Insurance for quality hay

Based near Banbury, Henry annually bales around 24,000 conventional bales from Italian Ryegrass leys, all of which are sold to some of the UK’s leading racing yards.

“Because of the market I am supplying, quality is paramount and if the hay does not meet their standards it will be rejected,” states Henry. “At baling, anything that does not make the grade will be put aside for haylage.”

Henry runs two MF 1840 inline conventional balers, both equipped with Harvest Tec Baler’s Choice Automatic Applicators connected into Ipads in the tractor cab.

“We have been using Baler’s Choice for about 10 years now and the benefits far outweigh any negatives. Irrespective of whether the hay needs it or not, we apply Baler’s Choice to all the hay baled at a rate of 2 litres/tonne, rising to 4 litres under hedges or trees where necessary as the moisture content can often be higher.

“It’s very good insurance. For instance conditions last year were very difficult and we had a lot of questionable hay, but by using Baler’s Choice on the crop, it definitely got us out of trouble and saved our bacon. But even where we are baling below 15% we will still apply it because the moisture content does fluctuate and for instance this year we have been having problems with regrowth getting raked into the swath.”

Henry has also found that when treated, because Baler’s Choice stabilises the hay and avoids the bales heating up, he says that this makes it far easier to manage the bales in store. After baling, the bales are initially packed into blocks of 14 bales using an Arcusin stacker and then stored in bays of 35 packs on ventilated floors and monitored using temperature probes.

“In the past where we have not used Baler’s Choice, we have found it far more difficult to maintain the temperature during storage. So far this year we have used 1,500 litres, but it’s a small price to pay if it means we can guarantee quality and makes storage management easier. There are weaker and cheaper alternatives on the market, but they are a false economy and not an option. I am definitely sticking with the original. I also like the fact that it’s Ph neutral, so does not harm the baler and most importantly is safe to handle, both when filling the tanks but also if a blockage needs to be cleared."