Round bale wheat hay storage losses.

Storage losses in large round bales of wheat hay were evaluated for two stages of forage maturity, two bale types, six storage methods, and two bale orientations. Wheat hay baled in the boot stage of maturity had greater storage losses than bales in the mid-head stage. Fixed-chamber bales in the boot stage had lower dry matter losses than variable-chamber bales. Fixed-chamber bales stored on the ground without covers had a 11.9% dry matter loss while variable-chamber bales had 19.2% loss. Storing fixed-chamber bales on pallets reduced dry matter loss to 7.2%. Bale orientation did not affect dry matter losses, but did affect changes in quality.