Round bales vs square bales
There can be many differences between round bales and square bales or there can be no differnce at all. That may be hard to believe but its true, it all depends on what moisture content the feed is baled at. Anything over 50% moisture would be silage if its baled between 30-45% moisture would be haylage. Round bales don't like to be baled between 15-30% moisture because there is not enough moisture to ferment and make haylage but there is enough moisture to cause mold or other problems how ever that does not always happen.
We as farmers have choices to make we can treat our hay with different products to stop mold from forming, or if we make really tight bales and wrap them in 6 layers of plastic so no air can get into the bales this lack of air can also stops mold from forming.
One of the secrets to making good hay is to cut and bale good grass I know that sound a bit weird but its true. If you cut first cut hay late in the year it has likley gone to seed and has lost most of its feed value. Second if you cut and bale poor grass its not going to turn into good food (poor grass makes poor hay.) You can also take great grass and turn into poor feed if you don't take care of it. If you don't tedd it enough it could get bleached or if you bale it to wet it could mold (if square baling) or worse it could be rained on.. High quality hay is just that its high quality. The hay should be nice and green not wet not yellow and not to coarse, It should feel a bit soft and smell nice. The bales should be fairly heavy 50-60 lbs is within reason. What it all comes down to is how you feel about the feed if you think it is wet or dusty or has been rained on don't buy it. Continue to look for feed that looks good to you. Our 2nd cut hay ranges from $7-8 depending on the time of year and if you pick in up in the field its cheaper. Our dry unwrapped round bales sell for $95 each which sounds like alot but if the round bale weighs 800lbs that is 16- 50lb square bales that means you get 16 square bales for $5.94 each. That is cheap for good feed less than $6 for 2nd or 3rd cut hay.
We as farmers have choices to make we can treat our hay with different products to stop mold from forming, or if we make really tight bales and wrap them in 6 layers of plastic so no air can get into the bales this lack of air can also stops mold from forming.
One of the secrets to making good hay is to cut and bale good grass I know that sound a bit weird but its true. If you cut first cut hay late in the year it has likley gone to seed and has lost most of its feed value. Second if you cut and bale poor grass its not going to turn into good food (poor grass makes poor hay.) You can also take great grass and turn into poor feed if you don't take care of it. If you don't tedd it enough it could get bleached or if you bale it to wet it could mold (if square baling) or worse it could be rained on.. High quality hay is just that its high quality. The hay should be nice and green not wet not yellow and not to coarse, It should feel a bit soft and smell nice. The bales should be fairly heavy 50-60 lbs is within reason. What it all comes down to is how you feel about the feed if you think it is wet or dusty or has been rained on don't buy it. Continue to look for feed that looks good to you. Our 2nd cut hay ranges from $7-8 depending on the time of year and if you pick in up in the field its cheaper. Our dry unwrapped round bales sell for $95 each which sounds like alot but if the round bale weighs 800lbs that is 16- 50lb square bales that means you get 16 square bales for $5.94 each. That is cheap for good feed less than $6 for 2nd or 3rd cut hay.