# Hay preservative application.



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

I was recently lucky enough to pick up a Harvest Tec Automatic Applicator for my JD small square baler. Thankfully Harvest Tec lists their manuals on their website, so I have the installation/operation manuals for the unit and have a pretty good (if theoretical) understanding of how to run it.

One question I do have concerns stacking the hay in the barn. The way I typically stack the hay is to put four layers deep across the entire haymow floor and when that is done, go back and put in another four layers (for a total of eight layers of hay). Given that I will have different cuttings of hay in contact with each other when stacking like this, should I apply preservative even if the moisture sensor says that it's below the 18% mark that the applicator typically turns off at? My concern is that I will bale hay without any preservative and then stack it next to or on hay that was baled at a higher moisture and the untreated hay will be ruined (by moisture migration).

Is this a problem or am I just over-thinking things? Also, if there are any other little tidbits of info that are helpful and not in the manual, please let me know. FYI, I am currently planning on using the "Baler's Choice" preservative since it is the most widely available in my area (that I have noticed, anyway) and the applicator is the automatic style that will turn on additional nozzles as the moisture level climbs.

Thanks in advance.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

According to everything I've read treated and untreated hay should not be stacked together, but tbh I do it all the time. Just depends a lot on whether your treated hay is just a tad over 18% or well over 18% and getting close to 30%. The wetter it is the worse the moisture migration will be.

Something else to consider, I treat all my hay regardless of how dry it's getting. Depending on how much you've paid for your acid, I figured it to be really cheap insurance against any sweating or heating after the hays stacked.

Take all my advice with a grain of salt though, I make nothing but round bales and it's much easier to segregate a few wet ones when in round bales than in small squares.

Can you find another storage area? Use one mow for hay that was all dry enough to bale without acid and the other for hay that needed it? Having experienced hay stackers a well helps, when we used acid on our small squares if myself, Father or an Uncle was stacking we could always tell the tough ones from the dry and stack the toughies on the edge of the mow. When help started getting short when I was unloading wagons I'd place the tough ones off to the side then send em last with the instructions to stack these last XX on the edge of the mow.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

I lost interest in baling with slightly higher moisture content, because slightly damp bales do not slide easily on my stack wagon.

You will learn to read a windrow and kick pup the rate coming upon a damp stretch or a wet slug.

THERE I suspect you will start baling as soon as the moisture comes down into your comfort range. 
HERE we start baling while the humidity is still too high to bale, BUT the hay is cured. The stems are close to 10% moisture and the hay is 22% moisture with humidity in the leaves.

THERE something to watch out for is the leaves may be considerably drier than the stems. In this case you can shatter leaves, loose total DM, and because of the damp stems end up with moldy stems. I suggest you set the rate up a bit to compensate for the damper stems.

Harvest Tec will probably have the on the go moisture test pick up on the cut side. This means your system will be reading more stem moisture reasonably well.

HERE I put the on the go moisture test pickup on the off side and it is reading mostly leaf moisture. This required me to apply at a higher rate than the moisture tester would indicate. I had extra places for spray tips so I could significantly increase the volume of acid when I knew it was going to be a problem.

After each time I baled I would not skip draining the system, then with clean water and baking soda flush the acid out.

The hay baled first would be placed on the top of the stack, or on the outside. You want your driest hay on the bottom of the stack. Using an automatic bale wagon required some thinking ahead.

It is an interesting tool.

Oh Humidity if the air is a 70% humidity the hay will not be any less than 18% to 20% moisture. If the air is 65% humidity the hay can be as low as 16% moisture.

To save a lot of grief, give you hay 6 hours before sun set to cure down with the hay spread out in a really wide swath. If you can have at least 70% of the ground covered with loose hay. This will allow the little holes in the underside of the leaves (Stomata) to breath out moisture. If necessary have someone follow the mower with a tedder. 
It is possible to cure down to 48% moisture by sunset. When you do this the stems will be 60% moisture and the leaves will be 36% moisture. 
The next morning you might use a tedder to fluff up the hay and to have 100% of the ground covered with hay. It is too late for the stomata they are now closed, but the sun shine will increase the vapor pressure in the stems and push the moisture out the nearest exit. 
The next morning you can rake the hay, now you are dependent on a good breeze and a low humidity.

If you do not rake when there is enough humidity to dampen the leaves you can lose a third of your dry matter just by raking. Rake when the air is at or above 90% humidity leaf shatter is not significant.

