Bale Doesn't Mean Anything

oregon woodsmok · #1 07/08/12, 10:11 AM

Please guys, when you are speaking of how much you feed, or what hay costs, "bale" means nothing. A small bale of hay can be anywhere from 25 pounds to 160 pounds. Feeding "half a bale" might mean you are feeding 12 pounds or it might mean you are feeding 80 pounds.

You want sympathy because hay is $6 a "bale" Wow. I haven't seen hay that cheap for 15 years at least. Oh wait. Maybe your "bale" is a lot smaller than what I am buying?

Paying $10 a bale might mean you are paying $380 a ton, or it might mean you are paying $160 a ton.

Bales that are visually the same size weigh different if they are different types of hay. Different parts of the country traditionally bale in different size bales. It's even traditional to bale different grasses in differing size bales. Grass hay is in light bales in my area, not unusually to be 28- 34 bales to the ton, and it is not unusual to buy alfalfa that is 16 bales to the ton.

So, if you could be a little more specific? Please? Give prices by the ton, or else at least tell how many pounds that bale weighs. Or even just tell how many bales per ton and I can do the rest of the math.

pancho · #2 07/08/12, 10:42 AM

Don't know about now but used to people had a weight each bale should weigh. It took a certain number of bales to weigh a ton. The quality of hay made the difference in price.
Nowdays most people don't even know what a bale should really weigh.

BlackWillowFarm · #3 07/08/12, 11:05 AM

You're right. That's why I always include the weight of my bales when I post. I also ask the seller how much his bales weigh when I'm talking to him on the phone. Most people act kind of surprised by the question but heck, I just talked to a lady who wanted $5.00 for a 40lb bale of grass/alfalfa. I bought 60lb pure alfalfa bales for $4.00 each.

Lazy J · #4 07/08/12, 11:22 AM

Good post.

topside1 · #5 07/08/12, 11:50 AM

What's the question? Each bale weighs a different weight from different farms. Moisture content, material baled, equipment used. Buy a bale and weight it, if you like what you see then stock up. Livestock need to eat 3% per body weight of roughage per day (no waste)....Topside

pancho · #6 07/08/12, 11:55 AM

Hay used to be sold by the ton, not by the bale.
If a person wanted to bale 10 lb bales that was their choice. Just took a lot more to make a ton of hay.
Now people don't even realize what a bale should weigh. Other people were quick to take advantage of them and sell lighter bales.

Lazy J · #7 07/08/12, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pancho

Hay used to be sold by the ton, not by the bale.
If a person wanted to bale 10 lb bales that was their choice. Just took a lot more to make a ton of hay.
Now people don't even realize what a bale should weigh. Other people were quick to take advantage of them and sell lighter bales.

I've been making hay on my own since 1988 and have no idea of what a bale should weigh.

Horace Baker · #8 07/08/12, 01:54 PM

Most people have never weighed a bale of hay. Just about everyone around here sells "40-50 lb." bales but they are usually actually around 30 lbs. Most sellers aren't trying to misrepresent, some have just been assuming bale weight their whole lives. When I hear a bale weight quoted I usually figure it's actually about 30% less.

pancho · #9 07/08/12, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy J

I've been making hay on my own since 1988 and have no idea of what a bale should weigh.

Most people don't nowdays.
Years ago they did.

Years ago it was very important.
Now it isn't that important and some people take advantage of that.

Cheryl aka JM · #10 07/08/12, 03:13 PM

I don't know what the bales I buy weigh or what they should weigh...
But I know the hay I paid $30 a bale for in 2010 would sometimes cause my tractor to pop a wheelie (scary stuf!) and the stuff I got for $25 in 2011 rarely made the front end of the tractor feel light. I'm sure the stuff I was getting in 2010 were heavier bales....but I think my tractor is safer for me to drive with the lighter bales.

Edited to ad these are the big round 5X4 bales I'm buying. This year is net wrapped from the same seller as 2011 but I've not picked any of them up with my tractor yet.

