Does anyone else salt their hay when putting it in the barn? I grew up on a farm, we baled our own hay and we would buy several large bags of rock salt to sprinkle on each bale as it was stacked in the barn. There were a few times that I remember we stacked outside and covered with a tarp rather than put it in the barn because my dad knew it hadn’t dried properly, keeping it out of the barn was good for two important reasons: wouldn’t burn down the barn and it wouldn’t get mixed with the good hay (cows can eat some pretty nasty hay!)
[QUOTE=fooler;7695864]
LE has a point especially if the person is new to baling hay.
We have been very fortunate to find a man who knows how to properly handle hay. He is very careful when he cuts, turns and bales his hay so it is safe as possible to pick up out of the fields. Plus he stands behind his hay - it if goes bad he will take it back and refund or replace the bad bales.
If you don’t know how the person handled the hay prior to baling, then LE’s warning is very valid.[/QUOTE]
Thank you. My own hay man is like yours; I’ve been with him 19 years, and he buys from a variety of well-trusted farmers. He always checks himself to see what he’s buying before he even loads it, and will take back anything I find that I consider unfeedable; this has probably been less than half a dozen bales a year.
My OP was occasioned by a call I got from a well-known local land-pirate who puts up only a few hundred bales a year, usually of cattle quality. Any newbie horse-owner who got such a call might think they were getting “a deal.”
Yes, quality can be all over the map, and my point was to buy properly put-up stuff from reputable dealers who know what they’re looking at UNLESS you have the knowledge and experience to judge for yourself. My post was specifically directed to the INexperienced, who are most likely to have stuff that will heat or mold pawned off on them by some of the less-trustworthy operators.
Be very, very happy if you have great hay; plenty of people DON’T.
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I got some fresh hay recently; my hay supplier wanted another day for it to dry in the field but it called for rain, so they baled it super loose and brought it home. Let it sit for a couple of days to make sure it wasn’t getting hot, and then planned to feed it immediately and sold some to people explaining the situation – that it wasn’t going to store well, so feed it now.
My horses thought it was crack on wheels. 
it was great while it lasted – but really only for horses that were already on pasture. It was like freshly baled pasture…probably too much for the ponies but they really liked it too.
True to his word, it didn’t last. By the time I got to the last couple of bales from my small load they were starting to mold. Too bad…it was fantastic quality.
So…yes, don’t put fresh “hot” hay in your barn, or even fresh “cool” hay if it’s not fully dry as it will mold. But as for it being unpalatable…not in my experience.
I won’t buy from the field. Maybe I’m over cautious, but I prefer to pay a little more and buy it after it has been stored in their barn for a few weeks. If we are loading by hand, any extra heavy bales get rejected or set aside to at least feed first, and I will check stacks with a thermometer for a while. I might feel differently if I lived somewhere drier and was surrounded by good hay farmers, but I don’t, and I’m pretty comfortable with what might seem extreme caution.
Other than being aware that if not done right and watched for heat, the only caveat that I have was mentioned by another poster. The freshly cut hay is still doing a little fermenting, and may give some horses loose manure. I usually let it sit for a month ot two, but do feed the scraps from the hay wagon.
No hay is baled at 0% moisture. All hay will heat to some degree after bailing.
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My hay guy delivers my hay straight from his field to my barn. I’ve used this guy for more than a decade and it always comes straight from his field. Not once have I had a problem (or even a bad bale!).
I prefer to let hay cure for a bit before feeding-- perhaps 3-4 wks for something “wetter” like heavy alfafa. But dry grass baled at 10% moisture or less is safe to feed immediately. Most hay cures down to 8%, so something that dry won’t heat much (if at all).
Having a hand-held moisture tester is helpful to spot-check individual bales, but the best instrument is a moisture sensor on the baler chute. Then you can check as you’re baling, avoid the wet spots, throw out a wet bale, or let a thick windrow sit another hour or two. Also saves on spray; we only used HayGuard on 18%+.