If I had your climate I would use a preservative even when the hay is in theory dry enough. You probably have your hay sweat considerably more than we do here.


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## southtexashayfarm (Mar 15, 2011)

Well I'm glad to see people talking about this acid preservative stuff. My dads been wanting to start using it saying it keeps the hay greener and allows you to bale while moisture is higher, but I was hesitant. Not sure what brand hes wanting to get...Guess we'll be giving it a try.


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## jhag (Dec 25, 2009)

I'm not too sure that preservative will keep the hay any greener. As a matter of fact, right now, I am using hay that was baled early in the season last year. It had acid on it and it is pretty brown. However, the hay is good and there is no dust or mold. Having said that, I really would much rather bale hay when it is dry than apply acid. Over 10 years of using occaisionally and most times I am not really happy with the outcome. Maybe I don't use it enough to get it right. I don't know.

Jim


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Having used buffered acid preservative in an auto Harvest Tec system for a few years I would say that there are two things that are most important for preservative to work: first, apply it at the rates suggested by your manual, and second, wet hay with preservative is still wet hay. It still needs to dry down, even though it has preservative in it. This is where stack segragation and loose stacking are important. We use 2x3x8 bales so it is easier to achieve both. I can see the added challenges for small squares, but I would say it is still worth it. As far as keeping hay greener, ???? All I know is that the RFV is there at the end.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

That probably is interesting place to grow hay.

I really would not believe you would NEED an hay preservative. 
I have not found any preservative to keep the green. In fact with time alfalfa hay can take on a tobacco color and odor. I say can but that is not a sure thing. I will say with time the hay takes on a color of it's own.

Where you are, if you were to grow alfalfa it could be possible to have 9 or 10 harvest a year. I do not know if coastal bermudagrass hay shuts down for the winter season in the California Low Desert, but I do know they put up some really good looking bermudagrass hay.

I do not have a feel for your usual humidity. I spent a year at Harlingen AFB in 1957 - 1958 and if memory serves there it was a little humid. Probably more humid than where you are. 
The Valley should not be like Arizona with their 10% humidity and strong breeze. You should be able to lay your hay down in a wide swath rather than in a windrow. That alone could reduce your time to cure by a full day. 
The first day for curing can be all important.

Where you are, baling at night might be appropriate.

What do you grow for hay? What if anything do you have in your rotation?


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks for all the responses. I know there will be a learning curve to it, but I am excited to see if this applicator can help me through if we get another wet summer. The past two years haven't been that bad, but three years ago, we were lucky to put to dry days together. My dad was joking that when we did mow, the grass was splashing when it hit the ground. Still trying to figure out how we didn't end up with any mold problems, but we got through. I'm hopping this applicator will help with the next wet summer we get.

Mlappin, unfortunately all I have for storage right now is the one haymow, but during the fist couple of cuttings, there is enough room to stack in different areas. If it isn't too expensive, I think I will treat the hay even under the 18% mark, or at least try a few bales and see how that works the first year.

Hay Wilson, thanks for your information about the stem vs. leaf moisture and humidity. The plan I have in mind is to be able to bale soon than I normally would in order to shorten the weather opening needed to get the hay in. Currently we will mow about mid-day on the first day, let it set on the second day, rake it on the third day just after the worst of the dew is off and bale it the afternoon of the third day. If I can narrow the window down to bailing on the second day by using this applicator and maybe adding some tedding in, I will be very happy!

For some more background, I am doing 35 to 40 acres of timothy hay with only a single 5 acre field of timothy/alfalfa (when the alfalfa field is refitted, it will be put into just timothy). When I rake, I wait until the droplets of dew have evaporated, but the hay in the swath still feels a bit damp. Eventually, I plan on getting the farm up to full production (~85 acres) plus whatever land I can rent locally at a decent price. I don't plan on getting into more than 100 acres overall though, as this is just my "hobby" and I have a full time job as an engineer (in order to afford my "hobby").

Again, thanks for all of the advice.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

You're heading in the right direction, here what works best is to wait in the morning till some or most of dew is gone, mow, ted first thing the next AM then I can usually rake and bale yet that afternoon. I installed some super conditioner rolls last spring and once the weather straightened up later in the season and the ground dried out I was able to skip tedding altogether and still bale the afternoon of the second day. Made for much greener hay since not near as much was exposed to direct sunlight as would be if tedded.


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