Bale storage...

[LouNY]

Yes, we always stack on end like oversized oil cans.

I had a net wrapped round bale that I had for about 3 years sitting in a field. I through it in the cow pasture thinking they would tear it apart for bedding. After they got past the outer 3-4 inches it was still really good hay. Hard core net wraps last a long long time even out in the elements.

Let's see a 5ft tall by 5ft wide round bale would be 60 inches by 60 inches;
so 2827.23 square inches x 60 would be 169645.8 cu inch.

now if we lose 4 inches off the outside we will have a 52 inch by 52 inch usable bale;
2123.72 sq. in. x 52 = 110443.44 cu. in. of "good" feed

or 65.1% of what you started with.
That outer 4 inches is a lot of feed to lose, or about a third of what you spent money and time on.

 

[zzvyb6]

I sell baled weeds to horse people. Their first comment was always "Doesn't look that good". I'd tell them to take a bale home as a sample. They'd come back after an hour with "How much more of that do you have ?". One gal put 10 bales in a brand new Chevy Suburban after the sample run.

Turns out most of the hay of any sort around here (Brighton) has been sprayed with propionic acid during baling to ****** spoilage. Smells like vinegar. Horses hate it. Cows love it. Now I sell my hay crop to just 1 customer. I cut for 20 minutes to get them a trailer load. They are there waiting when my NH stacker rolls into the driveway. Stacker has single bale unload. All I have to do is throw the lever. Cut next day: 20 minutes again.

The nearest hay auction is in Williamston on Saturdays. Square bales for horses sell for well over $7 recently. The post sell prices online next day. A month ago its was $12.50.

I have found out that the ideal small square bale is about 35# with 12 flakes. Easy for biological females to lift, stack, and feed out consistently.

Now I have begun to mentor my customer into making their own hay from their own small field and a neighbor's field which they can access free. They bought a JD 4400, NH 474 haybine (was junk at purchase), a NH 55 rake, and a JD 24T baler (had a broken knotter frame). She has fixed it all up (even painted the stuff and bought replacement decals). Total cost for her was about $1600 for the hay junk. $10k for the tractor (needed the internal range selector rod replaced). First session produced 21 bales as a practice session. Last week put up 61.

I lost money in the hay business every year for about 40 years. My accountant loves it.

 

[super55]

Yes, we always stack on end like oversized oil cans.



Let's see a 5ft tall by 5ft wide round bale would be 60 inches by 60 inches;
so 2827.23 square inches x 60 would be 169645.8 cu inch.

now if we lose 4 inches off the outside we will have a 52 inch by 52 inch usable bale;
2123.72 sq. in. x 52 = 110443.44 cu. in. of "good" feed

or 65.1% of what you started with.
That outer 4 inches is a lot of feed to lose, or about a third of what you spent money and time on.

yeah but that was a 3 yr old round bale out in the weather. Your round bales under cover I'm certain you would have almost 100% useable hay.

I will say it is a lot of work. I tried to beat rain this year and had to open up bales because I baled too wet and started to mold on me. Smelled like it was almost starting to ferment. Crazy thing is the cows and goats seem to absolutely love the stuff.

but you are right it's a lot of work. I would only do it if you had some late winter boredom or needed to make some fast cash because small squares sell way faster to horse ppl.

 

[Hay Dude]

yeah but that was a 3 yr old round bale out in the weather. Your round bales under cover I'm certain you would have almost 100% useable hay.

I will say it is a lot of work. I tried to beat rain this year and had to open up bales because I baled too wet and started to mold on me. Smelled like it was almost starting to ferment. Crazy thing is the cows and goats seem to absolutely love the stuff.

but you are right it's a lot of work. I would only do it if you had some late winter boredom or needed to make some fast cash because small squares sell way faster to horse ppl.

Cows love that kind of hay, but feeding it to them constantly is not good for them.
Making good, indoor starred hay in large quantities is not easy.

 

[lens12]

If you cover them for a long period you need to use a white cover. I'd recommend buying some bale sleeves. they can be reused. I store around 250 6x6 bales inside but I also use some sleeves to store extra hay close to where I'm feeding

 

[Mike1955]

If you cover them for a long period you need to use a white cover. I'd recommend buying some bale sleeves. they can be reused. I store around 250 6x6 bales inside but I also use some sleeves to store extra hay close to where I'm feeding

Lens may I ask, why use a “white” cover. I have a white German Shepherd

 

[D&D]

small squares sell way faster to horse ppl.

