Drying hay ?

When we get the rains we bale up 30-40,000 square bales yearly and we've never used any type of moisture tester. I've thought about getting a moisture tester probe for round bales but I don't make them very often.

I just do the old grab twist and feel method. Then if its close the best test it the baler. I make a round and check the feel and wieght of the bales. An added bonus of square bales in checking moisture and density. Once you know your baler you get a good idea of how much moisture your bales are packing. Up here 1st cut hay has to be baled drier then 2nd cut hay which comes off before winter sets in.

We use a balewagon that makes 160 bale stacks. So you have to be careful on moisture of the hay.
Where as if you hand pick and or stack you can sort the hay out. Setting the damper bales in one area and the drier ones in another.

You can bale hay pretty tough and it will keep if you spread the tougher out bales in a shed so they can dry out over a couple weeks.

I've heard of the microwave method from guys who sell hay for export where it gets compacted etc. In this case the hay has to be very dry. Drier then it would have to be normally. I think the plants want the hay at 12% moisture. Where as it will keep in a bale fine at 15-16%.

If it heats in the bales, open them up and salt them thoroughly.

Gerald J.

if you were baling small squares I would use the old tricks I was taught as a child

put the cut edge down and use salt and stack loosely.

Mike , Thanks for tip . I'll try it when we get some cut .

Thurlow , I'm not from Iowa and am treated sort of as an outcast here . I barely know my neighbors and I've lived next to them for 17 years . I don't even know the name of the closest one to the west about 1/2 mile down the road . Part of it is I work most of the time and when I'm not I don't get very sociable because I don't go to bars and I don't hunt or fish . That is a good suggestion but around " here " it doesn't work for me .

Hayman , Thanks . Does hay change the way it smells as it dries ? Seems I remember my great uncle always putting his face in it . Maybe he just liked the way it smelled ? I dunno .

Vince , For some reason I like your method the best ! I'll offer that thought to my wife . I think I'm worrying to much so this might be the perfect way to relax ! Thanks ! Oh yeah , Thanks for the bending tip too , it sounds like picking asparagus .

Msb , Why is that ? Did he say ? Thanks for the tip .

Hi old , I found a bone yard with all the parts I need . I enjoyed the talk . I looked at a map and realized how much I have forgotten about Mo. after not living there for over 20 years . You're no where near where I used to 4 wheel . Thanks for the information .

Gerald J , I'll bet the horses would love it , The salty hay that is . I hope it doesn't come to that . That's why I'm picking your collective brains . Thanks .

Edchainsaw , That's the way I was taught to stack hay as a kid . on edge . With air tunnels built in . We had a blast crawling through those looking for snakes and other critters . I had two rattlesnakes as pets in Georgia about when I was ten . One was a diamondback about 3 feet long . If I only knew then what I know now ! But I survived . Anyway , Stacking that way is a pain in the a** ! But it works . Thanks

Thanks everyone ....Randy