hay deals?

[cowman]

Got a phone call from one of the local hay guys two days ago trying to peddle some hay. Now this is not the best stuff. Mature grass hay but put up dry(probably around late September). Only wants $15/bale, 224 bales about 5 miles from home. John Deere 567 packed heavy.
Don't need it this year but I thought it might work as a filler for next year? I wonder if hay improves by sitting a year, like straw seems to?

[countryguy]

you lose some of the vitamin in the hay when it sits over but you can supplement that anyway

[grassfarmer]

Mature hay put up in late September? There is a chance it'll be worth about the same as straw. If you can buy straw cheaper than $15 next fall I wouldn't touch that without an analysis. Fair enough they may be heavier bales but unless you cover it you are going to lose a lot to rain anyway.
We are using some oat straw just now that was kept over from last year 5.6% protein and a TDN of 57.6. It was $16 a bale delivered and they weighed over 1500lbs (87% dry matter) - the cows love it!

[grassfarmer]

agreed grassfarmer. I tried to bed my cows with some last years straw and they ate it all, preferring it over good mixed hay.

[cowman]

grassfarmer: I think you may be right. There is some green to it, but I suspect the protein and TDN would be low? Those JD bales are packed fairly tight so not sure how much rain penetration might be a problem.
Those are pretty impressive numbers on the oat straw? The last straw I got tested, a few years ago, was 4.6% protein and I thought that was pretty good...don't remember the TDN. Now mind you this straw was two row, chaff on top of swath, and a fair bit of quack grass in it(and chick weed)! Now my cousin has really got tough on quack so might not be as good now!
I don't know what it is about straw being kept over a year but it sure improves the palability or something? However there can be a lot of weather related waste...at least with the baler I use(Heston soft core).

[grassfarmer]

The fibre (lignin?)in straw seems to break down over the year and make it more digestible, thus more appetising. This did not happen in the UK - straw kept over for a year there is musty and only good for bedding. I don't understand why there should be this difference?
The oat straw we are feeding now is the greenest straw I've ever seen baled - no grass or weeds just a lot of immature oat plants mixed in. It is full of short material too - bales just fall apart like rotary combined barley sometimes does.

[cowman]

Well that is interesting about the straw in the UK? I wonder if it has something to do with the humidity?
Have you had any problems with impaction? The neighbor had a real wreck a few years ago with short chopped silage(too dry also) and rotary straw?