ugghhh .... more advice needed!

[Southernspeed]

So, regarding my previous post about hot, wet hay, well, I really did screw up. There was obviously a lot more 'odd chewy bits' in there than I thought. I went into the barn today and the smell of sweet fresh hay had been replaced by that smell of rotting grass clippings. I checked the bales and temp/moisture levels had climbed again after previously cooling down a bit. Then I saw one bale (4x4) with a big black patch on top which was hot, wet and sticky. I pulled a handful out and a cloud of steam/smoke/mold spores rose up from it. That was enough to make me put all seven out on the hard standing away from everything. I put my hand as deep as I could into a couple more and they are really wet inside.
So my question is, what do I do with them now? I feel like they're a ticking time bomb just sitting there. I guess trying to soak them with a hose is pointless? I could roll them out by hand ( I REALLY don't want to) then, when dry try to gather it all up and put it goodness knows where. Any suggestions greatly appreciated (apart from the obvious .... stop trying to make hay!)

 

[scootr]

Sorry to hear this, it's easy to put it up too wet.
I have heard the Hay Dude talk about mushroom growers hay.
You may be able to salvage the outer layers? Others will know more

 

[oldnslo]

Open and spread the bales so they dry and don’t heat or mold. If already heated and moldy they might make fertilizer but never animal feed.

We used to throw some salt on the wet bales to help absorb moisture and then feed them to the young stock before they heated or molded.

 

[Southernspeed]

Open and spread the bales so they dry and don’t heat or mold. If already heated and moldy they might make fertilizer but never animal feed.

We used to throw some salt on the wet bales to help absorb moisture and then feed them to the young stock before they heated or molded.

Unfortunately I think I'm passed the point of saving them.

 

[jyoutz]

Cow hay

 

[MMC]

So, regarding my previous post about hot, wet hay, well, I really did screw up. There was obviously a lot more 'odd chewy bits' in there than I thought. I went into the barn today and the smell of sweet fresh hay had been replaced by that smell of rotting grass clippings. I checked the bales and temp/moisture levels had climbed again after previously cooling down a bit. Then I saw one bale (4x4) with a big black patch on top which was hot, wet and sticky. I pulled a handful out and a cloud of steam/smoke/mold spores rose up from it. That was enough to make me put all seven out on the hard standing away from everything. I put my hand as deep as I could into a couple more and they are really wet inside.
So my question is, what do I do with them now? I feel like they're a ticking time bomb just sitting there. I guess trying to soak them with a hose is pointless? I could roll them out by hand ( I REALLY don't want to) then, when dry try to gather it all up and put it goodness knows where. Any suggestions greatly appreciated (apart from the obvious .... stop trying to make hay!)

If I'm reading this correctly, you might still have some other wet bales in a barn. You simply have to get them out or ensure the internal temps are not climbing. You can worry about the value of the hay later. You can check this with a temperature probe or a metal rod or rebar. The fermentation reaction inside the wet bales will continue for days and temperatures will rise accordingly.

You can drive a rod into a bale to the center - leave it in for 10-15 minutes. If you can't hold the rod when you pull it out, you have a dangerous situation. If I remember right, somewhere between 130 to 170 degrees you get a runaway situation. Spontaneous combustion destroys barns on farms each year...

If you're unsure how to proceed, give your county agent a call and get advice.

Perhaps others have on here have additional thoughts or advice, but I have seen this several times in my life, and yes, I have a temperature probe I use here when we bale.

As for "caramelized" (scorched) hay used later, cattle will eat it, but there is little nutrient value left. But I have seen them clean it up...

Best of Luck

 

[Southernspeed]

If I'm reading this correctly, you might still have some other wet bales in a barn. You simply have to get them out or ensure the internal temps are not climbing. You can worry about the value of the hay later. You can check this with a temperature probe or a metal rod or rebar. The fermentation reaction inside the wet bales will continue for days and temperatures will rise accordingly.

You can drive a rod into a bale to the center - leave it in for 10-15 minutes. If you can't hold the rod when you pull it out, you have a dangerous situation. If I remember right, somewhere between 130 to 170 degrees you get a runaway situation. Spontaneous combustion destroys barns on farms each year...

If you're unsure how to proceed, give your county agent a call and get advice.

Perhaps others have on here have additional thoughts or advice, but I have seen this several times in my life, and yes, I have a temperature probe I use here when we bale.

As for "caramelized" (scorched) hay used later, cattle will eat it, but there is little nutrient value left. But I have seen them clean it up...

Best of Luck

They're all out thanks. I've only just built this barn, not wanting to see it go up in smoke! Won't there be mold in the bales though? Surely that's no good for any animals? I've been using temp/moisture probe.

 

[jyoutz]

They're all out thanks. I've only just built this barn, not wanting to see it go up in smoke! Won't there be mold in the bales though? Surely that's no good for any animals? I've been using temp/moisture probe.

Cows will eat it without harm. Mold will kill horses.

 

[oldnslo]

Beef cattle may eat moldy hay without issues but it can cause problems in dairy cattle if mold is excessive.

 

[scootr]

Seems to me you could roll them out and spread out the good from the bad hay and salvage something.... Just be generous in cutting out the bad

 

[5030]

You need to invest in a moisture monitor and check it prior to bailing. Delmhorst makes a nice one, not cheap but very accurate, I have one as well as a slip shoe in the bailer so I can real time monitor RH. Used to take it to hay auctions to make liars out of sellers.

