Wrapping dry hay

[WFfarm]

I was looking for someone who has experience with wrapping dry hay. We mostly put up dry round bales here in NY and store outside for lack of barn space. We use 5 x 6 bales as the surface area/volumn ratio is the lowest with the larger bale. We have the tractors to handle 1200-1500# bales on side hills. I bought a wrapper this summer that just covers the diameter of the bale and did a few dozen including second cutting. Hay was dry (15-18%). I know some people round bale tough hay and don't worry about them because they are outside, but we try to dry down as if we were making square bales going into the mow. We seam to be getting wetter fall weather here and the few layers of plastic wrap helps shed the water.

My questions is about white vs black plastic and condensation under the wrap. I've read that the condensation under the plastic can cause a slimey mold layer and that back plastic will burn that off better with the summer sun? I'm not sure if this is really an issue? We strip off the outer layers for bedding anyway before putting in the feeders. I'm thinking a thin layer of waste on a wrapped bale is better than losing 4-5 inches on a bare bale to the weather. We haven't fed any of these wrapped bales yet, so it be interesting to see how they kept. Beside, I don't see a lot of black plastic available around here.

 

[ERNIBIGB]

No experience wrapping dry hay but have been told to wrap the same as wetter hay just for protection. That is using white plastic.

 

[Banjo]

I think you answered your own question.....I wrapped some dry a few years ago, it had that slime about a half inch....you get just a bit of condensation where the plastic meets the hay. The rest of the hay will look just like it did when you wrapped it....just don't get any holes in it. Your basically shrink wrapping it like a steak.

 

[Silver]

Ours never had any slime, but perhaps it's because of our cooler weather and cold winters. It looked the same coming out of the plastic as it did going in.
We also try to make dry bales to plug the end of our rows when wrapping silage. Those bales are also always perfect.

 

[JW IN VA]

Some neighbors wrapped some "dry" hay once.Had a lot of mold that winter.I think it was because the wrapped it too soon after baling before the "sweat" had gone out. Maybe it wasn't as dry as they thought.

 

[WFfarm]

We wrap the bales individual, so the ends are open to air. Before we got the wrapper we used to do just handful of the second cutting "by hand". Set the bale on end on an old tractor tire and walk around it with a partial roll of plastic until the bales was covered or you were too dizzy.
I think any hay that's round baled too wet is going to be moldy whether you use twine, net, wrap or put in a hay shed.