How to Harvest Switch Grass

Harvest switchgrass with a baler.

A warm-season perennial grass, switchgrass develops vigorously until it is 10 feet tall. Although this grass species isn't picky about soil and climate, it develops strongly in well-drained, moderately fertile soil with a pH of 5.0 or higher. Switchgrass gained public attention because it is a source of ethanol. In fact, one acre of switchgrass produces 500 gallons of the bio fuel. Switchgrass has two harvesting seasons: in late June to early July and again, after the first hard frost. Harvest it with the same equipment you use to harvest and bundle hay.

Things You'll Need

• Tractor
• Baler
• Bale mover
• Owner's manual
• Baling wire

Instructions

1. Attach the baler to your tractor. A baler is a farm machine you connect to the back of a tractor to cut the switchgrass growing in the field and to compress it into bales. You'll also need a tractor fitted with a bale mover in the front. This is a pointed attachment that penetrates the bales of swtichgrass, lifts them off the field and moves them to storage or a truck that transports them to their destination. Hydraulic controls in the tractor allow you to run the baler and bale mover. Study the owner's manual to learn the specific details of operating your equipment model.

2. Start the equipment and harvest the switchgrass, cutting it back with the baler's teeth, called the baler pickup, to a minimum height of 6 inches. Shorter stubble can poke holes in the equipment's tires. Find out from the instructions manual how to adjust your baler pickup's height. Some balers have a crank handle behind one of the back tires, for example, for you to set the height at which the machine will cut the switchgrass.

3. Make bales of switchgrass. Using the control box in your tractor, set the baler to transfer the switchgrass to the compressor bar, located behind the baler pickup. The compressor bar holds the grass as an auger, a cylindrical tool that resembles a screwdriver, moves it into the bale chamber. There, a plunger compresses the switchgrass into a bale. Then, the equipment ties the bale with wire or twine from a spool installed in the baler to keep the bundle from falling apart. At last, the machine spits the bale out onto the field.

4. Pick up the bales of switchgrass one by one with the bale mover attached to your tractor. Move them into storage, such as a barn, to prevent rot caused by rain and snow, or onto a truck that will transport the switchgrass to its destination.

Tips & Warnings

• Some baler models have a mechanism to eject bales onto racks pulled behind the balers, eliminating the need for a bale mover.

References

• University of Tennessee Extension: Growing and Harvesting Switchgrass for Ethanol Production in Tennessee
• How Products Are Made, Volume 2: Hay Baler
• Challenger Product Information Guide: RB46 and RB56 Automatic Round Balers

Resources

• NDSU Agriculture and University Extension: Safe Use of Big Round Balers