• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Hey Per and Hayguy

N

Nicky

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
3,679
Location
N.E. Oregon
Seems like I remember you guys talking about using the hay additives (or whatever they are called) so you can bale with more moisture. I couldn't find the old posts. Could you tell me more about it please. We're thinking of trying it this year on the first crop alfalfa. Thanks in advance. Anyone can chime in :-)
 
Nicky said:
Seems like I remember you guys talking about using the hay additives (or whatever they are called) so you can bale with more moisture. I couldn't find the old posts. Could you tell me more about it please. We're thinking of trying it this year on the first crop alfalfa. Thanks in advance. Anyone can chime in :-)
Click to expand...
We were talking about this just recently while zipping down the highway. For the life of me I don't remember you being in the truck with us. 8)
I bale our alfalfa brome and greenfeed starting at 30% moisture using Bio Agronics (Winnipeg) hay saver. It is a mix of acidophilus and lactic acid mixed with water and citric acid. It suits the organic crowd and works good. I am feeding 1, 2 and 3 year old bales put up and they are a nice as the day they were baled. They stay palatable as well as smell like evaporated milk. There are lots of preservatives out there that I don't know anything about so you will need help from others for a true diversified answer to your queries.
 
I was thinking of putting an applicator on my baler but decided against it based on two reasons.

1) The cost of the product applied (amount depends on the moisture) is not much different than wrapping the hay. When you wrap the hay you get the exact same quality as the day you put it up.

2) No weathering issues if you do not have inside storage so the wrap is basically free storage area

If you have lots of inside storage, the applicator makes more sense because dry, treated hay gives you more flexibility.

So there's my opinion, fwiw.
 
burnt said:
I was thinking of putting an applicator on my baler but decided against it based on two reasons.

1) The cost of the product applied (amount depends on the moisture) is not much different than wrapping the hay. When you wrap the hay you get the exact same quality as the day you put it up.

2) No weathering issues if you do not have inside storage so the wrap is basically free storage area

If you have lots of inside storage, the applicator makes more sense because dry, treated hay gives you more flexibility.

So there's my opinion, fwiw.
Click to expand...

Time and extra handling are big factors to consider Burnt so cost added while doing one function (baling) is important.

Most of the western world 8) doesnt have as large a problem with weathering as you would unless you are in coastal conditions or a few other high moisture areas.

I would like to try it for a year before thinking of selling our wrapper but it does have a lot of merits.
 
still haven't pulled the trigger yet but have been doing a fair ammount of looking. small square baling at 20% plus is a real attractant (sp) my biggest issue is the added weight of the bales at higher moisture levels. my customers get upset if the bales get much more than 50lbs. as does my back when handling as many as we do. still not sure if i can recover the cost from the customer even though it willbe nutritionally superior
 
Per, you'd be amazed how far away I hear things :P

Since we don't already have a wrapper, the additive seems like a good way to go. A few more questions: is it hard on the baler? can you also apply it with the swather? would it work the same on grain hay?
 
I've tried a sprayer on my baler to put on the "acid" and then I tried a hopper with a blower to put a powder on the hay. I don't think the problem was with either product .
Not sure if my acid was the same a per's acid but I was concerned about corrosion. The powder applicator gave me some head aches. :?

Here I usually seemed to push the moisture issue so now I try to just wait for it to cure. With my mowers and rake it doesn't take long.
 
A place we looked at in BC 2 weeks ago uses the stuff Per is talking about, and they love it. With doing 3 cuts/year, they depend on it really. I asked the guy if they ever tried a sickle mower that laid the hay out flat, to dry faster, then rake it into a windrow and bale to try and save a day or two of curing time. He had heard of people trying it, but wasn't sure of results. I asked another guy in the area and he claimed that the valleys there usually have too much dew too late in the morning to work that system well, so they either use the additives, or be patient with an eye on the sky.
 
we have ran the acid preservative for years, and no more corrosion than normal. it will push the moisture out of the hay, and disappear itself after 60 days.... the only problem is if you have a cut on your hands and are digging out a slugged baler, that stuff burns like crazy...we added a water wash on the tractor to keep hands clean after working near the acid.

we can bale hay that is 30% moisture and it keeps green. we stack it a little loose, to promote air to help the bales breathe, but there is more benefits than problems with the acid.
 
I'm not sure if there would be issues with putting it on the windrow ahead of time. It is pretty easy to apply it as it goes into the baler. Corrosion hasn't been an issue either and when I last compared it to plastic it worked out cheaper. I am feeding 3 year old bales that were not inside so in our dry environment that isn't the issue that the eastern folks have. We don't usually hit 100% humidity when it is raining. :wink: All I know is it is easy to get it to 30% but much harder to get it to 15% and there is some evidence that it is actually is nutritionally better. The extra couple of days not waiting is worth the effort alone.
 
