With extreme hay prices, do this to preserve your investment in your stored hay bales.

With extreme hay prices, do this to preserve your investment in your stored hay bales. Just taking a few extra minutes to stack your bales on wood posts or pallets will save you tons of money in rotted hay. By keeping your bales elevated off the ground, the bottom section of the bales will not rot and melt into the ground. You can lose up to 30% of a bale quickly if you get in a heavy rainy period that drenches your bales placed on the ground. Hay is expensive, don't throw your money away by letting it rot. If you want to keep your farm profitable every year, check out my 3 grazing books that I wrote on our website: greenpasturesfa...

[@tonyfroid682]

Most grow their own here in Central Texas. So many folks around here have been in a huge bind for hay unless they have the know-how to produce it. We are realizing it is best to be self-reliant. Even if it means buying and learning how to repair junky old equipment. During droughts and hard times, it is every man for himself. We learned this the hard way.

[@CharlesGann1]

Glad you had that privilege to know Marshall! Those sharp old guys were a national treasure. I miss the Marshall's in my life too.

[@jonerlandson1956]

good food is probably one of the most important things in life...

[@bridgescwr6136]

Agreed if you eat you're involved in agriculture

[@marjnussby8305]

Love hearing your stories! RIP Marshall. Pearls of wisdom on investing on the important things, with money and/or time, and taking care of the investment.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

I have many great Marshall stories to come!

[@markrodrigue9503]

Write a book of Marshall’s wisdom

[@deanlewis1650]

Started doing that last year. Much better results

[@paulamcdowell2221]

Greg they do still make them like that….all the young men you have mentors, all the ranchers you have taught regenerative farming to and all of u tube….we love your story, we want your kind of life. Great things will be said about you forever

[@kevingerber1533]

I have been doing this for the past year and it works well. I use “retired” wood power poles free from my electric coop. I space the same 27-28” and can stack 8 or 9 bales on each pair of poles. My tractor or bale mover can straddle and clear as I pull each bale to feed in fall and winter. Being stacked end to end, I like the extra protection from weather.

[@swamp-yankee]

I’ve had trouble with end to end. Seems like if they touch there’s spoilage in my climate.

[@markrodrigue9503]

Don’t power poles have toxic highly toxic chemicals soaked into them carcinogen that leach into ground and hay exposing you, the animal and consumers

[@kevingerber1533]

@@markrodrigue9503 Most are soaked with Creosote when new which give their black color. The ones I recycle are years old and have been weathered back to nearly raw wood. I have no concerns using them with hay on top.

[@colmanlong1032]

Must be 40ft poles.

[@someonefrom1998]

Echoing your comment. I have been doing this same light pole method for about 25 years as well. Just cleaned up the area last weekend for upcoming peanut hay in several weeks. I also drape black plastic over them and it has worked very well in the past years. I have a JD535 which I bale 5x6 big bales.

[@danphillips4590]

Fresh hay smells great

[@brettmathews8227]

Cedar logs that don’t make lumber work great for this too. We have a lot of cedar where the logs taper off quickly.

[@williamhad]

I'm just starting my homestead and recently needed straw to mulch some swales. Once I realized it would cost me $400 for the amount I needed I decided to take my scythe to the invasive grasses we've got. Saved me money and now I know how to use a scythe.

[@clintonlehmann4369]

Now u spread the invasive grass to your swales man.

[@tamaraspillis612]

Absolutely solid log-ic🤝🤣🤣

[@caewalker9276]

I rolled out a bale of Rhodes grass today and I smelled summer time.

[@savageairsoft9259]

Love the Marshall stories. That's great

[@annbullen6983]

i have learned so much from you

[@jeannedigennaro6484]

Great advice about storing hay. I enjoyed the Marshall story. Their generation was special.

[@jonathanbohl]

Thanks! I would like to convert our hay fields to pasture one day soon. I hope we can find a good source of hay.

[@dertythegrower]

Greg.. thank you for covering this topic. The sheperdess just brought up the lawsuit for the big private group of meat buyers getting from the amish.. pretty shocking topic. What is your opinion on the amish meat association being fined six figures, and being shut down for what is essentially not even about people being tainted by their private association of farm meat, more so about a agency stamped paperwork and fee just to have an agency inspector look over their groups meat, which is clearly not an issue health wise?

