

[Zugs]

I've read this article: https://guides.gamepressure.com/farming ... p?ID=47973

And at the bottom is says this: "Please note, that total mixed ration is only an option: providing them with grass and hay/silage will also provide you with 100% production efficiency."

First off, is this true? Second, how are you supposed to mix grass with hay and Silage? Or am I reading it incorrectly?

[cwattyeso]

According to the information in game on the cow pens, feeding Cows loose grass provides them with 25% Productivity, Feeding them Loose Hay or Silage provides them with 75% Productivity. So you'd think that by filling them up with loose grass and then either hay or silage would give you 100% after all 25 + 75 = 100 in most universally accepted maths. However I don't think in game it does, I think it only provides the 75% Production Bonus. I think the only way to get the Cows to have 100% Production is to provide TMR and by doing that you do not need to provide loose grass, hay or silage to them.

[TobiHH]

TMR can be produced in the mixing wagon withou straw. You only have to fill it with grass & silage and will get TMR out.

[Goose66]

TMR is hay and silage with the option of adding straw. No grass involved.

[W1der]

And technically ... silage could be made out of grass ...

[fozbot1973]

In fs19 the animals only take the most effective food. Give them silage and tmr and they will ignore the silage, it won't be taken until the tmr is all consumed.

[Zugs]

TMR can be produced in the mixing wagon withou straw. You only have to fill it with grass & silage and will get TMR out.

So if I put hay and silage into a mixing wagon it will give me TMR and will output 100% productivity?

[Zugs]

TMR is hay and silage with the option of adding straw. No grass involved.

So I can still make TMR out of just Hay and Silage and reap the 100% productivity benefits? And I don't even have to deal with straw?

[Goose66]

Yes indeed. Cant remember the percentages as I always use straw so I do 25% 25% and 50%.
Someone will correct me if wrong but 50-50 without straw ?

[Rasping rabbit]

Yes 50/50 hay and silage will give tmr. I generally do 25% straw, 25% hay, 50% silage.

[cwattyeso]

I do 25% Straw, 25% Silage and 50% Hay, don't know why people use more Silage then Hay when Silage is so much more expensive and much more difficult and time consuming to make. Hay can be got very easily on most maps and is ten a penny. Don't use more Silage then you need to folks in your TMR, save the excess Silage you have for selling at a BGA or somewhere else that accepts it.

[Rasping rabbit]

In my opinion silage is easier to come by than hay. It is worth more but personally there are other ways to make money

I generally make silage from grass. So I cut it with either the krone mower or the mod self propelled mower, both of them windrow. Collect with a loading wagon and dump in the silage bunker.

For hay, I need to add in tedding then windrowing which means driving around the same field 4 times instead of 2.

Everybody has there own ways, I go easier every time. Or lazier, or more efficiently, all depends on your point of view

[cwattyeso]

I loading wagon the Grass too Rabbit, only difference is I drop it into a silo, that turns it into Hay for me, without needing to ted and windrow. Before that I just attached the 15m Tedder on the back of the Big Krone Mower and let it Mow and Ted at the same time, and then again after was able to follow the same course (benefits of using courseplay) with the loading wagon and collect the Hay, so again really no extra work or trouble at all. So that only required two vehicles to drive round the field once apiece. I've never had to drive round a field 4 times or more to make Hay

Now to make Silage, you have to take the Grass or Chaff to a bunker, you then have to spend a bit of time to compact it. You then cover it and ferment it. Wait a couple of in game days for that to happen. Then uncover the Silage, then you need to scoop it back out of the bunker to transport back to where you need it and then have to load it into a loading wagon. Seems to me that requires way more time and work to me.

[Rasping rabbit]

Well I guess if you have a silo that converts grass into hay then it makes it a little easier.

Also if you use the self propelled mixer wagon you don’t need to move the silage manually.

Plus a 15m Tedder would spread the grass rather than get it into rows so without courseplay using a loading wagon would be even more tedious.

I guess we answered your question of why people do it is console players don’t have the silos you use or course play

Also from my point of view, if you take away the cash value, silage is worth less. By this I mean that straw and hay both have multiple uses. I need straw for bedding and hay for sheep (with seasons at least) but I only use silage for tmr.

Like I said, each to their own

[cwattyeso]

I use my excess Silage to make Money from the BGA as that pays way higher then any sellpoints on the map pay for grass, hay or straw, the BGA also gives me Digestate that I can use free of charge to either Fertilise my Fields and improve my next crop yields, thus saving me from having to buy solid or liquid fertilisers. Also excess Digestate I can drop into the Heating Plant Mod and make money from that.

Also a Big Krone Mower on Swath Dropping towing behind the 15m Tedder, doesn't suddenly make the hay swath 15m wide, it only slightly becomes wider then the original Grass Swath the mower drops. Therefore that removes the need to windrow as most of the Loading Wagons and Even Balers can still pick up that swath without missing anything.

Yeah it's a shame for the Console Players they don't have the Production Silos that have come out this weekend, being able to Make Grass into Hay, Chaff into Silage, Straw, Hay and Silage into TMR, Crops and Fertiliser into Seeds and Manure, Slurry and Digestate into Fertiliser just buy dropping the items into a Silo is a time saver and a game changer.