Here in the east, 3 year old hay stored outside, not wrapped, is called manure and you handle it with a material bucket, not a fork or prongs!

That is likely what influences my thinking on treating versus wrapping, although there are lots of guys around here that treat with acid or granular as well.
 
We have it in our product line. We have a customer that uses it on some
irrigated alfalfa and he loves it. I think it costs an extra $6/ton to use it
and he has the applicator on his swather. If you want more information,
I can call him, or PM me and I'll give you his number and you can get
the info direct. They put up a LOT of hay and wouldn't be without it.
Ours is called Hay Defender.

Good luck!
 
http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49774&highlight=vigortone




four pages of reply's and no one ever answered the OP's question. someone else asked if it is even available in canada or alberta, so is it? see so much about vigortone in general on here and although i would love to go visit BMR he is a little far to go for a mineral dealer :wink: :lol: :lol:
 
We put the system on the bailer this year but haven't tried it yet, should have close to a thousand bales put up now but it won't quit raining. We also have a wrapper but is so slow and cost about five dollars a bale to wrap and it is a lot harder to sell we wanted to go with acid. Hope to be able to report soon on it.
 
I found our information sheet on our hay treatment. It's called Hay Defender.
It's a liquid hay treatment--Lactobacillud acidophilus fermentation product for application to hay as a forage treatment.

Benefits:
Preserves all types of higher moisture hay (16-24%)
Reduces spoilage due to yeasts and molds
Reduces damage to protein due to excessive heating
Improves hay color, texture and palatability
Great leaf retention improves nutrient nutrient value and yield
Allows earlier baling for quicker re-growth of hay crop
Reduces field drying time and exposure to adverse weather
Easy to apply at CUTTING or BALING
Is not corrosive to application equipment

HayDefender enhances the growth of protective bacteria on forage matter and reduces the growth of yeast and molds.

Ingredients are: Liquid Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product and lactic acid.

The fella that we know well that uses it here used to apply it when baling
but has since switched to applying it when swathing. The applicatior for
the swather is only about $400 here as it is the same applicator used on a
4-wheeler.

One gallon HayDefender will treat 50 tons of hay. The info sheet I have tells
how to mix it--one gallon HayDefender with 11.5 gallons of water. Apply one quart of HayDefender/water solution per ton of hay which provides 2.56 oz. of HayDefender product per ton of hay.

Last year, if I remember right (and I don't always remember right as I've gotten older :roll: ) it cost $6/ton. I've heard it is money well spent. We don't use it because we have dryland primary grass hay and it really isn't designed to be used on straight grass hay. We have very little alfalfa or alfalfa grass mix.

If you wish more information I will be glad to get you in touch with a Vigortone dealer in your area if you just PM me your name and the nearest town to where you live. The dealer in your area will be glad to help you.

I hope this helps!!
 
No, checked into it but decided not to. Haven't started cutting yet, finally getting some rain here :-) now that the alfalfa is ready to cut. Funny how that works. I'm sure we will wish we'd done it, but it's always hard to fork out money.
 
Nicky said:
No, checked into it but decided not to. Haven't started cutting yet, finally getting some rain here :-) now that the alfalfa is ready to cut. Funny how that works. I'm sure we will wish we'd done it, but it's always hard to fork out money.
Click to expand...

What were you quoted for price on the applicator? The cheap, manual one here from JD is a touch over $3000. Fully auto with moisture tester is nearly $6000. Had a good visit with Per this AM, could likely build one for around $1000 or less. Product pricing that I found this morning averages $11 per ton. For that kind of money I will keep wrapping with plastic.
 
Well, I was way off on the price of the Hay Defender. It is $2.40/ton.
It contains no acid so not hard on machinery.
If you apply it with the swather, the applicator is only about $400--you
can use the same type as you use on a 4 wheeler. Applying it with the
swather seems to be the popular way to go around here. Even the ones
that first applied it with the baler have now gone to the swather as they
see more benefit.
 
gcreekrch said:
Nicky said:
No, checked into it but decided not to. Haven't started cutting yet, finally getting some rain here :-) now that the alfalfa is ready to cut. Funny how that works. I'm sure we will wish we'd done it, but it's always hard to fork out money.
Click to expand...

What were you quoted for price on the applicator? The cheap, manual one here from JD is a touch over $3000. Fully auto with moisture tester is nearly $6000. Had a good visit with Per this AM, could likely build one for around $1000 or less. Product pricing that I found this morning averages $11 per ton. For that kind of money I will keep wrapping with plastic.
Click to expand...

The green paint is worth a lot, I guess. An awful lot.

I looked at putting one on the baler last summer and was quoted about 1600 for a granular applicator. Didn't do it, just wrapped and had top quality feed.

Looks like we are going to bale dry hay this afternoon. Perfect haying weather for a change! 22C, 41% humidity, light breeze... :D Might have to skip the siesta :lol:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top