[@dertythegrower]

@Nick Jones 🎯

[@markrodrigue9503]

Follow the money big lobbyist who funding this who benifits yeah money and power corrupts all nearly all ,but most

[@bridgescwr6136]

@Nick Jones happens too often. Killed a relative in 97. He was a pig farmer on 1000 acres.

[@happytomeetyou.3027]

Great video! How much money do you estimate you saved by stacking? Thanks for all you do.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Depends what you pay for your hay and how much rainfall you get at your farm location. 20-30 % savings on the first year. If you hold the hay over for a second year because you did not need it, that savings goes up to 50%!!!

[@annbullen6983]

great channel

[@ad-rock603]

Love those Marshall stories! Made me feel good, too, because I don't drink water for the same reason. Also, if government tells you it's good, well, you already know what that means...

[@andrewmcdonald7077]

Greg, Im just switching to round bales, I have a small farm, and I just bought one of your Hay Unroller. Do you tarp your round bales? Also, I had no idea those suckers were 100 inches across! Im going to have to replace most of my gates!

[@tireddad6541]

My question is how did you do this before you had any equipment like a tractor or skid steer? Did you borrow or rent?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Rented a tractor for 1 day

[@SHANONisRegenerate]

I sure could use some of those Amish boys in the paddock i was grazing today and what a great story for some perspective! Thats a lovely looking pasture now Greg. How long has that been resting?

[@helen1962]

Great story!

[@lloydgood9836]

At about the same time they told us to drink 8 glasses of water a day they told us to stop eating salt..... and they've been deluding ever since.

[@marvinbaier3627]

Thanks for the video! Also, I would put honey on mine too. 😂 I can tell the bales are so much easier to feed when off the ground like yours too. I think the best hay is at the bottom of the bale because everything is protecting that area so why not keep it off the ground.

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

Greg, what is your opinion on this? When you talked about the cedar covered ridge and clearing the cedar, which I have done on my place also. Now that the slopes and tops are cleared, I still have gullys in the draws, so now I think that maybe I should have cleared the lower draws and gullys, leaving only a few hardwood trees for shade, but not fully shading the ground so fence and maybe some other grass like turkey foot can grow in and along the draws. So what I'm thinking now is that maybe I should have cleared the draws first allowing some grass to grow there by allowing the sun to hit the ground there. At least part of the day. Perhaps it would help to put a hot wire up and down the sides of the gullys to protect the grass in the gullys. While after the gullys are pretty well cleared then working on the slopes and hilltops! I see most everywhere people clear the slopescand hill tops but I just wonder if clearing the bottoms of the slopes first? What do you think? I'm in southeast Kansas, where the lay of the land is similar to the middle of Missouri, which im thinking thats where it looks like you are.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We leave some cedars in the draws because that is our best windbreaker. If you leave cedars up on the ridges you will get some wind breakage but not as effective as draws.

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher ok that makes sense

[@sclivestock5943]

Hi Greg. What is a Round bale worth in your neck of the woods? Here in Alberta they are from $100-150. Have a great day.

[@orlandocuellar437]

Texas hill county 130 dollar

[@johnminor4512]

I’m in southern Oklahoma and have run cow calf since 05 on native bluestem with no hay or cake year round. I’m only supplying fce mineral,Is hay something I should look at doing, is there a advantage.

[@tomcurran8470]

You have kicked the hay habit already. See the book by that name by Jim Garrish. Don't go backwards.

[@allenferry9632]

Could you use fresh mushrooms logs every fall then move them to the woods in the spring?

[@johnlittle184]

I have a couple of areas in mind to use the cold weather circle feeding techniques to carbon load future garden sites.

[@WarEagle7476]

Would you unroll round bales if you only have 2 or 3 cows or would you just but the next round bale in a different spot in the pasture?

[@doniedewgotstrikesagain2082]

Looks nice.

