Flail Chopper Processes Beets For Cow Feed

Flail Chopper Processes Beets For Cow Feed FORAGE HARVESTERS “I had tried feeding processed sugar beets from North Dakota to my milk cows with excellent results so when I found a source for beets locally I needed to chop them up ” says Wisconsin dairyman Tom Greshner “I found an old flail chopper sitting in the weeds at a neighbors so a friend and I spent a couple hours welding patches on a few holes and adding a silo filling hood on the back It works fine probably better than a slinger manure spreader that would’ve cost $2 000 or more ” To use the machine Greshner makes a 3-ft wide windrow of beets about 12 in deep on a cement pad He drives over them with the flail running and says the chopped beets come flying out the spout in a nice even windrow “The flail doesn’t produce the same consistency as the processed beets I bought from North Dakota but the cows still chew them up real well ” Greshner says He scoops them up with his skid steer mixes in other ingredients recommended by his nutritionist and feeds his cows twice a day Each cow gets about 20 lbs of beets a day “When I feed beets I get 8 to 10 lbs more milk a day per cow and the butterfat test jumps from 4 6 to about 5 3 I ordered more this year from a fellow who grows them on his potato farm and has the equipment to dig them I pay about the same as I would to buy shelled corn and get better production so I think it’s worthwhile ” Greshner says he knows the cows really like the feed because as soon as he starts the tractor and the flail they start running to the pad like kids getting free candy “I’ve got $200 and a few hours work invested in the chopper so I think it’s definitely paid for itself ” says Greshner “I think a person could also mount a flail on the front of a skid steer and it would also work ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tom Greshner 4286 W Brock Road Owen Wis 54460 ph 715 229-4490; cherigmumzie@hotmail com

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