SUNUP's Clinton Griffiths talks with OSU Extension forage specialist Daren Redfearn about the dangers of hay fires and how to avoid them with the use of proper harvesting and stacking techniques.
Today, July 10/23, a large barn full of hay burned down near Exeter, ON. Firefighters from various fire departments were put to work to extinguish the fire. I think you explained why it caught fire, something I always wondered.
One reason you might harvest hay that is wet is because of a draught early in the year that put you behind in the amount of hay you need. After the draught the last cutting is really good because good rain fall but now temp is falling it takes longer for to dry out and you cant get 4 days without rain. That’s happening now in east Texas. Keep the hay seperated and away from rest of hay for 6 weeks and it should all be good. Feed that hay first when feeding hay starts
One way to avoid these fires is when stacking bails, place the bails about 6" apart from each other this allows air flow through the bail stack, and causes the hay to dry faster. Another trick is to stack hay on top of wood palates. This reduced the influx of mould up into the bail stack, and helps prevent the buildup of mould, and heat. If rain is eminant a tarp will help prevent the rain from getting into the bail stack as well. However when the rain has passed, take the tarp off to allow faster drying.
When i was a little kid walking home from school. I walked by an old house with crab grass and I saw the grass spontaneously catch fire. Some random dude stopped his car and put the fire out but I never even knew that was possible.
had a farmer down the road lose a barn to hay fire a few years back. most of the time this sort of thing happens is because the farmer is impatient, a storm is coming and you need to get that hay off the ground asap, or they bail too late into the evening and the moisture in the air goes up but they keep bailing. "make hay while the sun shines" man have I listened to a lot of farmers say that over the years its true tho
Why not have an area that is covered where you would dry the hay out? Even have levels where the wet and dry hay are separated? Kind of how people dry meats & lumber? They don't mix it all together, or the middle would take a long time to dry. Spread it out, so you are not mixing wet & dry together?