[@middlevalleyfarmer]

Setting your bales up off the ground: 👍But don't you lose hay quality or nutritional value of a bale just by storing it outside versus inside a covered barn by the time it comes to feeding it out? Just thinking of how to get the most out of hay investment.

[@tomallen8459]

Barns are better, not every place has a barn.

[@taunapowell9651]

Stacking in a barn requires tractor, front end loader, bale stinger not to mention barn maintenance, depreciation.

[@middlevalleyfarmer]

@@tomallen8459 Tarps are also an option for protecting your hay investment, while still coming in at a sliver the cost of a barn. Great point though!

[@middlevalleyfarmer]

@@taunapowell9651 also good points! 👍

[@ryanforbes3021]

@@middlevalleyfarmer I use tarps to cover my round bales. Stacked mostly on plastic pallets, stack on logs when I run out of pallets. Tarps work great as long as you dont completely cover the stack. I leave each end open so the stack can get some air.

[@Dadnatron]

If you butt them up against each other, end to end, it decreases the weather which can reach the ends.

[@markrodrigue9503]

Buddy he to old to push them apart by hand and I already know he not driving his tractor out there when it’s wet that four wheeler of his backs right up and the Greg Judy bale unroller hooks up easy when it’s snow do you want to separate the bales

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We intentionally leave the spaces between the bales for our ATV bale unroller to hook up to them in the winter feeding period.

[@drumhillerfarms6858]

Approximately how many bales you buy each year?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

About 1 bale per cow for the winter. Some winters we only use about 3/4 of a bale per cow, bad winters we may use 1.25 bales per cow.

[@drumhillerfarms6858]

Nice, I bought a little extra this year even though I have had my best year for management looks we will be grazing close to 300 or more days on grass this year. Guess I’ll has some for next year

[@MrOrcslayer]

Why not nail the logs into a rectangle so they are always 28 inches.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

If you nail them together, they are to heavy to lift or stack when you get done with them.

[@markrodrigue9503]

Great question great answer this is a great community of communicators

[@markrodrigue9503]

Knowledge is power

[@travissmith-wz5nc]

You ever put sea salt on the hay

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

No

[@garrettrice7598]

Do wildlife use these bails for shelter

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Rabbits do

[@markrodrigue9503]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher can you answer the question about hay from Shanen givone the comment below this one

[@aethulwulfvonstopphen8013]

Hey Greg, do you know if South Poll cattle would do well in North-Central Ohio?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Yes

[@aethulwulfvonstopphen8013]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thanks

[@southtexashay777]

From a hay producer you show hay at the beginning of your videos separate. You need to butt your hay tightly butt to butt preserved the ends nice and green.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

On farms where we have rock, we do stack them end to end. But out in the pasture where we need them we don’t. We do not take tractors out on our soft pasture in the winter, only our ATV bale unroller. The bales need to be stacked 4 feet apart to hook up to them in the winter without using the tractor.

[@tsousley18]

Thoughts on billboard tarps ?

[@markrodrigue9503]

They can hold moisture sometime you need air circulation to help from mildew

[@tsousley18]

@@markrodrigue9503 that was my concern. Probably better to clean out the old barn, and put the bales on pallets

[@ryanforbes3021]

If you use tarps, leave the ends of the stacks open so the stack can breath

[@kurtkohl151]

Top three cash crops in the US , Corn, Soybeans, Hay, followed by Wheat, Weed, Peanuts and Oats.

[@Digger927]

Years like this with hay prices makes me glad I don't buy all of my hay! Wow...absurd prices this year.

[@ryanforbes3021]

What's the price for a bale in your area this year? People were paying $180 for a 4x4 bale here in 2020. Glad I have my own hay.

[@Digger927]

@@ryanforbes3021 depends on what it is. Fescue hay is up around 100

[@ryanforbes3021]

@@Digger927 hay is usually in the $40-$50/bale range here. I dont know why, but alot of people here are having trouble selling hay this year and I see many fields not cut.

[@Digger927]

@@ryanforbes3021 That's where it usually runs here in price. None here left uncut but there is a lot for sale at high prices. A lot of people sold their stock lately, the ones in it long term on any scale have their own hay here and were prepared to have plenty on hand. Hay was good here this year just drought around over the country drove the prices up everywhere.

