Driving across northeast Iowa this past week the landscape was doted with large round hay bales. While producers may find it not convenient to immediately pick up the bales, delaying this too long can cost future yields. Nebraska Extension Forage Specialist Bruce Anderson notes that when more harvests are expected off that field, delaying removal can be harmful. One problem is directly under the bale or stack. Plants underneath often are killed if covered for more than a week or two. This may not hurt yield too much, but it can contribute to weed growth and create problem weed areas that can later spread. Most damage is due to wheel traffic on the regrowth. Studies have shown that when fields are dry, plants driven on before regrowth occurs yield about 5-7 percent less at next cutting. Even worse was waiting to remove bales. Just seven days after cutting, when regrowth shoots had started to grow, yield was reduced over 25 percent and plant survival decreased.
Worse yet is removing bales when fields are wet. Wheel traffic will cause even much more compaction, leading to typical losses exceeding 30 percent.

These studies emphasize the benefits of baling and removing bales from hay fields as quickly as possible after cutting to minimize driving on wet soils. To control wheel traffic and reduce losses from compaction, follow the same trail previously used when removing bales or stacks from fields.

In addition, losses between one and ten percent of yield have been reported when large round bales were moved from field to storage site. Short turn around time from the baling operation to bale removal from the field will decrease hay waste. Bales moved soon after baling do not begin to lose shape and the various types of wraps, particularly twine, do not deteriorate from UV sunlight exposure. Also soil surfaces tend to accumulate moisture overnight and the newly baled hay can easily attract this outside moisture which promotes surface molds.

For more information on forage production contact your local Extension office. In Chickasaw County the office is located at 104 East Main St in New Hampton and information can be accessed on their internet website at www.extension.iastate.edu/chickasaw.

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skb 7/9/2007