canola greenfeed

[haller]

is this stuff any good and is there any body that might want it. we have 140 acres that were not sure what to do with and silage is not going to work for us.

[15444]

I think there was something in one of the recent Western Producer issues on canola greenfeed. It would have been in the last three or four issues if it was.

[les]

I was thinking about baling my canola this year and as i have never done this before i asked around and the guys i talked to said they have fed baled canola before and the cows seemed to like it.I didnt ask tho what should the moisture content be for baling? anyone know?

[cswilson]

i fed it in '98 after a big frost-we let it get pretty dry before we baled it
i would sure get it feed tested though

[15444]

You can feed canola round bales but you should have them injjected with liquid supplement first. Also offer the cows a high energy ration to fulfill their needs.

[sewen]

One option is to spray it pre-harvest with Round-up and let it dry down standing. It will still take quite awhile to dry down but this way you can straight cut it and when you do swath it you won't have second growth growing up all around the swath. You also get the benefit of killing the weeds at the same time.

[les]

ok thx for the info.... it is round up ready canola so spraying it wont do any good and there is very little weed growth since it was sprayed already. I wont be feeding it i will sell it as i dont have cows anymore. Thanks again.

[dfarms11]

would this stuff be worth more than basic straw price or what, does anyone know?

[haller]

it should be, since posting my original question i have found out that this stuff can be as good as average grade alfalfa as far as protien and tdn.