[@ryanforbes3021]

@@Digger927 I see. We've actually had a fairly wet summer. Had a hard time getting 3 or more nice days in a row at times

[@wallacewimmer5191]

👍👍

[@AboveandBeyond44]

😎👍

[@ddubsr5886]

Can someone confirm this is just for his cows and not sheep

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Our sheep don’t eat hay.

[@ddubsr5886]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher ok thank you. That’s what I thought but just wanted to confirm. Still waiting for you to do a video on ideal sheep phenotype. I’ve seen plenty of videos of your on how you like your ideal cow to look but what about your lambs and rams?

[@markrodrigue9503]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher yeah phenotype what breed is that

[@CharlesGann1]

Like a bowl of shredded wheat. As a kid I was sure they were the same.

[@shanengivone3973]

Mr Judy, I noticed both you and Patara are buying hay. I'm not educated enough to understand why neither of you grow your own hay. I'm about to have those darn loggers return to finish their job. I planned on sowing seeds for rotational grazing and other pasture for growing hay to store... I fear being held over a barrel if I can't produce all/most of the food needed for my future animals... and myself. But am I missing something? Please explain why you don't grow your own hay. Blessings!

[@dertythegrower]

He does. In spots he leases, you would need dozens of acres to crop grass to bail. Some if not all smallest of grazers do not have the extra acreage, simple as that. So you buy these, or innovaters grow hydroponic fodder systems using led lights and solar panels to power a shipping container or small barn to do seven day 'seed to sale' fodder systems using seed to start wheatgrass in trays etc. which are done in a week and full of great fodder for many animals from chicken to pig to cow.

[@shanengivone3973]

@@dertythegrower thank you kind Sir!

[@markrodrigue9503]

Might want to hear from Greg I never seen him bale there is a pasture neighboring a farm and he works with the guy to overseed and maybe fertilizer or lime but I think he still buys them from the neighbor

[@markrodrigue9503]

And their somthing about gaining nutrients and fee seeds from buying from someone when you bale your own your not gain any of that extra carbon if you haying on your own pasture I hope Mr Judy gives you an answer

[@bighill6633]

Its cheaper to have someone else do it. If you factor in the fertilizer, equipment, time and space its better to have grazing land that the animals can visit 2,3,4 times a year.

[@kenwinschel5785]

You want some osage orange for your bale logs?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Yes if I can lift them! Osage orange clogs are quite heavy, but they would never rot.

[@johnlaue7981]

He's 100per cent right,been storing t

[@johnlaue7981]

My have that way,for 30yrs,the only downside it takes alitte more room,but it's the only to store hay outside,the hay has to breath or will rot if stack completely together end to end,it works.

[@davemi00]

Kyrsten Sinema & John Thune Are presenting a Senate Bill to Protect Ranchers from animal Fart Legislation…Support them !

[@sabrinahanger328]

You don’t lose a third of the bale.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

In Mid Missouri you do. If you leave them a second year on the ground, you lose half of the bale. When you unroll them in the winter after being stacked on logs, the bale unrolls like it was baled yesterday. No thick clumps to spread out.

[@markrodrigue9503]

Yeah y’all both right the spoiled hay don’t go through the cow but the carbon of the spoiled hay feeds the microbes and worms 🪱 if we in the nitty gritty but the purpose is to feed the cows so the wood is money in the bank 🏦

[@riverflyswatter]

A Lot of dead young wise men. Not to many old fools.

[@bridgescwr6136]

Can I borrow that saying?

[@markrodrigue9503]

More old drunks then old doctors

[@bridgescwr6136]

@@markrodrigue9503 that one too! I luv this channel. Better than the local Farm Monitor

[@annbullen6983]

false christ comes first

[@bridgescwr6136]

No disrespect intended 😤, I thought Christ was a carpenter not a farmer

[@markrodrigue9503]

Huh

[@bridgescwr6136]

@@markrodrigue9503 😃...bad joke...sorry!

[@davemi00]

That’s what my kids eat. 🥣 And make their hats 👒 from too. 👨‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾👩🏼‍🌾