Chasing hay bales in Central California

AGDAILY Staff · November 3, 2016

Hummingbird Aerial, a photography company operating in California’s Central Valley, captured this farmer chasing hay bales … and even made the task look easy. That farm sure has a nice stack for winter feeding.

Speaking of stacking square bales, here are some general recommendations from the South Dakota State University Extension iGrow:

Not all hay bales are created equal. Keep extra-long or short bales out of the stack for consistency.
Make sure the stack height does not exceed 1.5 times the shortest base dimension.
Save loose hay bales for the top of your stack, or feed those bales right away.
Small square bales should read below 20% moisture before stacking.
It is a good idea to stack square bales on their sides with the stems of the cut hay running up-and-down.
Using pallets, or at least a layer of dry straw, under the bottom row will reduce storage losses from ground moisture.
Bale direction may need to be altered throughout the stack to prevent leaning.