Q about storing bales and ventilation

[Kat13]

Hi not sure if this is the place to ask this Q or not but I am guessing someone here can answer my Q which is: by wrapping bales does this decrease the risk of fire when keeping the bales in a barn?
I read this online but would you support this view.

We were able to get the hay that we cut on Friday baled and wrapped today. This hay was baled at about 60% moisture. If it were baled that wet and left alone, it would heat up and likely catch fire due to bacterial activity and respiration of the grass. By wrapping it in plastic, the oxygen is quickly depleted and the heat creating bacteria die off. Next the anaerobic bacteria take over and produce acids which ferments the hay and eventually kill off those bacteria as well. All this happens over a period of a few weeks which will preserve the hay. CThis hay would have taken 10-15 days to dry enough for barn storage, but this way we were able to bale it after 3 days.

THANKS

 

[Sheep]

They no longer need to be stored in a barn if they are plastic wrapped.

Grass baled at 60% is not yet hay, 80% dry matter and above is needed ideally.

So yes, plastic wrapped bales won't catch fire, and will be haylage not hay.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Yes,
Hay needs to be below 15 % M to be safe over 20 is defo a fire risk
Its more or less impossible for wrapped grass to catch fire
Ryegrass hay is more of a risk than meadow hay though

 

[Kat13]

Thanks Sheep and Hughes. So the consensus would be that wrapped bales exclude oxygen and therefore "more or less impossible to catch fire" if stored in a barn.

 

[egbert]

Thanks Sheep and Hughes. So the consensus would be that wrapped bales exclude oxygen and therefore "more or less impossible to catch fire" if stored in a barn.

Correct.
further, they don't need to be in a barn at all if wrapped.

Mind the vermin don't take a liking for them.....you'd be back to square one if you had a lot of ratty activity, and the little beggars work out of sight

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Thanks Sheep and Hughes. So the consensus would be that wrapped bales exclude oxygen and therefore "more or less impossible to catch fire" if stored in a barn.

I would prefer to store wrapped outside , as the above poster said ,vermin can be troublesome inside
Main point though is put plenty of wrap on them

 

[A Sales representative]

Unless you’re treating wet hay with a hay preservative then safe storage is <15% moisture, that’s with a proper moisture tester that measures what’s in the stem growth nodes.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Think its been said before but a normal moisture meter like most use for testing straw bales is useless for testing freshly baled hay

 

[bobk]

Unless you’re treating wet hay with a hay preservative then safe storage is <15% moisture, that’s with a proper moisture tester that measures what’s in the stem growth nodes.

Do ypu have any preservatives in mind ?

 

[A Sales representative]

Do ypu have any preservatives in mind ?

I do, but not my role anymore and it’s not just about the liquid, but a mindset change, accurate moisture measurement of each bale, accurate bale weights and then accurate application of product. If you don’t put all the pieces of the jigsaw in place then you have the potential for problems.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Ive been trying to get my horse and finger mower to adapt tp new ways but hes having none of it , he said he tried some of that chemical hay and spat it right out

 

[Punch]

Correct.
further, they don't need to be in a barn at all if wrapped.

Mind the vermin don't take a liking for them.....you'd be back to square one if you had a lot of ratty activity, and the little beggars work out of sight

We’ve had issues in the past with rabbits chewing through or scratching wrap to get at haylage inside. Always try and put electric rabbit netting around the stack as well as keeping eye on rat activity.