Straw on lorries getting wet What happens to it!

charliesarmy

charliesarmy

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Whilst stuck on the M-way in horrendous rain conditions..two lorries with trailers passed me on the other carriageway both stacked high with the big (heston) straw bales they were not tarped..so obviously getting soaked,what happens to it surely its ruined??

See how bored I was in that traffic!!!:eek:
 
charliesarmy said:
Whilst stuck on the M-way in horrendous rain conditions..two lorries with trailers passed me on the other carriageway both stacked high with the big (heston) straw bales they were not tarped..so obviously getting soaked,what happens to it surely its ruined??

See how bored I was in that traffic!!!:eek:
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I think it would be only the outer bales that were ruined, and if they are going to be used for cattle I'm sure the farmer wouldn't be too concerned if the straw gets eventual mould spores living in it, after all his livestock presumably won't be around long enough to see the effects of COPD as they will be burgers and steaks and the like!:(
 
It could well end up in horse feed, so not only will it have been sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, it will have deisel fumes from the road.

I imagine that the rain will be the least of the 'nasties' that will end up in the feed
 
HelsB said:
It could well end up in horse feed, so not only will it have been sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, it will have deisel fumes from the road.

I imagine that the rain will be the least of the 'nasties' that will end up in the feed
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haha maybe thats what they are doing "washing it" :D
 
in big bales, the rain cant penetrate into the bales due to its density and the formation of of fibres so only the outside will be wet.
 
A lot of the big bale straw you see stacked up outside exposed to the elements, and transported about, goes for biofuel, so it doesn't really matter that it gets wet.

As others have said, farmers are less fussy about damp straw being used for cows etc - they don't go in and fluff it up like we do, they just throw slabs in and it gets eaten/trodden in, so a bit of damp/mould does not seem to matter. Also, as sheep and cows have different digestive systems to horses, they are less prone to mould causing digestive problems.
 
applecart14 said:
I think it would be only the outer bales that were ruined, and if they are going to be used for cattle I'm sure the farmer wouldn't be too concerned if the straw gets eventual mould spores living in it, after all his livestock presumably won't be around long enough to see the effects of COPD as they will be burgers and steaks and the like!:(
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ha, you presume wrong!!
 
Being on a livery yard that is attached to a farm we have bales that get wet either from the bottom or top. The inside ones are generally fine.

Depending we will use the dry half or ask them to swap the whole bale for another in which case I think it goes off to the cows.

Applecart14 Lambs and some calves will go off to be meat but some cows are used for milk and the breeding stock will be used for several years.
 
applecart14 said:
I think it would be only the outer bales that were ruined, and if they are going to be used for cattle I'm sure the farmer wouldn't be too concerned if the straw gets eventual mould spores living in it, after all his livestock presumably won't be around long enough to see the effects of COPD as they will be burgers and steaks and the like!:(
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Very stupid comment, pretty good example of how ignorant horse people can be.
Our straw for our dairy farm has been brought 70miles from my OH's arable farm. It has been rained on during the journey.
Mouldy straw is a result of it lying unbaled in rows in a field to get wet, and baled afterwards- straw bales will take many months stood out to the elements before it moulds- that is why it makes such a good temp wall for beet pads.
Once straw has been baled it will withstand a fair amount of rain. Farmers store it under cover to preserve it, and so it isn't wet for livestock.
Asides from the obvious welfare regulations in place on farms, farmers generally like to have a good standard of health among herds.
 
christi said:
I have also seen many many round bales of straw lying about in fields soaking wet.

i often wonder why hay and straw suppliers dont use truck with curtains !
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I am looking out at over 100 big round bales made in good weather but still sitting on the field seems a waste and risk to farmers health as well when they open bales with spores on the outside
 
criso said:
Applecart14 Lambs and some calves will go off to be meat but some cows are used for milk and the breeding stock will be used for several years.
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Ditto this, the farm where i keep some of my horses had one of their cows die of old age, i think she was late teens early 20's, she had bred them a calf every year as well!
 
