Hay Storage Strategies for Safety & Savings

With summer haying season upon us now is a good time to make sure you will be stocked up on enough good quality hay to keep your horses happily munching throughout the cooler seasons. But hay bales arent like the canned goods you stack in the pantry after your trip to the grocery store hay spoilage resulting from improper storage is not only a waste of your money but can also represent a significant fire hazard. Your hay must be safely stored to protect your financial investment your barn and your equine companions.

Here are some hay storage strategies to keep in mind for the purposes of this article we will assume that you are storing small rectangular bales of hay.
Minimize Moisture 
Safe hay storage begins at the harvesting stage. Hay intended for square bales should not be baled if the moisture content is higher than 20 percent 18 percent for round bales. If the hay is not allowed to dry sufficiently in the field prior to baling it will be subject to mold growth and decomposition in storage. These processes not only make hay unfit for horse consumption but also generate heat that could result in spontaneous combustion if there is inadequate ventilation.
Storage Sites
Indoor Storage The most important things to look for in a hay storage site are good ventilation protection against moisture and ideally a structure separate from the barn where your horses are housed accumulating large quantities of hay a highly flammable material poses a significant risk to your horses in the event of a barn fire. NEVER store hay near any flammable materials or objects that may be a source of heat such as tractors or other farm machinery.
Outdoor Storage If you must store hay outside stack the bales on pallets or on a raised rock base