storing hay for 5 years

[MtnCows93]

hey guys im wondering how i could go about storing round bales for long periods of time for drought insurance. i think ill be able to buy hay very cheap this winter/spring. if i stored them in a shed on pallets off the ground how long would they last realistically? also i was thinking of wrapping them and leaving them sit outside. the hay i would be buying is probably 5x4 bales stored outside so they might have a little rot on the outside

 

[bird dog]

If you can keep them completely dry on a hard surface they will last a long time. The strings or wrap will break down before the hay does.

I fed some last year that were 5 years old stacked two high in a pole type barn. These were my reserves. The top ones were pretty good but had some rodent and pigeon damage. The bottom ones were okay, but the weight from the ones on top broke down the wrap and made them hard to feed and the quality suffered from losing the tightness of the roll.

If you had some large pallets your idea would work well but on regular pallets they tend to slough over the sides almost to where the pallet doesn't matter.

Storing outside you will have the same problem to where the wrap or strings breaks down. Probably three or four years would be tops in our area.

To successfully have some reserves that are worth using, you need to rotate the old ones out every couple years if you can.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Two things that help with storage.
1) Store them with a flat side up/down if you can, if you're storing under a roof. Aggravating but prevents sagging and settling.
2) I prefer net wrap. But I don't think plastic twine will ever break down :bang: I cut the wrap or twine off of every bale I feed but some before me didn't. I have rent pastures that have masses of tangled up twine. Drug some of it up with a chisel plow trying to clean up a little. Been there at least 7 years in the dirt. Still not rotten. But one thing is for sure. It will probably break down quicker in a situation where you don't want it to break down. Like on a bale of hay.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Assuming by wrapping for outside storage you mean in plastic with an inline wrapper?

If so the plastic doesn't usually hold up well that long. Also birds, squirrels, mice, etc will eventually poke holes which will allow the tube of bales to fill with and collect water.

 

[Nesikep]

Two things that help with storage.
1) Store them with a flat side up/down if you can, if you're storing under a roof. Aggravating but prevents sagging and settling.
2) I prefer net wrap. But I don't think plastic twine will ever break down :bang: I cut the wrap or twine off of every bale I feed but some before me didn't. I have rent pastures that have masses of tangled up twine. Drug some of it up with a chisel plow trying to clean up a little. Been there at least 7 years in the dirt. Still not rotten. But one thing is for sure. It will probably break down quicker in a situation where you don't want it to break down. Like on a bale of hay.

We're still digging up bale twin from the 1970's at our place!

Dry hay stacked in a dry area will last a long long time.. just finished off some 3 year old hay that was as good as the day I put it up, smelled nice and the cows loved it. I'd be weary of wrapping it and storing it outside, when the sun hits it it'll evaporate on one side in the bale and migrate to the cool side and condense, you'll get mold/rot right now

 

[Ebenezer]

Vitamins will diminish with long storage from what I read in the past. But some hay is better than no hay.

 

[farmerjan]

I don't think that storing the hay that has been previously stored outside for a winter will keep all that long. Yes, it is better than nothing. But if it has already gotten wet, and has some rot on the outside, it will continue to deteriorate. If you are wanting to store hay for any length of time, it needs to be stored on the flat side so bales retain their shape, on a dry gravel type bed or pallets, stored under cover BEFORE it has a chance to get wet. So, within a few days after baling it needs to be inside, under cover. It will keep for several years with little breakdown. It will get a bit drier as time goes on and lose some nutrients, but it won't rot as there is no moisture to start the process. We have had small square bales in the barn that have been there for 5 years, and they are rather dried out, but still smell pretty decent, some rodent damage to strings etc., and we try to rotate out the oldest but the cows will eat it pretty good if it was decent going in the barn.

If it has already been wet, with some rot around the outside, it will continue to break down. You might get 2 years out of it stored, if now in the dry, but it will be slowly "rotting" due to the process having already started. Wrapping may actually cause it to rot faster with the summer temps/sun causing condensation. Anaerobic bacteria will be working in the wrapped hay,
aerobic bacteria will be working in the unwrapped hay stored under roof cover. We have gotten and fed 3 year old hay stored outside and it has some rot but the cows have often eaten it pretty well. If we are given hay like that because a farmer wants it cleaned up out of the windrow/fenceline, we take it as we are putting nutrients back into the soil as well as organic matter. If net wrap is used, they will stay together for transport better, but they will still continue to break down.
We try to feed our "old hay" first, feeding say 2 old to one "new" , so they are getting some better nutrition from the "new hay" but are getting more of the bulk and fiber from the old also.

It will also depend on the type of hay. We got some old rye hay that had been baled off a field that a farmer had been renovating that was 3 years old. Looked like rotted crap. The cows devoured it.... Go figure. They had good current hay and we were spreading this stuff around out in the field and they were practically licking the ground to get every last little bit.

 

[BRYANT]

I fed some 4yr old grass hay that was baled tight and had been stored outside 8 inches in it still looked good but you could not move it around because strings on bottom were gone . Them ol Brahman cows ate it and was happy to get it.

 

[sstterry]

I read an article today that said that hay stored outside for 1 year will have a 30% loss. Hay stored inside will have a loss of only 6% after one year.

 

[MtnCows93]

i didnt realize hay that was stored outside would continue to rot if brought in a barn, i thought it would dry up whatever slimy moisture eventually but yall are saying it would eventually rot into compost just like it would outside? im pretty sure i can buy 5x4 net wrapped 1st cutting stored outside for 15 bucks a bale. should i just leave it outside or put it in the barn? if its gonna keep rotting ill just leave it outside. or should i pass on it? and as far as good dry bales stored right in a barn would they last 10 years?

 

[MtnCows93]

my other idea is to buy the outside hay, cut the netwrap off, roll the hay out a little until it clears up( if that makes sense), and flip it on its flat side and hand wrap it with balewrap just to keep them from falling apart and put them on pallets in the barn flat side down

 

[littletom]

What about this. If everyone one has excess might still be cheap after first cutting this spring. Buy that put into barn then. I don't know about how much barn you have. But if you fill it just in case years ahead. And leave your needed hay outside each year. You may lose more tons of hay than you gain.

 

[bird dog]

For $15 I wouldn't pass on it but I don't think I would mess with it for your reserves. For that little amount of money buy you some so you will have some extra but keep your dry barn storage for some good hay fresh out of the field.

Your second idea seems way more trouble than its worth. Its pretty hard to handle once you cut the wrap or strings off. There would be no way to hold it tight to where you can flip it and wrap it.