Poor quality bales can cause health problems if they are contaminated, cut too short, or moldy. You are ensuring the health of your animals and making the most of your investment when you buy high quality hay bales. The following are five steps for choosing quality brome hay bales.
Bales that have been exposed to moisture and air may develop discoloration on the outside. This discoloration can also happen to bales that have been stacked. The color will appear to be a duller brown on some low quality stacked bales.
If you are buying the brome hay bales in person, you should cut a few of them for evaluation before purchasing them. Look at the interior of each bale for any signs of insect infestation, discoloration, debris, or mold.
Strands of brome hay that are overly fibrous will be pointy and hard to the touch. This usually happens when farmers harvest their crop from very mature plants. Quality brome strands should be medium-sized and slightly soft to the touch. Over-processed brome hay will fall apart when you touch it or break into shards and stems. This type of poor-quality product will not provide the correct amount of fiber for stimulating livestock and can also cause colic in horses.
Quality brome hay smells sweet and fresh. Product that smells rotten, moldy, or like chemicals should be rejected.
You can determine whether or not the bales contain too much moisture by simply lifting them. If a bale seems unusually heavy, it could mean that the grass was baled when it was still wet. Moisture predisposes the product to combustion and mold. You should not purchase damp bales because they can be dangerous to your animals.
If you would like to learn more about high quality hay and livestock feed, contact SB Hay & Feed in Amarillo, Texas. Call us at today 1(800) 652-3036 or Contact Us by email for more information. We aim to help farmers with abundant hay serve other farmers in need across the United States. Don’t forget to see the hay we have available to buy or sell your own!