Whether you endured drought, flood, hurricane or all of the above last hay season, hay is too valuable to waste. The bad news is hay waste happens, probably way more than you realize. The good news is there are some cheap, or at least reasonable, fixes.

For starters, you’ve heard the adage you pay for a hay barn even if you don’t have one. It’s sad, but true.

According to an Oklahoma State University (OSU) study, store a round bale outside for nine months and you will lose 20% to weathering. That loss can go up to 50% if you leave it out for 12-18 months. Compare this to the 2%-5% loss if stored in an enclosed hay barn. The reality, though, is a barn takes a chunk of money and might not be doable for you.

Don’t fret. You can slow down hay waste by simply getting it off the ground, says Doug Mayo, Jackson County, Fla., county extension director. “Elevate it in some way, whether it’s on pallets, recycled telephone poles or even a couple loads of rock, something that will let the moisture drain from the bottom.” That will drop waste another 5%. Cover it and you’ll decrease it another 4%.

Even better news, if you have the right soil and terrain, you might not have to elevate it. David Thomas, beef unit manager at the North Florida Research and Education Center (NFREC), displayed a bale he stored for a year on a well-drained site. It was hard to even see where it touched the ground.

While baling

To back up a step, if you do have to store your hay outside, Mayo says to bale it tight and use net wrap rather than twine, which seems to make channels that funnel moisture into the bale.

He’s also been hearing good things about John Deere’s B-Wrap^®, a new product that not only sheds moisture but allows it to escape from the bale. It is pricey, around $10 for a 4-foot-(ft.)-by-6-ft. bale compared to net wrap at around $2 a bale, but the hay savings can make it worth it.

Pick your feeder

The type of hay feeder you use can also make a bankable difference. Michigan State University (MSU) animal scientists did a trial on four different types of hay feeders — a cradle, cone, ring and hay trailer. Mayo and Thomas put similar feeders in a couple of paddocks at NFREC so recent field day participants could see them in use.

The cradle-type feeder had the most waste in the Michigan trial, at 14.6%, while the cone feeder generated the least amount of waste, at 3.5%. Still, Mayo says there are advantages and disadvantages for each. At NFREC, the cradle feeder is mounted on sleds so it can be moved easily. A flatbed trailer also generated quite a bit of waste, more than 11% in the MSU study.

Still, Mayo says, “These portable hay feeders, either the cradle or trailers, have the advantage because they’re much easier to move.”

The trailer has even more advantages since it typically holds more than one bale of hay and can double as a hay hauler, he says. “That way, we’re reducing our fuel and labor costs and moving the nutrients around the pasture.”

The county agent says there are purpose-built hay trailers with bars to hold the hay in place and limit the cows’ access to the hay. Then, when cows drop a mouthful of hay, it goes back in the bottom of the trailer instead of in the mud and manure.

If you feed more hay than the cows can eat quickly, the waste in the bottom of the trailer can build up, collect moisture, and take a strong back and a pitchfork to clean out.

The cone feeder, the winner in the least-waste category, has a set of chains that holds the bale off the ground. When a cow drops part of a mouthful, it falls down in the hay feeder, where it stays relatively clean and she can eat it off the ground.

“This is just an observation, but when we had the feeder options out in the field, the cows didn’t go to the cone feeder,” Mayo adds. “It didn’t have as easy access to the hay, and the cows had to work a little more to get hay out of it. They went to the feeders that were the easiest to eat from, because we had more hay out there than they needed.”

Since the demo was completed at NFREC, Thomas has been using cone feeders in several pastures, and they are the cows’ only source of hay.

Says Mayo, “The cows are doing fine.”

You do need to be sure to have enough feeders for the group, though, he adds, so the timid cows can have enough time to eat. They are also pricey. At Red River Arenas, where Thomas bought the ones at NFREC, the price depends on how many you buy, but ranges from $1,349 for one to $629 for 100.

There are also the ever-popular hay rings. Generally, they are the cheapest option and can be moved easily. However, in an OSU study they had around 20% hay waste. If they have a shield around the bottom, hay waste dropped to a little more than 12%. However, Mayo says producers tell him the hay left in the rings with shields tends to accumulate moisture and the shields can rust.

Of the ring feeders, Mayo says, “I love these poly-pipe feeders because they’re very durable. All the producers I know that have bought them have bought more.

“The problem with them is if you don’t get the bottom sheet, you’re going to waste 20%,” he continues. “For the money, they’re a little bit more than the rings made from cheap metal. But they’ll last longer.”