© 2022 Staheli West
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Hauling and Stacking Steamed Hay During Normal Harvest Operations
● To avoid discoloration of the hay in the stack, you should not stack hay that is above 115° F
□
As a general rule please observe the following:
•
Hay baled in the evening or night time can be hauled and stacked the next
morning.
•
Hay baled in the early morning to mid-morning before high steam rates are used can be hauled
and stacked the same day.
•
Hay baled from mid-morning through the early evening at high steam rates should not be
hauled and stacked until the next morning.
Stacking High-Temperature Steamed Hay When Weather Is a Threat
● If bales of hay must be moved off the field immediately after baling to avoid weather damage, but they are
too hot to stack conventionally, you can consider the following procedure:
□ Pick up and haul the bales from the field using your normal method.
□ DO NOT leave bales on a truck, bale mover etc. for more than the time it takes you to drive a short
distance from the field to the stack yard or field side. Long distance hauling or stopping for more
than a few minutes will cause bale discoloration.
□ Dump hay in stack location and immediately re-stack the hay in a configuration that allows heat
dissipation from all four sides of the bales.
•
Use a telehandler or other suitable machine to stack hay in a pyramid fashion with 18-24” of
space between each bale on each layer.
▫
Start the first layer with 18-24” between the sides of each bale.
▫
Add each layer with each bale straddling the spaces between the bales in the layer below.
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This allows heat dissipation through all four sides of each bale.
▫
Allow the stack to remain in this configuration for a few days to cool.
▫
Re-stack the hay in a tight stack when bales have cooled enough to stack conventionally
(below 115° F).
Hauling, Stacking, and Storage of
Steam-Treated-Hay
