Hay Barn Design

[RDFF]

Anybody who claims that any bale stored outside "stays just as good" as inside barned stored hay is dillusional. Ha.

Something sitting out in the rain/snow/sun/wind/soil/etc simply can not retain the same quality as something protected from those elements. I don't care if we are talking a hay bale, piece of lumber, or a car the outside elements simple degrade things.

@chevytaHOE5674, it'll depend alot on how much "weather" you'll experience. Way different conditions in Wyoming, or New Mexico, than what you'll experience in the UP of Michigan.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

It doesn't matter where you live. The outside elements weather everything and it degrades. The degree at which that happens changes based on where you are but it does happens everyplace.

 

[kenny thomas]

For my area tests show that a hay barn will pay for itself in less waste in 10 years. We average about 45" of rain per year. Im lucky enough to have old tobacco barns to put my rolls in.

 

[RDFF]

It doesn't matter where you live. The outside elements weather everything and it degrades. The degree at which that happens changes based on where you are but it does happens everyplace.

Yup... agreed. The soil health movement here has a program called "Soil Your Undies"... the idea is that you take a brand new pair of cotton underwear, and bury 'em in your soil, and mark the spot. Come back in 6 months and dig 'em up, and see what's left of 'em. If your soil is highly biologically active, you'll have nothing much left but that elastic band. If you've got whole undies left, or if they're only slightly eaten up, you're "middlin". Our goal is to have soil that's very biologically active... which means it'll eat up alot of "residue" (hay that's set on it), and FENCE POSTS too! (So I use fiberglass posts!). Another reason to be using "bale rails" as well! So you are 100% correct Chevy.

 

[Dave]

It doesn't matter where you live. The outside elements weather everything and it degrades. The degree at which that happens changes based on where you are but it does happens everyplace.

True but the degree at which it degrades can and will vary greatly. For example the guy I bought bulls from in Western Washington said on his place T posts rotted of at the ground in about 10 years. But he gets 100 inches of rain a year and at high tide you can stand in the corner of his pasture and throw a rock into salt water. He asked his FIL who lives in a very dry part of eastern Washington how long T posts last. FIL said I don't know, the first one we put in still looks great. So 10 years versus 100+ years. That is a bit of an extreme example but a real one.

 

[WFfarm]

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

View attachment 53901
Hope to put lean shed on this side in the future..and close the far side in. Good looking hay barn, whats the size.

View attachment 53901
Hope to put lean shed on this side in the future..and close the far side in

 

[kenny thomas]

View attachment 54179

Good looking hay.

 

[WFfarm]

Good looking hay.

2nd cut timothy/alfalfa/clover. Had about 20 bales and it was getting dark and supposed to rain the next 3 days. Put them in the old gambrel roof barn for a few days until we could get them OD wrapped and set outside.