Bermuda bale storage question

[whitewing]

This coming "winter", or rainy season down here, I plan to increase my production of bermuda bales significantly as I more than tripled my acreage planted in bermuda during the last winter. I don't yet have the storage capacity in the form of sheds to house all the bales I'll be producing, and frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if it's even worth it to try to construct such structures. I'm looking right now at assorted options for using hay tarps to protect the material.

The plan is to begin baling in June and continue through at least December. If possible, I'd like to hold on to the bales until the following January/February time frame because that's when no one seems to have bales available and I should be able to obtain the best pricing for my product.

My question relates to the use of hay tarps, and specifically what I should do at ground level. Do I need some sort of plastic ground cover? Can I set the bales directly on gravel or some such material. Obviously, placing the bales where water run-off won't be an issue is important.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

BTW, when I say "bale", I'm talking about standard small-sized bales that are manually handled.

 

[1982vett]

Small squares? My opinion...nothing less than a barn.

 

[whitewing]

Small squares? My opinion...nothing less than a barn.

Wet blanket.

Seriously, "nothing less than a barn" is not going to happen before I start cranking out small squares so I need a Plan B.

 

[dimestorecowboy]

Im not sure there is any other way to store square bales besides in a barn . If you do tarp them put them on some pallet s or something the hay will wick moisture .

 

[dun]

Just me, but I would stockpile and graze it rather then cut it if I couldn;t store it inside. Bermuda doesn;t stockpile very well but it would be more nutritious then half rotten small squares and the fuel to bale it wouldn;t be wasted

 

[whitewing]

Just me, but I would stockpile and graze it rather then cut it if I couldn;t store it inside. Bermuda doesn;t stockpile very well but it would be more nutritious then half rotten small squares and the fuel to bale it wouldn;t be wasted

Diesel here is something like $0.03/gallon so fuel cost/waste isn't an issue. And I've now got more planted than my animals can eat once the rains come. The most effecient thing to do with it is to bale it and also to cut it green for my silo. I'll be doing both hopefully. The storage issue is my biggest headache at the moment.

 

[upfrombottom]

Diesel here is something like $0.03/gallon

I wonder if you could send some FedEx. A 20 oz. bottle of water is over a dollar here.

 

[Jogeephus]

Roll it into round rolls and tarp it then unroll them and feed them in your square baler as the need arises. You can cull any bales made from the outside but for the most part the hay will be pretty decent and most people will not know the difference.

 

[1982vett]

I guess for a "must store outside" method, I'd try to at least stack on pallets and cover the top of the stack with a tarp. Realizing the tarp will most likely sweat ruining the top layer or two and leaving the sides uncovered to let the stack breath will result in the loss of the outside bale, hopefully not more than that.

Jogees round bale idea is used around here by the hay producers quite a bit now. Roll it, shed it and in the winter set up and square it off.

 

[whitewing]

Roll it into round rolls and tarp it then unroll them and feed them in your square baler as the need arises. You can cull any bales made from the outside but for the most part the hay will be pretty decent and most people will not know the difference.

That really is an interesting idea. I'm assuming round bales tarp better than the squares.....ie, much less loss of the outer layers.

Now ya got me thinkin'.