Damp Hay - How?

[chetlenox]

Hey all,

The rash of hay-related postings and resulting good advice has motivated me to throw out a recent issue I've had and see if any of ya'll can help me troubleshoot. As background, I've been doing this for only 1.5 years now (I'm on my 5th cutting), so while I'm learning rapidly, I'm relatively new to the whole process as compared to most folks in here.

Background: We cut, raked, and baled (squares) my 1st cutting of winter grasses (mostly Ryegrass and some clover and the odd wildflower or two) 4 weeks ago under very nice conditions. Lots of dry weather, sunshine, and wind. We cut, dried for 2 days, raked, dried for 2 more days, and baled. Before baling, the windrows seemed well-cured (based on my entire 3-cuttings experience). We sold a few hundred bales out of the field, and stacked the rest in the barn for sale.

Problem: After a week or two in the barn, I noticed some black mold spots on some of the bales at the top of the piles. There where in very specific spots underneath screws on a new metal roof extension that we have just added to the barn. Bummer. So I tossed a dozen or so bales that had these spots and made a mental note to hussle out to the barn and confirm that the roof is leaking at these few points next time it rains (which it hasn't since). Now the bigger problem. As I sold the hay down in the barn, I got to the bottom of the stack, and started discovering some damp and moldy bales! Mainly on the bottom stack, which was in contact with the wood of the hay loft. Never have had that problem before. Now I've tossed out 27+ bales and am confused as to how the bales could have been damp. It wasn't bad, just a few spots of dampness and some light mold spots, but I sell to picky customers and do NOT want to be selling bad hay. I'm also a little worried about the hay that I did sell from this cutting, although the feedback I've gotten from customers is that it is fine and the horses are eating it up. I've taken some guesses on the root cause for this, and would love some commentary on what ya'll think:

1) Leaky roof. Sure, a little leak in the roof that generated some spots on the top bales I understand. But the moisture penetrating through 5-6 layers of square bales and impacting the bottom of the stack? Seems far-fetched, especially since we only got a few inches of rain during the few weeks the bales were in the barn, so these would be just a few drip-drip-drip sorta leaks (although I haven't confirmed that) The data that supports this is that bales on the non-leaky side of the barn did seem drier, and I didn't have to throw any of those away. Could a few small leaks cause an entire stack of hay to get damp, all the way to the bottom?

2) Tight bales. I cut and rake my field, but I have a friend that does the baling. He had his baler tension set very tight this time, so much so that my 65+ lb bales were slipping off the hay elevator much more than usual due to weight. Could bumping up the hay bale tension make a significant difference in how dry the bales have to be to safe? Could my definition of "dry and ready to bale" be different with a "looser" 45-55 lb bale versus a "tighter" 65+ lb bale?

3) Left bales in field for one night. In the past, I've typically baled and stacked in the barn on the same day. This time, since the weather was nice and there was no risk of rain, we baled in the afternoon and then picked up and stacked in the barn the next morning. There was very little dew, since the weather was cool (~55 ish) and windy. Could the bales have soaked up water from the ground during that time, enough to cause them to be too damp when they went into the barn?

I'll attach some pictures, although I'm not sure they are all that helpful... mainly just so you can visualize my bales going to waste because I don't know what I'm doing.

Thanks in advance for any advice ya'll have.

Chet

 

[WTA]

I'd fix the roof first off then look for the other problem at the next baling. It sounds like maybe some of it just wasn't dry enough. I know I have spots in my field that grow a lot thicker than the rest and those rows always seem to take longer to dry.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Chet, one thing you could do is purchase a moisture meter to insure the moisture content. Back when I was haying, I had a sprayer to apply a liquid product called Hay-Saver. It prevented spoilage if weather conditions didn't permit the hay to get as dried out as one would liked. Worked like a champ.

The last item is something that may be coming into play and not much you can do about it. One season after bailing and stacking a 1st cutting crop I noted some moisture and heating in the stack. All the moisture/mold was at the seams in the stack, i.e. end of bails. Had to break the whole stack and found this problem throughout the stack. Went over to a customer and checked his stack and found the same problem. Called the extension agent and he came out and inspected. The report back was hay was bailed OK but was having a freak season where hay stacks were sucking in moisture which accounted for the isolated moisture and mold and there were sim calls coming in from others in the area. Had to leave the stacks broken up and had to sell at greatly reduced price.

