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Compressed Hay Economics

Horse Care
#1

I am so confused by compressed hay. Hoping someone can explain this to me because I feel really dumb.

So, Standlee says that they are made from an 8x4x4’ bale, then weighed, compressed, and wrapped/strung. Which semi-implies that you’re getting 1200 lbs of hay into 50 lbs, but that makes no sense mentally. How does the compression reduce the weight? Wouldn’t it just reduce the size? How MUCH compressed is it possible to be?

Then when I use their calculator, it implies that I can feed my horse alfalfa hay with no grain at a rate of less grass hay then he’s getting now, supplemented by high fat senior feed & oil. This actually makes the compressed bale price a deal if that’s actually true. We have a bunch of hard-keeper types here and I’d love to stop paying out the nose for senior feed and hay that they waste. I’ve experimented with some alfalfa flakes and they scarf that up with zero waste so that seems like a really good option, but I don’t want to transition only to find out that they drop weight and it costs 3x as much as my local hay guy.

My local hay guy’s quality is variable, but it’s $7 a two string 40-45 lb bale. My issue is that they waste a TON of it. It’s stemmy, they pick through it, and I probably lose a good 50% to mashing it into the pasture while shuffling hay piles, and a good 25% inside even with the slow feed nets. We are looking at feeders for outside, but have sort of a complex situation that makes it difficult to determine how many we need.

The standlee is $20 (ish) for either a wrapped grab and go or the regular compressed open bales. So at first glance the standlee seems super expensive, but then when I think about the possibility of reducing waste and grain, that more than makes up for it if the math is accurate.

I wish I could go back to the days where I had my own hay fields and this was easy…but here I am.

#2

I am relying on my Aging Memory here, but I panic-bought the Standlee several years ago when my hayguy had trouble getting me through March.

I got the orchard grass/alfalfa mix - at the time $16 for the compressed bale, supposed to equal a 2-string 40-50# bale.
I found it very dusty & too “flaky”.
It literally fell apart when cut open, and didn’t seem to last as long as a standard bale.
I feed off the ground in stalls & this stuff seemed to disappear into the bedding (pelleted) quickly.

8 Likes
#3

Standlee takes the big square bales and cuts them into 50lb small bales that are then compressed/wrapped.

I agree with 2DogsFarm - the hay can be dusty and it falls apart very easily, creating waste. It’s handy in a pinch, but not something I want to feed long-term.

6 Likes
#4

That makes considerably more sense - I just couldn’t get my head around how the compression would reduce weight and thought I KNEW I must be missing something.

I didn’t have a problem with the dusty etc. because I opened it on a tarp and fed it in pans. Zero waste that way and they consumed every last nibble of it as opposed to taking a bite and walking around the stalls dropping hay out of their mouths. My dunker didn’t dunk it, which was kind of nice.

#5

My hay supplier in TN used to get compressed bales of bluestem prairie grass. They were basically the size of your standard 40-50lb 2 string bale, but they were double the weight (and priced as such).

It didn’t have the shatter like the Standlee bales. You still had long strands of grass comprising the hay. I can’t remember what the measured moisture content was, but the hay was a lot drier looking and feeling that normal hay. “Crispy” is how I would describe it. But it was still a beautiful green color and smelled wonderful. Bluestem is basically filler hay, low sugar and low protein, but the horses ate it well enough. Great stuff for fatties, not so much for horses with high nutritional demands.

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#6

I would worry about loss of moisture from the wrapping and what that means for both nutrient composition and digestibility issues. Also age of the product. If you can, start making friends with local farmers and give them deposits to serve you first off the field. I recognize this isn’t feasible for most, and you’re at the mercy of the hay dealers…

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#7

Last winter, we needed more hay and were unhappy with our usual winter supplier’s offering, and went with the Ametza CB-BER Bermuda Hay Bale, which are wrapped, 50# bales from TSC, currently priced at $13.49 each.

It was good quality coastal bermuda (which is what’s normally fed regionally, without the impacted colic issues often brought up on CoTH, so perhaps we have a different variety than elsewhere in the country). Not quite as long-stemmed as normal bales, unsurprisingly, with little waste, and our horses ate it well. Fed it at the same rate as our usual coastal hay.

When the wrapping is removed, and the straps cut (the type of strap found on large, heavy packages), the bale expands a bit, but not back into a typical, non-compressed 50# bale.

It was a convenient enough option that we’re keeping a few of these bales on hand, even though we still have a plentiful supply this year of regular hay, just in case. We would buy this again.

ETA that these are compressed bales, requiring much less storage space than typical 2-wire 50 bales

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#8

I fed the Standlee compressed hay and had the same problem as 2Dogs, plus what I bought was Timothy and what I got maybe was something different as my allergy pony who is not allergic to timothy had one of his worst reactions (hives everywhere) on their hay. Maybe it wasn’t the hay itself he reacted to but the dust IDK. It was very dusty and fine, I had to carry it in a bucket because it was more like chopped hay than flakes. My other ponies ate it but I couldn’t feed it outside because I was worried “Mr. Allergy” would get the scraps, so I crossed it off my list. Plus it’s expensive.