Horse ppl = 98% female in my experience. They always can tell you everything that is wrong about what you did and everything right about what you should do

I take my dog most places I go. Was at a farm to make a delivery and the dog and I were out looking at a small donkey. Woman drives by and starts screaming out the window to keep that damn dog away from the donkey, dog was heeled at my side. She then comes over to inform me that the donkey hates dogs blah, blah. I looked at her and said, I wish you woulda told me 15 minutes ago when they were nose to nose at the fence. She just stomped off.
Turns out she’s the barn manager and she won’t let the boarders use a wheel barrow to move hay. The wheelbarrows are for manure and sawdust, too unstable for hay. surprisingly, the last two times they’ve called we are sold out.

Most all of our female horse clients buy 21-42 bales at a time now because that’s all they think they need. We stack and store it in our barn, they seem happy to pay extra for the privilege. This month it’s 6/bale, Oct is 7, Nov is 8, Dec/Jan is 9, Feb will be 10. Northern Va had a bad year for hay so that may change some things for us, we will see. Some people we know on the I-81 corridor have been feeding their horses hay since June, the fields are just dry.

 

[Tx Jim]

Yes, we always stack on end like oversized oil cans.



Let's see a 5ft tall by 5ft wide round bale would be 60 inches by 60 inches;
so 2827.23 square inches x 60 would be 169645.8 cu inch.

now if we lose 4 inches off the outside we will have a 52 inch by 52 inch usable bale;
2123.72 sq. in. x 52 = 110443.44 cu. in. of "good" feed

or 65.1% of what you started with.
That outer 4 inches is a lot of feed to lose, or about a third of what you spent money and time on.

You didn't include in your calculations ""pie R square not round""!!

 

[Hay Dude]

Horse ppl = 98% female in my experience. They always can tell you everything that is wrong about what you did and everything right about what you should do

I take my dog most places I go. Was at a farm to make a delivery and the dog and I were out looking at a small donkey. Woman drives by and starts screaming out the window to keep that damn dog away from the donkey, dog was heeled at my side. She then comes over to inform me that the donkey hates dogs blah, blah. I looked at her and said, I wish you woulda told me 15 minutes ago when they were nose to nose at the fence. She just stomped off.
Turns out she’s the barn manager and she won’t let the boarders use a wheel barrow to move hay. The wheelbarrows are for manure and sawdust, too unstable for hay. surprisingly, the last two times they’ve called we are sold out.

Most all of our female horse clients buy 21-42 bales at a time now because that’s all they think they need. We stack and store it in our barn, they seem happy to pay extra for the privilege. This month it’s 6/bale, Oct is 7, Nov is 8, Dec/Jan is 9, Feb will be 10. Northern Va had a bad year for hay so that may change some things for us, we will see. Some people we know on the I-81 corridor have been feeding their horses hay since June, the fields are just dry.

Funny!
I have whittled my horse customers down to about 3 (1 woman, another so-called “woman” and 1 man). They are fine and understand hay. The rest goes to cattle people and the mushroom industry.

I can tell you stories that would make your knees wobble. Horse hay buyers buy hay as if THEY were going to eat it themselves. My “favorites” were the ones who would stop by, offer XXXX for hay, then upon delivery try to renegotiate the price for the exact same bales they picked out at my place.

It takes a special man to sell hay to horse people. I did it for 10 years, then woke up one day and said “I’m sick of these people”. Luckily, I can sell all the $120/ton hay I want to the mushroom industry, so I bought larger, faster equipment and quadrupled my output.

 

[Peter 315]

Funny!
I have whittled my horse customers down to about 3 (1 woman, another so-called “woman” and 1 man). They are fine and understand hay. The rest goes to cattle people and the mushroom industry.

I can tell you stories that would make your knees wobble. Horse hay buyers buy hay as if THEY were going to eat it themselves. My “favorites” were the ones who would stop by, offer XXXX for hay, then upon delivery try to renegotiate the price for the exact same bales they picked out at my place.

It takes a special man to sell hay to horse people. I did it for 10 years, then woke up one day and said “I’m sick of these people”. Luckily, I can sell all the $120/ton hay I want to the mushroom industry, so I bought larger, faster equipment and quadrupled my output.

Haha....Your funny..