 

[pengs68]

I would use a tedder the day after you mow it and try to pick up the bales the same day you make them and also stack them on edge.

 

[Bird]

I can't claim to know a lot about haying baling, and all my experience was with the big round bales, but the folks I knew in the business would not use a tedder unless it was absolutely necessary; i.e., something such as rain after it was cut and before it was baled. They said that would know too much of the good foliage off the stems. And we cut the hay and let it dry before baling, but never raked it until the same day we were baling it. In fact, with two of us, one would be raking while the other baled.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

You were baling at what would normally be considered very early in the season here. My first question would be related to leaving the bales on the ground overnight. How dry is/was the ground? Marginally wet hayfields are not condusive to hay drying, nor is it "ideal conditions" to be leaving hay on the ground for long.

Also, although it seems that EVERYONE does it nowdays, I never liked storing hay in metal clad buildings. One word...... Condensation.

 

[zzvyb6]

Simply put, the hay was not dry enough to bale. I'll bet moisture was above 20% instead of 15%. A moisture meter is absolutely required this early in the season.

You can tell when the hay is ready when it's brittle and makes a special sound when going thru the baler pickup. (a sizzling sound). Find a cow farmer real quick. Break some open outside the barn and find out how hot they are. You could be lookin' at a fire hazard in the making.

 

[chetlenox]

Thanks guys, this is exactly what I was looking for.

WTA - Yep, the roof fix is the highest priority right now. We are getting some rain shortly, so I'm on it.

Mickey-FX - I have seen the moisture meters before, but I always wondered if they were all that effective. If you have used them before and they worked, it might be worth looking into. I don't have a sprayer yet that I could use chemical with, but I've been looking for another excuse (besides putting down herbicides) to get one. Now might be the time, I guess. It's funny that you mentioned your story on the season where lots of folks had trouble with moisture. It has been pretty humid the last few weeks, more humid than normal I would say. I imagine that could have been a contributing factor.

Farmwithjunk - We had some rain ~4 days before we cut, so the ground was damp but not wet. No standing water, but I'm sure you could have found spots where the ground would be wet to the touch. I'm thinking that just avoiding the "sitting all night on the ground" might have to become a policy. It's kindof a shame though, since it was pretty nice to bale one day and pickup the next. If it means damp bales, it's probably time to stop though.

zzvyb6 - I agree with you that something happened to result in wet bales, but the hay itself sure seemed dry enough to bale upon inspection out in the field. It was definitely as dry or drier than one or two of our cuttings last year, and we didn't have any trouble with those. That's why I was approaching this as a "storage and handling" problem rather than a "when I cut" problem. You could be right though, maybe I just missed it early in the season and cut too early. Yours is the second suggestion for a moisture meter, it's probably time to take a serious look at that. I've seen them in "probe" form, I assume you just go out and stab that probe into various spots in the windrow and see what it says? Oh yeah, and we broke apart a number of the damp bales and they aren't too bad in side. In fact, most of the mold spots seems to be on the surface, the interior of the bales is actually a little drier. I've found a local cattle farmer to take the remaining 30-some bales off my hands. For free of course. ~$140 down the drain...

Thanks again guys,

Chet.

 

[RickB]

You may not have a roof problem. The moisture in the hay could have evaporated out, condensed on the underside to the roof, and dripped off the nails protruding from the purlins. ALL the moisture could have come from the too-wet hay.

 

[slowzuki]

I agree with Rick, condensation is common in steel buildings without adequate ventilation.

Also, leaving hay on the ground over night is not a great idea. The dew isn't a problem but if you checked the humidity below those bales you'd find they are sucking it up from the ground. Leave a sheet of plastic on the ground overnight and you'll see dry ground go damp. The bale sucks all that up inside.

Last, if you hay is nice and dry, a little extra moisture exposure won't hurt but if you are close to the limit, any extra moisture can break the camels back. Tight bales don't dry as well after baling, clover and legumes hold moisture like crazy and can be the bane of trying to get dry hay in most areas.