Producers Should Know Weight of Bales

OMAHA (DTN) -- When buying or selling hay, it's best to know exactly what the bales weigh. Not knowing this information could cost the buyer both potential money and tons of hay.

There is a way to estimate the bale size if weighing bales is not an option. While this process is just an educated guess, it is better than no estimate at all, according to an extension specialist.

NOT KNOWING BALE WEIGHT COSTS MONEY

University of Missouri Extension state forage specialist Rob Kallenbach said most folks think they know their bale weights, but mostly they are just guessing. This guessing can cost producers real money when buying or selling hay, he said.

"Time and time again, we see folks overestimate bale weights, sometime by a couple hundred pounds," said Kallenbach in a press release. "That can lead to errors of 15% to 20%, which is a pretty steep tax if you're buying. Worse yet, it can lead to thinking you've got enough hay for the winter when you really don't."

Newer balers tend to pack hay tighter than older ones. Other factors such as baler settings, forage species, how dry it was when rolled up and storage conditions can all change the final weight of bales.

There is only one certain way to know what hay weighs: Weight it. However, most hay buyers and sellers don't have a scale to weigh bales.

FIGURE BALE WEIGHTS USING MATH

So, what do you do?

Dennis Hancock, director of the U.S. Daily Forage Research Center in Madison, Wisconsin, has developed a method to estimate bale weight based on its size and how tightly it is packed. The difficult part is estimating the bale density as it can vary quite a bit, Kallenbach noted.

He suggested estimating bale density the following way:

-- Loose bales that depress and don't spring probably have 9 pounds of dry matter per cubic foot or less.

-- A bale that is a little firmer, but still gives some when you press it, has 10 lbs. of dry matter (DM) per cubic foot.

-- A bale that is solid, but can be dented with a bale spike, has about 11 lbs. DM per cubic foot.

-- A bale you can barely get the hay spike into likely has 12 lbs. DM per cubic foot.

To know how many cubic feet are in a round hay bale, you will need to know its volume. Here's how to do that.

First, divide the diameter (or height) in feet of the bale by two, then square that number. Next, multiply that by 3.14 and then multiply that result by the bale width in feet. The result is the volume of the bale in cubic feet.

An example is a 5-foot by 5-foot bale has 98 cubic feet of hay: (5/2)squared x 3.14 x 5 = approximately 98 lbs. Loosely packed bales have a density of 9 lbs. per cubic foot of hay, which equates to 880 lbs. of dry feed. A tightly backed bale at 12 lbs./cubic foot would have almost 1,200 lbs. of dry feed.

"It's easy to midjudge bale weights, and those mistakes add up," Kallenbach said. "Whether you're buying hay or figuring out how much you've got stored for winter, a little math and a little common sense can go a long way toward making sure you don't come up short."

See the full press release and downloadable table at https://extension.missouri.edu/…

Read more on DTN about weighing bales at https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Russ Quinn can be reached at Russ.Quinn@dtn.com

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