Round bales stored outside

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herofan

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For those of you who store round bales outside for a season, do you put them directly on the ground or put them on something to avoid direct contact?
 
You will get less rot on the bottom if you can get them up off the ground.
I use #3 rock , works pretty well.
 
on the ground and I have fed some that were bailed tight with a JD bailer that were 4. 1/2 years old. knock the outside off and hay still good.
 
I store on the ground. Pushed together flat side to flat side as tight as I can get them. Net wrapped. Never let the round side be touching. Never stack them unless you have a REALLY, REALLY good way to KEEP them covered, never getting any holes in the cover.
Upstate NY has a lot of moisture. At most, the bottom 2" gets spoiled. About 1" around the outside gets "weathered", but the cows eat pretty much all of it. Inside and ends are like being stored in the barn.
 
What Jeanne said works here in SE Texas too. Regarding not letting the round sides touch; I like to leave walking room between rows.
 
I post this all the time, so I might as well again. A neighbor down the road, had 10 or 12 cows, and put up 40 or 50 rolls. He would lay two light poles down side by side. Maybe left an 18"gap. He would then lay a sheet of old tin on top the hay roll. Weighted the tin down with tires and concrete blocks. It looked like it'd been stored inside, when he fed it. That'd work for a few head. Not sure if Id want to go that route if I had many to feed.
 
Twine wrapped won't last very long on the ground , you will lose 30% . Ive used 4x4s to get them off the ground and tarped, like having it in a barn. Stack as mentioned tight, flat to flat, whichever way your prevailing winds blow, usually north and south.
 
We put ours on pallets, two pallets for every three bales. When we feed them, the bottom looks just like when it was baled, no spoilage
 
Caustic Burno":3v7wdooc said:
I am going to shrink wrap some as experiment this year.

Save your time and money. When it rains the water sits in the bottom of the bale. And don't use white unless your making silage, the whole bale will be slimy for about 1" all the way to the ground.
 
True Grit Farms":2kusbdib said:
Caustic Burno":2kusbdib said:
I am going to shrink wrap some as experiment this year.

Save your time and money. When it rains the water sits in the bottom of the bale. And don't use white unless your making silage, the whole bale will be slimy for about 1" all the way to the ground.


Good to know these were what I was looking at as well.

http://farmbagsupplystore.com/baleoverslips.html
 
I used to store outside on cross ties and old light poles covered with Bale Bonnets

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If outside on the ground, your location makes all the difference in the world. Stack as Jeanne suggests but put them on a moderate slope where the rain will wash down between the rows of bales. If the sun shines through these same rows, all the better.

The moisture has to be able to move away from the bale to minimize the water from leaching up from the bottom.
 
Bigfoot":wj5ing6a said:
I post this all the time, so I might as well again. A neighbor down the road, had 10 or 12 cows, and put up 40 or 50 rolls. He would lay two light poles down side by side. Maybe left an 18"gap. He would then lay a sheet of old tin on top the hay roll. Weighted the tin down with tires and concrete blocks. It looked like it'd been stored inside, when he fed it. That'd work for a few head. Not sure if Id want to go that route if I had many to feed.

I know some people with a few bales who do a similar thing, but I'm with you, It's not as doable with a larger number. Most people I know just put them directly on the ground.
 
bird dog":szxwt1uj said:
If outside on the ground, your location makes all the difference in the world. Stack as Jeanne suggests but put them on a moderate slope where the rain will wash down between the rows of bales. If the sun shines through these same rows, all the better.

The moisture has to be able to move away from the bale to minimize the water from leaching up from the bottom.
That is an important note. I forgot to mention that.
Obviously, if you could put down a gravel pad, deep enough for water to drain, that would be best.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":35e9vpf1 said:
I store on the ground. Pushed together flat side to flat side as tight as I can get them. Net wrapped.

Maybe the net wrap makes a difference when storing flat side to flat side. We don't use net wrap, and we never had much luck pushing the flat ends together. They were always moist and rotten about half way down once they were apart. I've noticed others folks store end to end, and theirs look the same way. We have better results leaving a few inches in between the flat ends. Any suggestions?
 
string wrapped bales keep just fine pushed end to end and not covered . the key is to get them tight . if the weather is favorable this year I will have a bunch to store outside , I will cover with plastic, Its take some time and 2 people to secure it but I cut a bunch of 3' strings we find one a cut it on the bale my wife pulls it out from under the plastic and ties a loop in it I tie the 3' piece to my end she throws it over and I cinch it down tight with a butchers knot. 1 string per bale on a row will hold the plastic in place all year . when you feed from it you just roll it back and tuck it under the strings .
 
built my new hay barn last year hoping I can have every roll stored inside :)

i've never stored hay inside so this will be a treat for me and the cows.. plus it should save me 20% in hay.
 
Nice tight net wrapped bales hold up good outside. If you don't cover string tied bales outside, it's just a waste of good hay. I've tried about everything when it comes to storing string tied hay outside and can't find anything that works good. If your worried about time, money or quality, you need a hay barn.
 

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