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#9

In a pinch when our Standlee was waiting on a shipment to come in, I’d have to buy a compressed bale of Orchard. They try so hard to tell you that its the “exact same hay off the same fields,” but those compressed bales suck. They do not expand well, the hay gets dusty from the compression, and the horses do not like it as much as the normal 3 string bales.

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#10

Reduced moisture just means nutrients are more concentrated. Look at any hay analysis that has both the as-fed (has moisture, which all hay does) and Dry Matter (processed to get to (near) 0% moisture) columns, and you can see how they differ. So, if AF is 11% protein and DM is 12% protein, you’re going to get more protein in the same weight of hay fed.

I have fed some 40lb compressed Timothy bales that came from somewhere in NY, when we had a major drought, I was feeding hay in Summer, and nobody here had any cuttings. It was LOVELY, not dusty at all, and the horses inhaled it. It was a pita to have to separate and shake out but it worked.

I have heard negative review of the Standlee compressed bales as well, multiple people, multiple sources, so it’s not just a one-time off-batch.

2 Likes
#11

I dont know Standlee at all.

However I have been buying some compressed Timothy that is made for export. I weigh my hay to feed and these bales do come out at 60 to 65 lbs and half the size of a regular 50 lb bale. Great for camping or when you dont have lots of storage. Price per lb comparable to second cut Timothy in 110 lb bales.

You do have to be careful not to over feed by eye. Also the compacted hay looks compacted which would be a red flag for mold in regular hay but is not an issue in the compacted hay.

3 Likes
#12

Ah HA! That makes sense as to why you can “feed less”. The increased compression results in increased drying, which then increase the nutrition (of the protein) per lb. Obviously it may lose other nutrients, but that was another factor I just couldn’t figure out.

So, it is possible that a compressed bale (whether it be Standlee or other) of alfalfa might be able to replace grass hay of “ok” quality + bagged grain, and work out to be cheaper even though the initial cost of the bale is more, provided I can reduce waste as I managed to do with my experimentation (which is brief, but it sounds like it’s worth continuing).

I’d still feed grass hay of “ok” quality, but be less concerned about the amounts fed, as it would be “recreational hay” as opposed to stuffing them full trying to get nutrients in them. That would also reduce wastage, because I’m constantly throwing more than 50% “extra” at them in attempts to get enough calories.

My spreadsheets are becoming complex ROFL

#13

You could technically feed less to get the same amount of nutrition and calories, but I’m not sure it’s a significantly lower amount. You’d have to know the pre- and post-compressed analysis to work that out. I honestly don’t know what % an average moisture content decreases with a compressed bale.

But, feeding less, reduces the time they have hay in front of them, which isn’t ideal in most cases.

Cheaper maybe, hay is almost always a cheaper source of calories than concentrates, though compressed bales tend to be more/lb than their equivalent of a regular bale, depending on the processing it went through.

Meaning, if it goes straight from the field to compressed, that’s going to be the cheapest. But if it’s going from a 8x8 bale and cut into smaller sections and compressed, that adds cost to the original hay. And, if that farmer is buying those big bales, instead of producing them himself, that’s adding more cost as well.

But in terms of nutrition, you need a hay analysis to know what you have, to know what supplementation you need (and ALL hay needs supplementation to some degree for optimal amounts and ratios)

#14

I should add -
Part of the issue is that these horses are in a herd situation, and would need 5-6 slow feeders outside in order to feel confident that each horse is getting what they need. Due to my fence type, I can’t just hang slow feed bags outside - I do have them inside, but they spend only a few hours stalled. Even with the bags, I get about 10-20% wastage.

I’d have to buy 5-6 outdoor “structure” type feeders to make sure each horse is getting adequate “regular” hay, and that’s prohibitively expensive.

So, if I could feel good about the fact that they are getting adequate forage and calories from the compressed hay, then I could reduce the outside hay to recreational levels and not stress so much about them getting enough.

#15

Oh yes - I’m sorry, I should have been clear - I would then use a ration balancer for that. But that’s significantly cheaper than pumping them full of senior feed.

#16

I feel like the number one thing in reducing feeding costs is to reduce hay wastage. That might mean different things in different situations. But basically I almost never dump any hay in the manure bin.

If I’m going to free feed a horse they get it in a net.

In order not to waste hay, you need hay the horses will eat and a feeding system that keeps it clean and dry. I don’t get the idea of feeding good hay the horses like plus then poor hay they trample into the mud or pee on.

The next thing is to run the numbers and figure out cost per pound. That’s the only way to compare a ton of hay with odd sized bales. Then weigh your hay before feeding and keep a written record to see if the bales are indeed as advertised and if you are feeding what you think.

It’s true that drier hay means slightly more concentrated nutrients per pound, but I haven’t myself found that makes much difference.

