Sand in bottom of bucket after soaking beet pulp and alfalfa cubes, also rocks

[TheHorseComesFirst]

For as long as I have been feeding Alfalfa Cubes I seemed to always have found sand in the bottom of the bucket after soaking them and pouring it out usually about a 1/4 of a teaspoon per .5-1lb of alfalfa cubes and probably about half a teaspoon in a .5 lb of beet pulp.

is this normal? I feel it is excessive. should I worry about this?

The brands of alfalfa cubes are Standlee and Top of the Rockies. the Beet pulp shred brand is Midwest Agri.

at least I’m not finding rocks like I did in the Standlee chopped Forage and Compressed bales.

[goodhors]

I might expect to find some sand/grit on hay cubes, they are like hay, dust happens. Never found or noticed dirt in my soaked beet pulp bucket, pellets or shreds. I actually never looked. Scrape out the soaked stuff into smaller portions. Not soaking it in a basket and then lifting it out of pail to be divided.

The sugar beets get sprayed in sugar production so I would expect any harvested dirt to be mostly washed off in processing. They do go to the sugar plant dirty, maybe it is stuck in crevices after washing.

Horses here eat dirty pasture grass when the wind blows across fields. Grass was filthy after fertilizing and dragging, with dirt on it. Rain the next day washed the grass clean, looked like Ireland photos! Dirt is part of our farm life here, not sure what you can change except to soak and lift wet stuff out of water in a basket.

[JB]

I have friends who fall into both camps of the dirt and beet pulp issue. Some regularly find it, others never find it. I’m sure it has to do with the conditions under which the beets are grown, and then how they are handled once harvested and cleaned.

Because you’re soaking, I wouldn’t be concerned. Sugar beets are root vegetables, growing in the dirt. I suspect some of the “dirt” is also just tiny plant particles, not actual dirt. Both alf cubes and beet pulp can be pulverized to dust. Of course, sand is sand, and other “dirt” can be real dirt, or just plant material.

[TheHorseComesFirst]

Dirt I wouldn’t be concerned about.

What I find at the bottom of the pan/bucket is DEFINITELY sand.

Even after soaking it and rinsing I am still finding some at the bottom of his grain pan.

Do the friends that find sand in their beetpulp feed the same brand of Beet pulp that your friends that don’t find sand?

Thanks!

[betsyk]

I’d look at your well. Do you find sand at the bottom of water buckets? If you say no, do some tests with the first pail in the morning and also a pail drawn after the water has run for a long time.

[JB]

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/sugarbeet.html

" In the United States, sugarbeets am produced on coarse textured sandy soils to high organic matter, high clay content, silty clay or silty clay loam soils. "

[lorilu]

I recently bought a different brand of hay cubes and they were sandy. I usually use Seminole and NEVER have sand in the bucket. (Can’t remember the other brand-not standlee-bought at US Hay in Ocala. )

[buck22]

I gave up feeding beet pulp a few years ago because of finding a large amount of gritty large-grained sand in the bottom of the buckets each day. I resorted to rinsing and washing with a colander for a while, then finally gave up beet pulp entirely. My 38yr old has been increasingly sensitive to sand in the past few years, I just couldnt bring myself to be feeding him sand.

I do feed TCS now, largely beet pulp, and I do wonder about the sand content.

[GutsNGlory]

I feed the exact same brands of alfalfa cubes and beet pulp, soaked, and have never found sand or any type of questionable residue.