Harvest & Storage

When I visit with forage producers about hay moisture in square bales, the top concern is spontaneous combustion and fire risk, followed by mold and mycotoxins and heat damage.

There is growing interest in wrapping hay as farmers look for solutions to put up quality hay in tight weather windows. Wrapping high-moisture hay bales can reduce the time hay needs to dry, minimizing the risks of a crop getting rained on.

Wrapping dry bales

Traditionally, wrapping large round or square bales in plastic film has been considered mainly for high-moisture silage, or “baleage” bales, but many growers are investigating wrapping dry bales.

Delivering the highest-quality hay is a complicated race against time.

For all businesses, inventory is a crucial part of the day-to-day and year-to-year operations. Without product to sell – or worse yet, parts or ingredients to make salable items – a company cannot survive.

Baleage (as opposed to harvesting forage as bales or silage) has advantages for many producers.