I have found that in my situation, good quality Timothy makes for better weight and health than mediocre or poor local grass hay. Alfalfa is great if horses really need the protein and calorie boost. I then really like an excellent VMS or ration balancer as almost no-one feeds enough of a fortified feed to get the full VM.

Often a poorly looking horses needs VM or protein, not just more c

Mixing alfalfa and low quality grass hay often doesnt work because the horses fill up on alfalfa and then ignore and pee on the grass hay :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#17

I have Nibble Nets in the stalls, purchased by me, at a cost of over $500 (I board 10 horses). This STILL results in about 25% wastage. Outside is trickier, but I get significant waste. I’m hesitant to buy the 5-6 standing feeders I’d need for the herd to get adequate forage. What would likely happen is what is happening now, lots of waste, and my harder keepers would just get run off constantly. I’m investing in fencing etc. but that is a long term situation.

The horses waste the grass hay. When I experimented with the standlee alfalfa hay there was NO wastage. It was fed in a feed pan and cleaned up to the point there was nothing left. My dunker spent significant time licking the pan, did not dunk, and was not walking around dribbling hay out of his mouth as he tried to see what everyone else was doing. Feed pans are cheap. Outside feeders that are safe and possible on this property are not.

So, I’m way more inclined to throw “recreational” hay out in smaller quantities and get calories into them with good hay in a controlled way when they are indoors than I am to continue the fight to keep them from wasting the ok grass hay. I’m also more inclined to feed a higher quality hay than pumping them full of grain to make up the weight.

The boarded horses are mostly hard keepers getting 9-12 lbs of senior feed on top of the grass hay that they are ruining. The boarders are cost-conscious, and I’ve already jacked their boarding price up because the previous barn owner fed 2 flakes, 2x/day and all the horses were 300lbs underweight. I’m not inclined to charge an “overage” for feed because I know there are people that won’t do it, and I don’t want underweight horses on the property. I also have staff quality concerns to manage, and things like soaking adequately seem to sometimes be out of reach, so I don’t want to supplement with things that are tricky to feed and risk a choke.

So it’s a tough balancing act, which is why I’m weighing all of these options. If I sound salty it’s because I’m cranky about boarders whining about costs, when I’m trying everything I can to not lose $2k out of pocket a month subsidizing their horse’s feed so that I don’t say “to heck with this” and boot them all out and just deal with my guys. :slight_smile:

6 Likes
#18

I don’t have any experience with the compressed bales, but I have had great success supplementing harder keepers with soaked hay cubes, which are probably about the same cost but eaiser to store and I haven’t seen too many horses that won’t clean them up.

1 Like
#19

BINGO !! It looks like the wording can be confusing when Standlee is explaining how they make a compressed bale.

I bought one once for my goats. It was not dusty but very crumbly and I had to feed it in a tub. They did enjoy it though, but it would be super expensive to feed it as the only forage source, especially for a horse.
IMHO.

#20

I looked at the Q & A on the TSC website, for the Ametza Bermuda Hay compressed bales I mentioned above, and found this info in response to various questions:

Ametza CB-BER Bermuda Hay Bale

Our Bermuda grass is grown between the months of April to October in Southern California. We only use a granular fertilizer that dissolves with irrigation leaving no dusty residue behind. Each harvest cycle results in our long stem variety for our equine customers.

All of our hay is sun cured. We do not use any drying agents.

Moisture: 5.6 %
Dry Matter: 94.4 %
Crude Protein: 10.2 % as fed, 10.8% DM
Available Protein: 9.5% as fed, 10.0% DM
ADICP: .7 % as fed, .8% DM
ADF: 32.3% as fed, 34.2% DM
aNDF: 63.2% as fed, 66.9% DM
Lignin: 4.4% as fed, 4.6% DM
NFC: 12.5% as fed, 13.2% DM
Starch: 1.7% as fed, 1.8% DM
WSC (Water Sol. Carbs.): 4.7% as fed, 5.0% DM
ESC (Simple Sugars): 4.3% as fed, 4.6% DM
Crude Fat, EE: 2.3% as fed, 2.4% DM
Ash: 6.29% as fed, 6.66% DM
TDN: 56% as fed, 59% DM
NEL, Mcal/Lb: .46% as fed, .49% DM
NEM, Mcal/Lb: .50% as fed, .53% DM
NEG, Mcal/Lb: .26% as fed, .28% DM
Relative Feed Value: 87%
Calcium: .48% as fed, .51% DM
Phosphorus: .18% as fed, .19% DM
Magnesium: .25% as fed, .27% DM
Sulfur: .57% as fed, .60% DM
Chloride Ion: .74% as fed, .78% DM
Total Nitrogen: 1.63% as fed, 1.73% DM
Lysine: .36% as fed, .38% DM
Methionine: .13% as fed, .14% DM
Horse DE, Mcal/Lb: .86% as fed, .91% DM

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