Dry Matter Recovery, Nutritive Value, and Economics of Cool-Season Grass Hay Stored for Seven or Fifteen Months in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

Forty 122 x 152-cm large round bales of mixed cool-season grasses were utilized in a study designed to determine the influence of storage system on spoilage and the changes in concentrations of nutrients during long term storage. Bales were randomly allocated to 1 of 5 treatments: 1) stored on the ground without cover; 2) stored on wooden pallets without cover; 3) stored on the ground and covered with a tarp; 4) stored on wooden pallets and covered with a tarp; and 5) stored in a barn on pallets. Bales were sampled after 7 or 15 mo of storage to determine the percentage of spoilage loss. Generally, losses were greater for bales stored without cover than for covered bales or bales stored in a barn. Concentrations of CP, ADF, and NDF increased with increasing time in storage for bales in most storage systems; however, concentrations of CP were not affected by sampling date in storage systems using wooden pallets without cover and wooden pallets in a barn. The economic analysis shows that the most cost effective system of hay storage depends on many factors, including the type of storage system, the length of the storage period, the initial cost of the hay, and the relative cost of alternative storage systems.