 

[2manyrocks]

Painful to say, but there will be another hay crop. You might unroll some of it to inspect for your own learning purposes so when the next crop comes around, none goes to ruin. The good part is your barn didnt burn. That could have been a real setback.

 

[5030]

Making good hay comes with experience. Anyone can make hay and anyone can burn their barn down as well. Unlike Hay Dude I don't bale mulch hay to sell to mushroom growers and I bet even his mushroom bales are dry as well. You never bale anything with a RM over 15% maximum, ever.

Making high quality forage starts with the plants themselves along with careful fertilizing and pesticide and herbicide application and then cutting, tedding and / or raking and then bailing at the proper time plus dealing with Mother nature as well.

Best thing you can do with the wet bales is park them away from any building in a field and let them cook safely as they are already moldy inside and worthless for anything, except maybe for garden mulch. More than once I've either pushed the envelope or Mother Nature dealt me a bad hand and I've raked it off the fields into the ditch.

One thing I've never done is bale hay over 15% RM, ever. and one of the very first tools I purchased was the Delmhorst moisture meter. The one I have, you can measure the RM of the forage as you are bailing it or sample a windrow for relative moisture or even stick already made bales to sense the RM inside the bale. Like I said previously, great tool for maying liars out of sellers at hay auctions. When I go to a hay auction, I set the Delmhorst at 22% and if the RM inside a bale (round or square don't matter) exceeds 22%, it has not only a digital readout but a real loud alarm that lets everyone around me know the hay is potentially garbage. Hay sellers at auctions don't like me as a rule because a lot of them are devious.

You have a lot to learn. Least you didn't roast your barn. Be thankful for that and a barn fire from hot moldy hay is a real PITA to extinguish as well.

Last fall I gave up all my off farm fields simply because my health won't allow me to do it anymore so I just run the fields adjacent to the farm now. In realty, it's become more of a hobby now but I have no issue selling all of it anyway.

 

[MMC]

They're all out thanks. I've only just built this barn, not wanting to see it go up in smoke! Won't there be mold in the bales though? Surely that's no good for any animals? I've been using temp/moisture probe.

Good deal. After that, it's all just a learning experience. 5030's advice about using certain moisture thresholds is good IMO - above 15-16% readings, then you begin to watch internal temps closely. If you are unsure about any hay, just leave it outside in the field for a few days and keep testing. You may be surprised.

But don't be discouraged - hay is an art and a science. I really advise going online or visiting your extension agent and getting some tech articles to use as general guidelines.
But anyone who tells you they never made a mistake baling hay...doesn't bale much.

Best of Luck

 

[5030]

There are a couple good hay forums on the net. One of them is the Hay and Forage forum. Lots of big producers on there, small ones as well and nice folks. I used to participate but don't anymore but I still buy my net from one of the mods on there. He sells Bridon which I like and not available around here.

They used to have a store attached to the website where you could purchase various stuff like moisture meters and bailing twine. Not sure if it's still there as I have no been on the site in a long time. I bought my Delmhorst direct from Delmhorst Instruments in Totawah, New Jersey when I first got started. Agtronics also offers a moisture meter I believe. I went with the Delmhorst because when I bought it, there really was no one else that sold them and Delmhorst it the 'gold standard' of moisture meters anyway.

Like I said, mine is handheld but it has a mount you can install on your tractor and a cable interface than runs to the bailer and interfaces with the slip shoe in the bale chamber so I can get real time moisture values which is very handy, at least for me. I believe Agtronics has the same deal but the Agtronics meter don't have all the attachments the Delmhorst has. The slip shoes in the bale chamber measure the resistance between the probes in the molded shoes. The resistance from the moisture in the hay is then changed to RM in the meter unit and displayed in real time.

 

[LouNY]

I don't know were you are, but if you have any washes or gullys I'd just take it and dump it.
I would never intentionally feed moldy hay to any cow beef or dairy, it's garbage get rid of it.

 

[MMC]

I don't know were you are, but if you have any washes or gullys I'd just take it and dump it.
I would never intentionally feed moldy hay to any cow beef or dairy, it's garbage get rid of it.

Yeah, not really a bad idea at all. I have seen cows scarf it up if burnt, but everything I've read in the past says it has no nutritional value...so why bother. And old damaged hay does help heal washes and ditches. But, as 5030 mentioned, a moisture and temp probe is really a good idea. I've had a couple of the Agra-Tronix with a long probe. Nowhere near as sophisticated as 5030's stuff, but it does seem to work.

Best of Luck

 

[garry1p]

I'm glad you got it out of the barn. My grandfather lost his entire milking operation from wet hay in a silo.
Spontaneous combustion fire spread from silo to the milking barn he and his partner lost everything.

 

[jyoutz]

You’re correct. I only have experience with beef cattle.

 

[Hay Dude]

Southern Speed, next time you bale, be more patient.
Use the twist test to see if it’s ready to bale.
If it’s ready to bale, bale it preferably in the sun, only after it’s DRY.
Twist test a dozen spots in your field
The stems need to crack between your hands while doing twist test.

Most big AG universities publish on line literature on curing & storing baled hay.
Check em out.