All my father in laws straw (less the few hundred little bales i have) is sold to a local contractor who comes in bales it and then transports it to power stations as fuel... its becoming big business in my area there are vast amounts stack up in fields awaiting collection near me... we often see many stack fires to!!
 
sammiea said:
All my father in laws straw (less the few hundred little bales i have) is sold to a local contractor who comes in bales it and then transports it to power stations as fuel... its becoming big business in my area there are vast amounts stack up in fields awaiting collection near me... we often see many stack fires to!!
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That is why we get ours from OHs now- we used to buy from Doncaster, the fields backed onto a very rough estate and we lost a lot of bales to fire- pretty pointless thing to do, surely?
 
You would think it was pointless but obviously the "runaway thugs" think its a "good game" last year it was a stack near the bottom of in laws track down to the farm, lane was closed for 3days due to fire, smoke then road damage from the fire grrr glad to see that this year there is no stack in this location!!
 
applecart14 said:
Really. Surely they won't be round long enough to worry about though??? I'm not a vegetarian by the way, I love my lamb chops and steaks.

I wasn't trying to be offensive to farmers by the way, surely that's the way of the world.
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our beef cattle are not fed straw but silage,but more importantly some of our " girls" areover 10 years old, they are still throwing excellent calves with no trouble, so i did find your comment a touch offensive and naive- sorry!
 
I'll tell ya what happens - or at least what happened to me the other day!!!


I was following a straw wagon for a few miles and it was windy and rainy....and when I got out of the car and looked at it.....it resembled a straw bed!!! the whole front of my car was completely plastered with bits of straw! LOL
 
RunToEarth said:
Very stupid comment, pretty good example of how ignorant horse people can be.
Our straw for our dairy farm has been brought 70miles from my OH's arable farm. It has been rained on during the journey.
Mouldy straw is a result of it lying unbaled in rows in a field to get wet, and baled afterwards- straw bales will take many months stood out to the elements before it moulds- that is why it makes such a good temp wall for beet pads.
Once straw has been baled it will withstand a fair amount of rain. Farmers store it under cover to preserve it, and so it isn't wet for livestock.
Asides from the obvious welfare regulations in place on farms, farmers generally like to have a good standard of health among herds.
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As for you RTE, well you are just down right rude. I wasn't intended to be a stupid comment nor was I being 'ignorant' but I did think it was an accurate assumption. I may not have been 'brought up on a farm' but I am aware that certain animals are kept and not used for meat. My gosh some people like to hurl the nasty comments don't they?? I don't quite think it was necessary for your comments to be quite so horrid.
 
rosiefronfelen said:
why,i find your comments ignorant and insulting to farmers, thats how strange!
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For goodness sakes grow up:p

By the time the mould spores have grown enough to cause upper respiratory problems in livestock they will be deceased. What on earth is rude about that comment??? It never even crossed my mind that it would be construed as 'insulting to farmers'. I was just making what I thought was a valid contribution to the debate.

Why do people insist on making more of things on this forum?????
 
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ac14-I am curious as to why you are offended you have been corrected? It is actually not a huge proportion that ' aren't around long enough' as you have the bulls and cows to breed to beef stock, then of course dairy stock are kept on past 2 years or so until they are no longer productive enough.
Nevermind that unhealthy cows from respiratory disease from being near mouldy straw will not have a good feed gain ratio so will not be profitable to farmers.
 
applecart14 said:
For goodness sakes grow up:p

By the time the mould spores have grown enough to cause upper respiratory problems in livestock they will be deceased. What on earth is rude about that comment??? It never even crossed my mind that it would be construed as 'insulting to farmers'. I was just making what I thought was a valid contribution to the debate.

Why do people insist on making more of things on this forum?????
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your initial post was insulting, no 2 ways about it, we do not feed our cattle straw anyway.
 
rosiefronfelen said:
your initial post was insulting, no 2 ways about it, we do not feed our cattle straw anyway.
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Okay, okay I stand to be corrected.

On behalf of everyone whom I have offended I apologise unreserverably. I do recognise that I am not God, nor am I the font of all knowledge. I do get things wrong from time to time even though I don't think I should be shot down in flames for it.

Now am I forgiven???? Please????:(
 
applecart14 said:
Okay, okay I stand to be corrected.

On behalf of everyone whom I have offended I apologise unreserverably. I do recognise that I am not God, nor am I the font of all knowledge. I do get things wrong from time to time even though I don't think I should be shot down in flames for it.

Now am I forgiven???? Please????:(
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yep fine, no probs- i dont think you would like to chew steaks off our girls unless you have extra strong teeth! xx
 
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