Hay tarps for round bale storage

[ejb]

Hi guys....

Looking for some re-assurance that come this winter, if I don't have another structure up in time, that storing 100 or so round bales, stacked in a 5-4-3 pyramid, 9 or 10 deep and covered with a good quality hay tarp, that I won't be wasting too much hay or seriously degrading the quality?

Of course, we'd all love to have barns big enough to store everything in, but times looking short already for me for consider getting another structure up.

Any tips on the best way to store the hay? Pallets might be nice underneath to keep them off the ground, but once they freeze to the ground, I can't drive my tractor onto them w/out risking flats. Is it best to keep them elevated somehow?

Farmtek is the only place I know that sells the large hay tarps, are the other/better places to shop for one?

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

I store a few hundred round bales outside every year. I have a crushed rock (limestone) "pad". It's slightly elevated above the surrounding area for good drainage. I use heavy plastic (re-enforced) cover. They're weighted down with old tires. The gravel pad wasn't cheap, but it's about as perminant as it gets. Plan is to build a shed over the gravel pad someday. It's not perfect, but it works....