MOLDED HAY

[powerscol]

This was my first year actually doing my own hay, learned a lot. Some good, some bad.

Have probably 80 bales of hay that I suspect were bailed before it was dried completely. Those bales are/were in various stages of developing mold. Some are black and others have light mold dust. Anyway, the wife will not use any of that particular hay for her goats, so, time to get rid of it. I have most of it gone thus far, breaking down the bales and scattering it into the tree-lines/fence-lines surrounding some of my fields. I also busted bales and made a fairly large compost pile (15'x15'x3'deep) figuring I can use it in the next few years for the garden, etc. Now I have roughly 20 bales left to get rid of. Just waiting on the rain to quit.

Has anyone else made an old hay compost pile? Any tricks? Anything that will hasten the decomposition of the hay in the compost? How long before one might expect some good compost? Should I make the pile any deeper/thicker? Anything I should add to the pile? (I have some left over lime from recently doing a couple of my fields, but, I hear lime is not good for compost)

What have you used old, moldy hay for?

Thanks.

My neighbor uses them to grow tomato plants and other stuff (put plants into the bale and waters, etc I had success composting by just staking a bunch (roughly 25 bales), adding nitrogen fertilizer, piled on some dirt, soaked the bales heavily with water and covered with a black plastic tarp for a few months, then removed tarp and turned the pile. If conditions are right it can literally get smoking so do this away for any stricture.

Do you have a hay moisture meter? If not get one so you can check bales as you go. I also use the twist method. Grab a handful of hay out of a wind row, hold tight and do a bicycle twist with your hands. If it breaks at 4 to 6 turns it is dry enough. I prefer 4 turns which comes out about 10 to 12% moisture. I wont bale above that point.

 

[Chaos USMC]

Powerscol, Thank you for the great information. Very useful.

I would think you have the advantage in SW Colorado. I would think your humidity is pretty much "nothing", as compared to us here in south central PA. Getting below a moisture content of 15-16 is even a challenge. We simply do not have the high altitude, dry advantage. Having said that, I wouldn't want the "lack of rain issue".

Be safe and be well.