It used to be that round baler performance was measured by the number of bales you could crank out in a day. Not anymore.

As many hay producers and operators know, one of the most challenging aspects of baling hay is determining its quality and relative feed value (RFV). The feed value of hay crops like alfalfa can vary tremendously, making it difficult to determine the amount of hay needed in a balanced ration to be fed to livestock.

It’s easy to sidestep the time necessary for it, but scheduled maintenance is an essential part of keeping your round baler working at top performance with minimal downtime. The people who designed your baler have included numerous features to save time.

A major challenge for today’s hay producer has been to identify and deal effectively with variations in moisture and hay quality. For the feeder of the hay, the challenge is to identify hay quality in order to mix accurate and balanced rations. For the producer, the challenge is to maintain consistency in quality for customers.

Three types of bale wrappings are used with large round bales – twine, net wrap and plastic wrap.