# Dust



## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

Can hay be dusty that never got wet? If so how to explain that to a over cautious customer... That thinks every slightly dusty bale is bad.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

Yes. The dust you are seeing is really mold spores. Hay was baled too wet and/or not stored properly. It will not likely affect cattle but some may have respiratory irritations. Can always dampen the hay and then feed.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Ditto dusty hay can be caused from baling at too high of moisture %. I bale at 15% or less.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

Bales are dry inside and no white mold... And they smell fresh. It's possible but I didn't think it was too high moisture.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

If the entire bale on the outside is dusty, it is 'bale sweat' that in turn is mold spores. It can still be dry plus smell fresh and sweet, doesn't mean it's not mold.

Only exception to the rule is you raked dirt into windrow or there's a well traveled gravel road next to the hay.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

If it gets very dry it can still be dusty, but the dust your seeing is actually the wax off the outer layer of the plant. Hay has a certain amount of dust to it anyways, anybodies that ever had to ride the baler trying to see why a knotter isn't working can attest to that.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

It could also be "ash", i.e., dirt that you are picking up when raking or baling.

For the rake, you might have it set too tight to the ground such that you are picking up dirt into the windrow. For a wheel rake, you might have to raise your wheels such that they just float above the ground or are just barely touching the ground.

For the baler, you could have your pickup tine digging into the dirt and throwing it into the hay as it goes through the baler. Set your pickup so that the tines are above the ground.

Hope this helps....

Ralph


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Several ago we baled some second cutting and some stemmy purple top had grown into it - otherwise beautiful leafy hay. It was dry. A month later, we had dust. I attribute it to the stems of the purple top, which is like a fescue or OG stem, having moisture. This why I believe conditioning second cutting hay is important. With our hay, it seems like there is always some stems somewhere. Stem moisture could be the cause of your dusting.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I doubt you will ever convince a customer that dusty hay is good hay, everyone that has bought hay has at one time or another paid for a dusty moldy bail.. it's not good for some cridders.. lots of folks don't soak or wet the hay they feed to horses and a picky owner won't feed dusty hay period...

And keep one thing in mind, the person that paid for a dusty/moldy bail remembers it forever and will most of the time associate the seller with bad hay even if it was a one time thing... I wouldn't attempt to convince them to buy it, tell them your next cutting will be better and hope for the best...

I remember when you were cutting this year you posted about the weather and how it wasn't perfect conditions, maybe it's showing up now??


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

This hay was already purchased and delivered... She's complained about 3 bales... Out of 50 so far. Drying conditions were good. I was complaining about a change in the forecast right before I was going to bale and that rain never came. I'm thinking it is stem moisture. I cut with a sickle and don't condition. So I hope that it's not an issue overall. I delivered them 291 bales at a stupid low price... Lesson learned.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Did you take a sample of the hay she complained about? You could send it in to the lab and they'd tell you if there is mold or not.

What time of day did you bale? Just humidity or high dew point, even on "dry" hay can cause mold to grow.


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## Bishop (Apr 6, 2015)

I think dusty hay is why I'm addicted to baling with acid.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

A true story. One buyer wanted smaller round bales. They were baled right but took a shower before he arrived to get them. I told him to set them out a little while before he stored them inside. The other buyer called and wanted hay but refused to come and look at the hay. I sent him dry hay. Both showed up the same afternoon. The one had immediately stored his hay inside and of course it molded where it touched and he was unhappy. The other was complaining the hay was to dry and picked out my highest moisture hay for his next load. ????


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

Sounds about right...


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

We once sold 200 squares to a guy who was going to buy some yearling bovines. We found out later that his partner back out on him.

The guy called us and said the hay was dusty and he wanted his money back. We loaded it up and took it straight to a horse customer who loved the hay.

When customers ask about dusty grass hay I wonder if they really know what they are calling dust?

If you open a bale, take out a flake and shake it hard enough you will see a few small particles floating in the air. I do not consider that dust to be from mold. The flake can have no visible sign of mold, can smell great, yet will make some dust if shaken.

If a person feeds hay by the flake and throws it over a fence or into a stall and sees a little dust when it lands, I do not consider that to be mold dust.

The horse magazines and forums have horse owners convinced that any sigh of dust is from moldy hay.


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## Bishop (Apr 6, 2015)

We call hay moldy dusty when you hit the bale hard and it goes "pooof" with whitish dust. All other dust is just normal hay dust.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

Last year, I think...maybe the year before, I had first cutting in the barn and had @300 bales of last-year's hay left in the barn also. My barn is a hoop building which is open on one end and has a normally-open door on the other end. After first cutting was done, it rained for 39 days and nights and was humid as crap. None of the bales molded on the inside as they were put up dry...the outside of the stacks had dust/mold on every exposed edge/side. Even last-year's hay molded on the outside. Smack the side of the stack and it looked like a dust storm. It only molded that which was exposed. It wasn't effected very deep and fed just fine. Sold a lot of it to horse customers and explained; if they didn't want the exposed bales, I would feed them myself...very few declined them.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Picky buyers and even non producers need to spend a day in a grass hay field and observe the baler. Whether it is a square baler or round there will be visible dust.

I remember square baling with open station tractors. You would be covered in dust at the end of the day and blow hay boogers for a week. The drier the hay, the worse it seemed.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I don't think dust is always from mold. I have dust falling on me nearly whenever I do anything on my baler. Install balls of twine, greasing, restringing strings if someone doesn't tie the knot right is sure to get a head full of dust on my 3x3. None of that is from mold. I get lots of dust on some of my fields just from the county road where the semis fly by and produce clouds of dust. Alfalfa produces more dust then grass hay just because it pulverizes some leaves no matter what. But grass hay has it also. The drier it gets in the day the more dust there will be.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

You can usually sniff out mold....not dust. While it may be visible dust, a good sniff will usually tell the tale....


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## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

There are lot of things different out here in the Land of Fruits and Nuts and drying grass/grain hay is one of them. We do not expect rain from May thru Oct in my part of his wacky state. Even with crimpers /conditioners putting hay in a windrow we never bale less than 7 days from cutting. Since we don't get rained on, general excepted is at least 10 days to 14 days and bale.

Years ago when moisture meters where not common,a fellow with one baled by the reading from one and had a lot of dusty hay not fit for the horse market. I do not remember what reading he baled at but something most of you east of the Rockies would not think twice about,lower teens. I think this was straight oats before the oat,wheat,and barley became the have to have for horse people here. The hay was very good cattle feed,but worth much less than premium horse hay in local market.

Consensuses is moisture trapped in the big stems will cause moisture the meter dose not read at the time of baling. Everyone checks the joints in the stems for plant moisture manually and uses the meter to detect the amount of dew on the hay.

As stated many times and ways horse people are crazy so no point in trying to reason with them.Take a careful look at the hay and then decide what to due.

Many years ago sold hay in the field to 2 neighbors one want the hay for free after he feed it the other thought it was the best hay ever. No refund on hay that was feed after the first bale. If you cut it open and find mold or weeds don't feed it and I will get it and your money back or different hay. But if it is eater or scattered in the field your out of luck,cause I have cows that will eat it or I would not waste my time and money baling it.

Hope your luck turns around soon.


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