Be sure to stack fresh hay on edge, not on the flat. It dries better, as moisture can evaporate up out of the stems. Sometimes a little salt can help the drying process if you think some bales are on the wet side; stack those loosely, with 4-6" in between for better airflow. After they finish drying you can re-stack them snugly.
[QUOTE=Gestalt;7695959]
Does anyone else salt their hay when putting it in the barn? [/QUOTE]
Yes. I learned that as a teenager a hundred years ago. The place I was at last summer waited too long to source hay and ended up getting dodgy stuff (straight off the field, which is normally not a problem, but I know for a fact that crap got rained on) that had to be sprayed because the moisture content was too high.
BO had no idea about salting. Um, you’re kidding right? You wanna burn the barn down?
For once the idiot listened and sent one of the barn ladies to TSC for a couple bags of loose salt. The stacking logistics were left to the one boarder who used to farm and it got stacked, bottom bales on their non string sides and straight stacked (not tight, locked in) so that there was maximum breathing room.
Heavy bales got tossed downstairs, opened up and strewn about to dry for a couple days then fed when it was clear that the hay was mould free. Total pain in the ass that didn’t need to happen if better planning had been in place.
Lady Eboshi - around here it’s quite normal for wagons to come directly from field to loft. It means a much more streamlined procedure which keeps the price down. Literally, the farmer will call and say we’re starting baling at 3pm so you need your people in place by 4pm for the arrival of the first wagon.
BUT, see above, poor planning, ignorance, and jackasses who don’t watch the weather can indeed make a good attempt at burning a barn down!
Pretty serious blanket statement based on one bad seller there, LE/SY.
Buying off the wagon is the norm around here. If you can do it, you do it. Saves quite a bit of hassle and money. Clearly you buy from a supplier you trust and not from someone you know is willing to sell you crap.
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It goes without saying that you should buy your hay from a reputable hay farmer…
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If one wants to make a PSA, title it ‘don’t buy damp hay’. The fact that hay is freshly baled is really not the issue. The problem is buying hay that was not put up right. It takes a couple weeks from baling to determine that. Or a bale moisture probe, or a trustworthy grower that guarantees quality.
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I have had problems only once with freshly baled hay and that was because it wasn’t dry enough when it was baled. The farmer took it back when it started to heat up and refunded my money.
If it’s baled under the right conditions there should be no problems with it.
There can be a risk of fire with hay that is still new, not dry enough, “hot”. I would be very mindful of this, and stack it as advised.
I think you need baler twines during the process of baling. Square baler twines produced by T&H packaging corporation is quite good. My friend has packaged hay with their baler twines.He thinks that their products are qualified. This companies can provide potential customers with 48 rolls of baler twines without any advanced payment, so that they can have a try to see if the products are satisfactory.
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Tips on adjusting your machine to packaging high-quality bales.
Adjusting a baler to produce high-quality bales is relatively straightforward. Of course, by starting with windrows that are uniform in width and in the amount of hay they contain, producers help ensure bales are consistent in shape and density. Also, windrows that are as large as possible to meet the baler capacity help minimize the amount of loss during the baling process when hay is at its driest and most subject to leaf loss from handling. If you want more information, please contact me:
luodi@thintlgroup.com
Spam reported.
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I buy from a very good farmer, and my dad grows hay. The moisture content is what matters and most farmers who do hay in any scale have a moisture meter on the baler.
Be careful storing sprayed hay with a higher moisture content (which can keep it from molding and be fine) in the same barn with regular hay. the evaporation process can make it more humid in there, and cause molding in the regular hay. Most people don’t spray hay with low moisture content. A lot of people don’t think about that.
My Pony Club Manual (50’s era) also recommended only feeding last year’s hay… Even back then we thought that was weird!
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What a bizarre thread. The hay directly from the field is no different from the hay your hay supplier puts in his own barn before selling it to you later after adding the costs of handling it twice. If you cant figure out if the hay was dry enough before baling- then- I cant help you. lol
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