Dreamfarm · #11 07/08/12, 03:48 PM

I used to manage a barn of 50 horses in Ca a few years ago. We bought Alfalfa by the ton and Oat hay and straw by the bale. Dont know the prices, but do know that if you find a supplier that you like, try to stick with that supplier.

topside1 · #12 07/08/12, 04:27 PM

Other factors to consider are digestibility and palatability. Spring hay contains much more fibrous material verses fall hay. So my point is spring hay may not be as palatable but will last longer in the rumen. Fall hay is more palatable and will digest quicker. So if you center your hay buying on fall hay like I do you may need to toss a few more in the loft...In case anyone is interested...Topside

springvalley · #13 07/08/12, 06:34 PM

topside has it right, also first cutting course hay has more heat value to it also. A hay that takes longer to digest creates more heat inside the animal during digestion. I like to feed good quality stemmy hay during the coldest part of the winter, because it produces more heat in the animal. Finer quality hay is best for the hot summer, or pasture would be best. There is a lot to think about when it all comes down to it when it comes to buying or growing hay. I hate it when people think they need the best quality alfalfa hay they can buy for their backyard saddle horse or pony. Alfalfa hay was developed for mostly dairy farmers that needed better quality hay. > Thanks Marc

topside1 · #14 07/08/12, 07:07 PM

$2.00 a 50# fall bale here....none of it goes to waste, livestock never lose condition. Different strokes for different folks....Topside

rancher1913 · #15 07/08/12, 08:31 PM

years ago people used elbow grease to pick up small bales so most farmers would make a uniform weight bale, didn't mater if it was longer than last years as long as they weighed about the same. nowadays with automatic stackers the bales have to be a uniform size and weight does not mater.

sammyd · #16 07/09/12, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rancher1913

years ago people used elbow grease to pick up small bales so most farmers would make a uniform weight bale, didn't mater if it was longer than last years as long as they weighed about the same. nowadays with automatic stackers the bales have to be a uniform size and weight does not mater.

I disagree with your post.
Years ago the balers had the same mechanism they still have for making bales, they went and still do go by length not weight. Even years ago bales were stacked on wagons and you can't make a decent stack with bales of all kinds of sizes. And farmers were not out changing the lengths of their bales just to make weights. The length was set and pretty much stayed set for the life of the baler.
Any weight changes are usually done by changing the density of the bale.

springvalley · #17 07/09/12, 07:35 AM

I kinda agree with Sam, balers were kinda the same years ago, and people made the same size bales most of the time. Then came along kicker balers and the size got smaller, and then it got harder and harder to find help so they got smaller. Then came along the big round balers and it got easier for the man baling hay, but harder to store them. And now we also have the BIG square bales, which are easier to feed, but still hard to move if you don`t have a loader. And I`m sure not many on here remember the real old days when they put hay up with a hay loader or the old hand tie balers with the wood blocks in them, now that was work. So when you buy hay, just know how it was made. > Thanks Marc

opportunity · #18 07/09/12, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

I kinda agree with Sam, balers were kinda the same years ago, and people made the same size bales most of the time. Then came along kicker balers and the size got smaller, and then it got harder and harder to find help so they got smaller. Then came along the big round balers and it got easier for the man baling hay, but harder to store them. And now we also have the BIG square bales, which are easier to feed, but still hard to move if you don`t have a loader. And I`m sure not many on here remember the real old days when they put hay up with a hay loader or the old hand tie balers with the wood blocks in them, now that was work. So when you buy hay, just know how it was made. > Thanks Marc

We have all kinds of hay making in our valley from the small piles pulled to the barn by hand, big beaver slides, loafs, small squares, big rounds, and big squares.
I do adjust length of bales as well as density for my small squares othersie I go form 30 pound bales to 90 in differnt fields. I also make nice 700 pound :mini: rounds for myself so I can feed a bale a day.

arnie · #19 07/09/12, 09:09 AM

Yes I should have mentioned the pounds per bale when talking of feeding my milkcow. We pack as much as we can get into without killing our help we shoot for 60 pounds the first cutting hay usally has lots of seed in it so feeding cattle and helping seed your land 2nd +3rd is often softer and more palitable but as i speak i'm assumeing good mixed meadowes put up in good weather' there are so very many variaibles if it rains on it before its up or if its cut with a conditioner did it have to be kicked with a tedder all are things to consider there are hay makers selling loose light bales for the same price as good big bales after some tornadoes tore fences down near here a farmer moed a rough pasture because it could not be grazed the broom sage thissles all the cows picked out. Mabe 20% to eat cheap hay ? At 15$ a 5x4 bale but as they say only better than a snow ball; so buyer beware every time hay is kicked or handled it loses seed and leaves if to much all you get is a bale of stems this often happens due to rain.the old saying of The eye of the master fattens the stock '

bruce2288 · #20 07/09/12, 01:42 PM

Just a curious fact. I have a 1953 ford square baler. The bale chamber is 2 inches narrower and shorter than most square balers. If I start early in the morning, I have to increase the pressure on the bale as the hay becomes dryer, and just the opposite at night as the moisture of the hay increases. I know all the bale jockies will know this.