Best Hay Preservative ....(apart from sun )

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
I’ve never used an additive in 45 years of making hay.
Maybe I’m lucky but I wonder if it is yet another invention to tempt us to spend money.

They’ll invent a tractor cab soon and everybody will want one of them too!
Dont knock it till you've tried it. I've only been using it for last 3 years since purchasing the big square baler. Prior to that it was gut instinct on the round baler. That plus leaving the rolls in the paddock till I finished all the baling. That way any that were heating were easy to find as they would stick to the hay forks.... Its a fine line. But as I personally built most of my sheds I'm certainly in no hurry to burn one down. Acid is a management tool to give you a little piece of mind. I'm still learning how far I can push the envelope....and anything that worries me certainly goes in the front of a shed, not buried deep in a 1000 bale stack.
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
One thing I will add for here is insurance. No fires, using a preservative and moisture meters and regularly probing stacks for first 6 weeks and you'll get cover . Not a lot of producers will get insurance on hay here.... especially since the millennium drought and all the stack fires that came from inexperienced operators.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Last two years we have moved to 8 layers on horse haylage, didnt see one spot of mould on any bale last winter, extra cost is more than covered by not having to give abit of discount on a few bales
How far off making good hay would your haylage when baled generally be ?
 

Cowmansam

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Shropshire
One thing I will add for here is insurance. No fires, using a preservative and moisture meters and regularly probing stacks for first 6 weeks and you'll get cover . Not a lot of producers will get insurance on hay here.... especially since the millennium drought and all the stack fires that came from inexperienced operators.
If lads can’t make hay in an Aussie drought surely the jobs foxed all together when you can make it in the Scottish highlands
 
Sorry. That's utter crap. I would have agreed years ago. But since having the 2270 and harvest tec applicator and using the acid. I'm a convert. Cant beat it.

i spent 8 years trying to talk about this product, most think it’s witchcraft. It’s funny how I can sell a £10k Tedder with little trouble but a system to accurately measure moisture on the baler, maximise output and if you FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES produce high moisture quality hay was like pulling teeth.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
i spent 8 years trying to talk about this product, most think it’s witchcraft. It’s funny how I can sell a £10k Tedder with little trouble but a system to accurately measure moisture on the baler, maximise output and if you FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES produce high moisture quality hay was like pulling teeth.
needs a cheaper applicator for a start
 
needs a cheaper applicator for a start

problem is people look at the applicator as a pump and tank.
On some Big Balers It’s an OEM approved accessory designed for the baler, intergrated into the balers CANBUS, it has fully variable rate pumps and is linked to an industry leading moisture sensor.
Of course most people think they can knock something like that up in the workshop in a couple of hours from a couple of cans some pipe and a watering can.
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
problem is people look at the applicator as a pump and tank.
On some Big Balers It’s an OEM approved accessory designed for the baler, intergrated into the balers CANBUS, it has fully variable rate pumps and is linked to an industry leading moisture sensor.
Of course most people think they can knock something like that up in the workshop in a couple of hours from a couple of cans some pipe and a watering can.
Yep. 10k to 12k extra on top of a 250k baler and of course they have no issue buying a flash new 300k tractor every few years...
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Lol
None of my tractors are more than 12k's worth and me balers about 4k , don't have a can bus either whatever that is.

I can still make good hay tho (y)

#lowcostwins
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
If lads can’t make hay in an Aussie drought surely the jobs foxed all together when you can make it in the Scottish highlands
Plenty of people be it here or anywhere in the world shouldn't be let loose on a baler. Any fool can put string around something and call it hay. Like most things in agriculture, it takes years of experience to do something right....
And not being rude, but clearly you didnt read my post. Droughted wheaten hay IS THE most deceptive hay to bale. Like I said, it will be high in sugar as it hasn't used all its energy on a stem and a bulk of leaf. Generally the head will be in the boot . As it needs to be cut early to actually make it worth while doing. In the majority of cases it will be cut with a header using a 40 foot Draper front. So it wont be conditioned (remember, it's being cut for hay for a reason.....I'm talking an actual drought here).
Last drought spring we had I baled 250 ac of wheaten hay next door. It had been sprayed with roundup to control ryegrass in the crop prior to cutting as well. They did use a mower conditioner instead of a 40' header front and it still took 3 weeks to cure in the heat with NO rain. And even then the flag leaf that was in the stem still was STILL moist when I baled it. So I used acid on the whole lot. Cheap insurance compared to a 100k hay shed plus the loss of hay as well at $400/ t during the drought.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Plenty of people be it here or anywhere in the world shouldn't be let loose on a baler. Any fool can put string around something and call it hay. Like most things in agriculture, it takes years of experience to do something right....
And not being rude, but clearly you didnt read my post. Droughted wheaten hay IS THE most deceptive hay to bale. Like I said, it will be high in sugar as it hasn't used all its energy on a stem and a bulk of leaf. Generally the head will be in the boot . As it needs to be cut early to actually make it worth while doing. In the majority of cases it will be cut with a header using a 40 foot Draper front. So it wont be conditioned (remember, it's being cut for hay for a reason.....I'm talking an actual drought here).
Last drought spring we had I baled 250 ac of wheaten hay next door. It had been sprayed with roundup to control ryegrass in the crop prior to cutting as well. They did use a mower conditioner instead of a 40' header front and it still took 3 weeks to cure in the heat with NO rain. And even then the flag leaf that was in the stem still was STILL moist when I baled it. So I used acid on the whole lot. Cheap insurance compared to a 100k hay shed plus the loss of hay as well at $400/ t during the drought.
Thats wholecrop not hay.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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