callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Long video but worth the time.
Hay storage. Net vs twine.
- Thread starter callmefence
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Otha
Well-known member
Does anyone have experience with wrapping dry hay? About how much would it cost to hire it done if you had the hay sitting there ready for them? I had a guy tell me he wraps almost all of his hay that he bales in the summer with the intent of selling it in the late winter. He has a wrapper and sells hay by the ton. Said the weight saved from rot in that 6-8 month period was well worth the plastic and labor. Thoughts?
SmokinM
Well-known member
It has been running between $7.50-9 a bale here to get it wrapped and that was before wrap prices went up. Also with dry hay you will get some molding that occurs. IMO there is no way it would pay or would I wrap dry hay. Build a barn to store it in and be money ahead without the mess to clean up.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Some figures I have seen in the past shows a hay barn will pay for itself in about 10 years in hay savings and hay quality. Plus USDA I think still has hay storage loans at 2% if you need a loan to build it.
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
I wrapped some dry hay and had hay moisture collect on the OD under the wrap. Later read you should wait 1 to 2 weeks before wrapping dry hay. Seem awkward?
Son of Butch
Well-known member
Depends on hay quality and what it's fed to, I'm guessing those figures apply to dairy farmers and not beef cattle.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
I'm not sure but it was from Virginia Extension and they are pretty good at separating out the dairy info.
bird dog
Well-known member
A hay barn to me is a no brainer. A well built structure not only gives you a return on your hay investment, it adds long term value to the ranch. I spent about 25K on my combination barn about 10 years ago. I would value it at 40K today. It is a 60 x 60 steel structure that has pens and a chute under one half, hay storage under the other. It also provides shade. I pulled some three year old hay from mine yesterday and the cows ate it up the same as this years stuff. Waste was very little. If you are going to keep some hay for reserve, its invaluable.
In my climate the net wrap will deteriorate some even under a structure so about three years is about all you want to keep. Clean it out on a good hay year and start over with a fresh.
In my climate the net wrap will deteriorate some even under a structure so about three years is about all you want to keep. Clean it out on a good hay year and start over with a fresh.
Dave
Well-known member
As with most every thing else it depends a lot on your location. Very few round bales here. Most hay is in big squares. Stacked outside with no cover. Generally stacked 6 high. The top bale is the only one with any damage. That is about 3 inches on the top of the bale. Bales 1 through 5 just have a little bleaching on the ends.
What round bales there are get stacked 2 to 4 high. The bottom bales are placed on the flat side with the top bale on the round side. Not single a hay shed in my little valley. Go 40 miles west and most of the hay is stacked in sheds. But they are higher in elevation and get a lot more snow.
What round bales there are get stacked 2 to 4 high. The bottom bales are placed on the flat side with the top bale on the round side. Not single a hay shed in my little valley. Go 40 miles west and most of the hay is stacked in sheds. But they are higher in elevation and get a lot more snow.
WFfarm
Well-known member
We wrap as much of our dry 5x6 hay as we can with a diameter wrapper. We figured it cost us about $1.75-$2 a bale in wrap, but saved about $8-410 forth of hay not spoiled. You will still get a little rot on the bottom and a little condensation just under the wrap, but not nearly as much spoilage as an unwrapped bale. You need to have hay dried properly when baling it, as dry or dryer as you would small square bales. You only need 2 to 3 layers, enough to keep stems from poking thru and to shed water. Baleage wrappers put almost .25" of wrap on a bale. Also, our baler only does twine. We get a lot of rain in the fall in the Northeast. It works for us.
I think Knervland sells new 3pt units for around $5000.
Otha
Well-known member
Yes the guy I talked to said to let it sit out for 1-2 weeks and then wrap it. Gives it time to dry out a little more. That time needs to be hot and sunny of course.
Any idea what causes the net to deteriorate under a structure? Exposure to UV? Do you live close to the coast?
The majority of my hay is stored outside, I put 3 wraps of Vermeer net wrap on and it's still in good shape after 2 winter's worth of storage - never kept any longer than that. I've used JD net before (also 3 wraps) and had trouble with it tearing at ground contact going into the 2nd winter. I can also rip it with my hands on the sides/top at that point, but can't do that with the Vermeer. FWIW, my baler likes the JD wrap better as it shears easier and I get less snap-backs at the net knife.
OP
OP
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
The JD net wrap is lighter than others. You do get more on a roll than most others. So I often put more wraps on than with others. Every baler I've had performed better it seems with the JD wrap. I typically put 2-3 wraps on grass and 3-4 on haygrazer depending on how stalky it is. But if I'm thinking I'm gonna be putting the hay back for next season I will put a couple extra wraps. I figure it cost me around .50 cents a wrap.
bird dog
Well-known member
""Any idea what causes the net to deteriorate under a structure? Exposure to UV? Do you live close to the coast?""
No not really but I expect it is the quality of the wrap. I'm in central TX. These hot Texas temperatures seem to break down all plastics at some point. When I moved the hay out of the barn there was three different types in it. The oldest was wrapped in JD over the edge net wrap and those rolls were the easiest to move. Another group had a light green wrap that was fair but tore easily. The last group had a silver wrap and it was torn in many places and would easily tear by hand. I don't bale hay so I am not sure whats what. These are Bermuda rolls sitting on a shallow gravel pad. They don't pickup a lot of moisture from the bottom.
No not really but I expect it is the quality of the wrap. I'm in central TX. These hot Texas temperatures seem to break down all plastics at some point. When I moved the hay out of the barn there was three different types in it. The oldest was wrapped in JD over the edge net wrap and those rolls were the easiest to move. Another group had a light green wrap that was fair but tore easily. The last group had a silver wrap and it was torn in many places and would easily tear by hand. I don't bale hay so I am not sure whats what. These are Bermuda rolls sitting on a shallow gravel pad. They don't pickup a lot of moisture from the bottom.
Yup, pricewise the JD and Vermeer are comparable when you consider length per roll. This past year, it cost me $1.45/bale for 3 wraps of Vermeer. I just bought wrap for next year, and with the price increase it's going to be $1.58/bale.
Hay outside spoils more from the ground up than the top down. Get your hay off the ground and you will have less waste.
CalumetFarms
Well-known member
That looks good do you have a picture of the wrapper you use? All the individual wrappers I see spin and wrap all the way around including the ends. I always thought you had to do an inline to get them that way
WFfarm
Well-known member
It's basically a bale spear that rotates and you manually slide the wrap roll along the guide to cover the outside diameter.
TdJ
Well-known member
Thanks @callmefence, I learnt something but thankfully not super far from their advice. My biggest issue is tight bales. I have a 1983 Deere 530, no bale trak so doing it all by touch and feel. One day I'll be rich enough to upgrade, but for now it's good enough.
WFfarm
Well-known member
We have a JD 530 baler. It makes pretty decent bales. We can adjust the tension to make tighter bales. We have the bale monitor which helps. Hard to find the bale monitors though. We were going to buy another used 530 but it didn't have a monitor. Some of our neighbors think we're crazy making those big 5x6 bales. But for storing outside, the bigger the better.
