My two favorite smells are plowed ground and fresh baled hay. At the end of last week, I was able to enjoy the latter as the weather finally gave us enough consecutive dry days to get some hay made. I could smell the fields often before I would see them, and I would be on the lookout to see what stage of harvest the field was in. You may not have been able to get it made at the optimum time, but any hay in the barn is better than no hay in most situations.
After all of your hard work to get your hay harvested, it is important to get it stored properly so that you can get the most pounds of dry matter into your livestock when it comes time to start feeding it out. There has been quite a bit of research looking at how hay storage method affects dry matter and nutrient loss. We can all understand that hay bales exposed to weather will experience some degree of degradation. In a perfect world, we could store it all under roof, but we don’t live in a perfect world.
Research has shown that even hay stored in a barn can lose 6% of its original dry matter content. Losses can climb to greater than 35% when stored outside, on bare ground, and uncovered. As most of you are forced to store your large bales exposed to the elements, there are a few things you can do to limit your potential volume and quality losses.
Stack hay bales properly - tarp, slope and distance matter
So, what can you do?
- Stack bales in a well-drained area to limit the amount of water that is wicked into the bale. This area should have a slight slope to aid in the ground shedding water after a rain event. If you don’t have such an area, you can consider constructing a heavy use pad.
- Stack bales and cover with a weather resistant tarp.
- If you are unable to use a tarp, place bales in single rows, at least three feet apart, with flat edges tightly butted together. The rows should run north to south, or parallel to the slope to aid in shedding water and allowing the sun to assist them in drying out.
Given the added challenges farmers have experienced this spring to harvest forages at the ideal time, OSU Extension is offering a reduced cost forage testing program. You can drop wet or dry samples off at the Extension office during the month of July. We will begin running the tests on August 7th and return your results the week of August 18th. The first sample will be $15 and additional samples can be submitted for $20 each. Sample information forms can be completed at drop-off or you can find them on the Beef Team website at beef.osu.edu. All samples will be analyzed using Near Infrared (NIR) and you will receive values for dry matter content, total digestible nutrients, crude protein, ADF, NDF, Ash, fat, C, P, and K.
Dairy Summit and Twilight Tour
The Wayne-Ashland Dairy Service Unit will host their annual Dairy Summit and Twilight Tour on July 15th. This year’s host is the Sarah Douglas family at Zido Valley Dairy and the main event sponsors are Lowe & Young Equipment, Slicker Farms, and Avodah Contractors. The Dairy Summit will begin at 3:00 PM. Glen Arnold will be discussing his research on application of dairy manure and Dr. Ryan Haden will discuss the impact of perennial forages and manure application on soil health. There will also be updates from ODA Director Brian Baldridge, new OSU Extension ANR Program Leader Chris Zoller, and ODPA President Scott Higgins. The Twilight Tour will run from 6 to 9 PM. There will be a variety of food trucks available for dinner options. Meals are $10 per person. Attendees can view the trade show and tour the dairy facility for free.
Finally, we are planning a cow feeding clinic for August 8th at the OSU Wooster Campus shop. The all-day program will discuss factors affecting feed quality, feed mixer management for delivery of quality feed, evaluating your feeding program, and developing feed mixing protocols. The event is free and lunch will be provided. If you are interested in any of these programs, you can check out the events calendar on our website at wayne.osu.edu. As always, I wish you a safe and prosperous summer season. If you have any questions or would like more information about one of our programs, you can contact me at the OSU Extension office – Wayne County at 330-264-8722.