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Why is hay completely dry before it is baled?

Anonymous

∙ 17y ago

Updated: 10/9/2023

The presence of excess moisture promotes mold making the hay unuseable for livestock.

Wiki User

∙ 17y ago

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More answers

It will mold, or, worse yet, spontaneously combust

Wiki User

∙ 15y ago

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Q: Why is hay completely dry before it is baled?

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Related Questions

What do you do after the hay is cut and baled?

The hay is usually stacked and stored in a barn from which it is taken to feed livestock. Sometimes it is stacked outside and covered with a waterproof tarp to keep it dry. The idea is to keep it dry so that it will not mold.

Is Miley Cyrus baled?

Miley is not hay, so I doubt she is baled. She is not bald either.

How much does 1 cubic foot of baled hay weight?

For the purpose of calculating joist sizes for Hay Loft, - what is the weight of a cubic foot or cubic metre of baled hay?

When is hay too ripe to feed horses?

There is really no such thing as 'too ripe' with hay provided it has been cured and baled correctly. The only time you should avoid feeding hay is if it has been rained on or baled with a high moisture content. You can find out the quality of your hay by having it tested in a lab for nutritional quality and moisture content. You should also check hay before feeding it to horses, looking for mold, excessive dust and foreign bodies such as trash , dead animals, or insects. (Blister beetles are sometimes baled into Alfalfa hay.) If the hay checks out okay, you can feed it the same day it was baled.

When should you not make hay?

Hay is cut, dried and baled during the summer months, after it has grown sufficiently long but before it gets too tough or starts to go to seed. In most parts of the U.S. this can be done two or even three times a summer, starting in early summer and ending in early to mid fall, although farmers may have to work the fall cutting around the harvesting of other crops. Hay should not be cut if there is rain in the forecast over the upcoming three to four days, as the hay must be dried, fluffed, and dried again before it is raked and baled. If the hay does get rained on, the hay must be allowed to dry completely again before it is baled or it will get moldy and be inedible. Hay that has been rained on is generally worth less even after it has been dried because it is gets bleached by the extended time in the sun and loses some nutritional value. Lower quality hay is sometimes baled in large cylindrical or rectangular bales and feed to cattle rather than the small bales generally used for horses, although of course some hay is expressly grown for cattle. The phrase "make hay while the sun shines" refers to the need for farmers to schedule their haying around the weather forecast.

How soon can you feed round hay bales to horses after it is baled?

You can feed them at any time once they have been baled.

What are the measurements of a roll of hay?

The measurements of a roll of hay can vary but many are either 4 feet by 6 feet or 5 feet by six feet. The measurements will depend on how it is baled, who is baling it, and how tight it is the hay is baled or rolled.

Is it safe to feed sq bales to sheep where the hay itself is not moldy but when a bale is opened mold dust emits. The farmer who baled the hay said the grass was dry but the ground was wet when baled?

I would not feed it to my animals as if it is mouldy it will have mycotoxins which can kill your stock - though you could still use it on your garden as mulch.

How much does an average flake of hay weigh?

Depends on the type of hay and how tightly the hay was baled, as well as how big of flakes the baler was set to.

Why is hay a favorite of horses?

Horses evolved to eat grass, hay is essentially just grass that has been grown to a specific point of maturity, cut, allowed to dry a bit and baled for consumption by animals. Therefore horses will enjoy eating hay, which is just 'dry grass'. Hay should always be provided at all times as horses need constant long stemmed fiber moving through their digestive systems.

What are some materials that people can bale?

There are many different types of materials that could be baled. Straw and hay from the field are baled. Also recycling center bale up paper and cardboard.

What does harvesting hay at the proper time insure?

This question could mean one of two things: "harvesting" as in cutting, or "harvesting" as in baling. In terms of cutting, grass hay should be cut when the grass has just started flowering or a little sooner. Legume hay is best cut when the field is at the 20% bloom stage; when cutting a grass-legume hay field, often a bit of both of above is the best time to cut. When cutting at this stage, this ensures that the forage has the right level of fibre content, but also the right level of protein and energy content (or general nutrient content). If hay is cut any later or even earlier, nutrient content is lower, resulting in poorer performance from your animals if fed lower quality hay. When baling hay, this "harvesting" of hay ensures that it is dried to the right moisture level. If hay is baled up when it is too wet, it will do one of two things: heat up due to anaerobic activity and combust, or heat up from the middle out and turn moldy from the inside out. Neither scenarios are desirable. Hay should be baled at no more than 20% moisture (as is), when the swaths are dry not just on the outside, but also tested for moisture on the inside. If there is a little moisture on the inside, even this little extra moisture will cause a bit of problems. So the hay has to be raked or turned over with a V-rake before it is baled, then baled at the hottest part of the day (or an hour or so after it has been raked that same day). If hay is baled in the morning or in the evening, the dew on the swaths will also ruin the quality of the hay, causing moldy hay or worse.

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