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Standlee compressed forage

Around The Farm
#1

I will start by saying I’ve boarded and don’t have much experience buying hay. However, the hay at my barn is rarely bright green, but it usually tests ok, sometimes a little low in calcium.

I’ve been buying Standlee compressed alfalfa for the old mare with few teeth and I’ve bought a couple of compressed timothy bales for my guy to have a little variety.

I was absolutely amazed at the bright green color and the softness of the flakes. I couldn’t believe it - it looked like pictures I’ve seen of hay online but never real life before. Do they spray it with a preservative to retain the color or is that normal?

Yes, I will always be a newb about certain things. But it sure is pretty and the old mare makes a beeline for her flake of alfalfa at night. lol

1 Like
#2

I never saw bright green hay in Ohio.
Here in Florida, everything they get shipped from out west is leprechaun green. I was told once it’s because it isn’t as humid where the hay comes from. I am not convinced they don’t dye it.

#3

That’s what a friend said after she saw it! It’s the brightest green I’ve ever seen.

#4

Hay can vary a lot in color depending on the species of grass, the maturity, and how bleached it got in the field. Typically compressed Timothy is for export and us too quality.

Alfalfa is always very very green.

I doubt it’s getting dyed. Hay farming has a low margin and it would take an insane amount of dye to color a ton of hay. And they wouldn’t be able to recoup the cost.

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#5

As a 5 year user of Standlee compressed alfalfa bales, I can attest that every bale is a nice green color. My horses love it. They nose the flakes apart and eat all the alfalfa leaves first, and then start on the stems. I feed them on rubber mats, and after the stems, they then proceed to lick up all the “dust” from the mats. The dust is actually alfalfa sawdust, created when Standlee saws up large rectangular bales with a bandsaw to create smaller bales to re-compress, package, and ship.

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#6

It’s just not what I’m used to seeing but I’m not complaining. lol

The timothy is a bluish green color and the alfalfa is a bright green. The ponies all enjoy it and clean up every last crumb.

#7

Good to know! I put the “dust” and fine leaves left in the plastic in the feed bowl and every shred is gone.

#8

It was (mostly) a joke about dyeing it.

But it is absurdly green. Saying leprechaun green, like shamrocks at the dollar store for St Patrick’s day, is not an overstatement. All of the Timothy, orchard, and alfalfa that comes from out west.

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#9

I’ve been feeding their orchardgrass compressed hay for 2 years or so. It’s beautiful.

#10

What part of the country are you in? I’m in NC and they only carry timothy and alfalfa, no orchard. We don’t have the Teff pellets either, or orchard grass pellets.

#11

I heard back from Standlee.

They said their products are free from preservatives, dyes, chemicals or other additives. Just thought I’d share.

1 Like
#12

I think we need a picture. Hay tax!

#13

I’m in Louisiana. One of our local feedstores is a Standlee dealer and is excellent about having consistent stock and selection of Standlee products. Have you checked the Standlee website for dealers near you?

If you want anything other than coastal here, you have to do some sleuthing!

#14

I don’t buy that stuff I’m referring to, it’s like $650+ per ton. :joy:
Though my mare’s 500-lb compressed blocks are pretty neon, I’ll get a picture of it sometime.

I’m sure someone’s gonna tell me it’s a totally normal green, so apparently Ohio hay is poo, cuz anything I bought there never looked like this stuff!

1 Like
#15

I have been buying western hay and yes it is that green. They don’t have any humidity out there and some of the hay is irrigated so they can cut and bale without the hay sitting out drying for days getting bleached. It would be like cutting off some shoots of orchard grass and putting it in the oven at low temperatures until it was dry. It would still be green too. ( I did this at my grandparent’s farm when I was a kid with alfalfa I cut in their field. They were already sure I was nuts but that was some dam fine hay.)

The Tennessee timothy I have is nowhere near as green as the western stuff. Too much humidity here in the southeast.

3 Likes
#16

:open_mouth: I have only used Standlee compressed - orchard/timothy mix - once in the dead of Winter when my hayguy couldn’t deliver.
It was green, but also insanely expensive @ $16/bale.
That is supposed to equal a 50# bale, which around here goes from $5-7/bale.
I was not impressed with it & neither were horses. Lots of waste in the amount of dust & leave flakes in the bale.

Maybe some growers will chime in, but I believe there is a preservative sprayed on growing hay that makes it appear green.

I buy my year’s supply of 1st cutting & bales may bleach on the outside, but are still green (not Standlee neon) when cut open 6 or more months later.

#17

As an “out west” horse owner and hay feeder-- yes, the hay really is that green! Low humidity in the hay growing parts of the PNW, irrigated hay fields, 3-4 cuttings per season add up to really great hay! Although it is expensive even here, and putting those 120lb bales in the barn is getting beyond me as I get older.

2 Likes
#18

How compressed is the Standlee bale? I am currently using a compressed pasture bale in two fields but I have a smaller paddock that the delivery truck cannot get into and I’d like to not have to haul hay flakes out there all the time…
And the $16 cost? here in FL, that’s pretty cheap for a bale of hay that isnt coastal… :wink:

2 Likes
#20

The little compressed Standlee bales do flake off and are easy to feed. They’re 50 pounds so very small after compression, not sure it’d be different than throwing flakes from regular bales. I just got one at Tractor Supply on sale for $13.50. So cheap for alfalfa!

1 Like
#21

Wow! I know you have to go by analysis and not looks but I would rather feed something that is the color of grass if I could. Lol

The size would be an issue for me though. Our squares are around 50 lbs.

@mmeqcenter that is a great price! It’s on sale for 17.99 here.

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