Hay being stored near the pasture...............

[Kelley (Texas)]

On the way home from Bracken, Texas, I spotted these round bales of hay stored near a pasture where a few cows were grazing. Due to the drought, hay is not as readily available this year, prices are higher, and the quality is not as good as in years past. Hay growers are not producing as many bales per acre either this year. Wrangler

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[Roscue2]

I remember yrs ago my Dad and I going down to southern TN to see one of his younger retired military buddies. My Dad's friend was living at his wife's father's house, which happened to be in the country and he owned cows. When we went down there this time they were cutting and baling hay for the barn off of rented land. We spent a day helping them load the rectangle shaped bales, and I must say my allergies have never been as bad as they were then. Thankfully though, they were having me steer the manual transmission dodge truck that they were loading the hay onto. At this point I was to young to drive, but out in the middle of a hay field u don't need a license. lol Just drive straight and when u get to the edge turn at 1/2 mph. They were also baling the big barrel ones like those in your pic, so I tried to roll it, which I was able to do. It was a fun weekend all right.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

I prefer the square bales for the horses, but you must store them in the barn. The round bales are usually used for feeding the cows and are kept outdoors because they are self protected from the weather because of the way they are baled tight. Some folks feed their horses hay from round bales to save money, but I don't feel it is worth the risk of colic or anything else. There is a difference between horse grade and cow grade hay.

Loading hay out of the field is hard work, and you will be sore the next day, but you will sure sleep good that night. Kelley (Texas)