Haying season... hopefully and the frustrations with being able to bale

[Taiga]

I have the auto Harvest Tec. It sure sucks the fluid back, I believe as you add the preservative the moisture level goes up on the sensor, triggering it to add more preservative at times. Can’t confirm this, but that is my interpretation just watching the moisture readings as the pump turns on.
It is expensive for sure to apply the preservative, but does save the bale so you get the money back at least. I do see some bales that are extremely dusty. I think they went dusty instead of moldy due to the preservative.
Also, watch the bale temps as they go through their cooling cycle, they get really hot even if they don’t mold (creates the dusty condition instead). I definitely would not be in a hurry to gather and stack, let them cool in the field for a couple weeks.

[GDR]

I have the auto Harvest Tec. It sure sucks the fluid back, I believe as you add the preservative the moisture level goes up on the sensor, triggering it to add more preservative at times. Can’t confirm this, but that is my interpretation just watching the moisture readings as the pump turns on.
It is expensive for sure to apply the preservative, but does save the bale so you get the money back at least. I do see some bales that are extremely dusty. I think they went dusty instead of moldy due to the preservative.
Also, watch the bale temps as they go through their cooling cycle, they get really hot even if they don’t mold (creates the dusty condition instead). I definitely would not be in a hurry to gather and stack, let them cool in the field for a couple weeks.

Your experience dosen't really give a guy a good feeling about these systems. Bottom line dust=mold and heat=unusable protein.

We wrap bales here, not perfect system either. Huge plastic waste, rodent and bird damage. Other than it requires different feeding systems I think the best solution may just be chopped haylage in a pit.

[smcgrath76]

We use a Gandy applicator and a product made from wheat middlings. It has a bacteria in it and no acid or salts. We have baled greenfeed up to 25+ % moisture and will get some mold at those levels, but it is the brown tobacco type of mold that cows love. For baling at 15-20% moisture it works really well and we usually use a bit if we are baling alfalfa, so we can bale wetter and maintain the leaves. I will have to look up the product name. I always call it Pixie Dust but that is not the trade name. There are tons of those Gandys in our neighbourhood. The advantage of the stuff we use is that it doesn't rust out your baler and also doesn't restrict intake due to high salt in the feed.

[Taiga]

The modern liquid buffered propionic acids do not cause rust either. The solutions prior did but not the current products.
Definitely want to aim for dry hay, adding preservative is just a bandaid.