Mouldy hay bale

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AWinter

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Would you ask your hay supplier to swap out a bale that you’ve opened and realised it’s mouldy about 3 layers deep on one side?

Rest of the bale might be okay but I didn’t want to destroy it to look.

I’m so tentative about upsetting suppliers as it’s taken me so long to find a decent one.

I’m just not sure what’s reasonable.

It’s green/yellow discoloured kind of mouldy rather than properly white if that makes a difference.
 
I would unwind the bad part, put it to one side and then see if the rest of the bale is OK. If the rest is questionable bale is bad I would very politely send it back. If it is just one small area I would just accept it for having a good supplier.
 
Aspergillus green/blue mould shouldnt be fed to any animal, which most farmers know.

If your supplier is a country store type shop you’re likely to get your money back for just 1 bale, and/or exchange for a better bale.
If supplier is in bulk delivered by farmer, generally just 1 bad (small square) bale isn’t quibbled over, but if the whole supply is mouldy inside, you have grounds for asking for exchange or refund.

I’ve had various suppliers i’ve gone to get the bulk supply from. One farmer had half mouldy bales and half good. We’d throw the visibly blue/green ones to one side and he said “if you’re not buying those you’re not having any” 🤨 We left.
It’s actually written in EU law regarding animal feeds to be suitable for feeding, mould-free.

I’ve been able to exchange haylage bales that are dodgy quality, far easier than exchanging bad hay bales. Picture-proof to email to supplier helps.
 
PurBee said:
Aspergillus green/blue mould shouldnt be fed to any animal, which most farmers know.

If your supplier is a country store type shop you’re likely to get your money back for just 1 bale, and/or exchange for a better bale.
If supplier is in bulk delivered by farmer, generally just 1 bad (small square) bale isn’t quibbled over, but if the whole supply is mouldy inside, you have grounds for asking for exchange or refund.

I’ve had various suppliers i’ve gone to get the bulk supply from. One farmer had half mouldy bales and half good. We’d throw the visibly blue/green ones to one side and he said “if you’re not buying those you’re not having any” 🤨 We left.
It’s actually written in EU law regarding animal feeds to be suitable for feeding, mould-free.

I’ve been able to exchange haylage bales that are dodgy quality, far easier than exchanging bad hay bales. Picture-proof to email to supplier helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks it’s just a local farmer, his bales have all been good apart from one small discoloured strip on the outside where it’s been sat before being collected in I imagine. Really green and fresh inside. This one goes a few inches deep. Not sure about blue/green mould it’s more discoloured like it was perhaps sat in a wet part of the field.

It’s just been such a struggle to find a decent supplier I don’t want him to think I’m difficult, but equally I’d prefer a fresh bale that I’m not worried about. They’re large rounds.
 
AWinter said:
Thanks it’s just a local farmer, his bales have all been good apart from one small discoloured strip on the outside where it’s been sat before being collected in I imagine. Really green and fresh inside. This one goes a few inches deep. Not sure about blue/green mould it’s more discoloured like it was perhaps sat in a wet part of the field.

It’s just been such a struggle to find a decent supplier I don’t want him to think I’m difficult, but equally I’d prefer a fresh bale that I’m not worried about. They’re large rounds.
Click to expand...
large rounds can have that ‘strip’ you describe, where after baling, they’re sat in the field for a while, and have soaked up dew/moisture from the ground (or got rained on).

If most of the rounds are useable and that strip is a minimal amount, and hasnt infected most of the bale, it can be torn off and composted, with the majority used.

That is generally considered part of the pitfalls of rounds. They should be brought in after baling asap, but the barn fire risk is high with some fresh bales, so the tendency to leave then out to heat-up then cool, after baling, tends to be the preferred methodology. The user is left to discard the strip, which is wasted hay, but hopefully just a very small % per round bale.

You’d have a case for the farmer to replace (or give 1 for free next time) it most of it is mouldy/ visually manky.
 
My supplier will take back a bad bale, but I've been a customer for 40 years and buy a lot from him. If I have a bad patch I do unwrap it and see how far the problem goes into the bale, and if just a patch I feed the rest. I don't tend to see bad patches until well into the winter feeding season.

If you fear your supplier will walk away from you and leave you stuck with no forage, I would try to feed what you can from the bale and get another one brought in, you can then show the supplier that you are trying to salvage what you can. He may well offer to take the bad bale away for you.
 
I'd also unwind and see how much you are left with that's useable. I tend to get one bad bale a year where only part of it is usable. I just burn it and accept that the rest of the year it's lovely hay and my supplier never lets me down and is great. I've never asked, so I don't know what they'd say, but I'd hope they'd replace if it was most of the bale.
 
I buy a lot of round bales, off the field if I can, so the ones I am using now have been stood since June. If its very mouldy in the middle of a bale its usually been baled too soon, if it's mouldy in one area in one area, its how its been stored. I have tin sheds and sometimes you get a drip leak unnoticeable until you unwrap the bale, and you can see where the water has tracked through.
I think its down to how much you are going to buy, the cost, and what you think caused it. One year I had to buy in midwinter, it was cheap hay because the outside was weathered to a crisp coat of about four inches, but the inside had no mould at all. Sometimes if there is no where dry to store it it's better left unstacked on it's side in the field.
 
Thanks everyone, the farmer is a very lovely guy I’ve just been stung before with really bad hay and bad responses so I don’t want to rock the boat. I might just mention it to him/show it to him next delivery and see what he says.
 
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