How Compressed Forage Bales Can Help Your Feeding Program

November 6, 2018

Have you seen Standlee Premium Western Forage’s Premium Alfalfa Grab & Go Compressed Bales in your local feed store? They’re wrapped in plastic and might look a bit smaller than your average hay bale, but if you pick one of these bales up, you’ll quickly find they’re plenty dense. In fact, we create these bales by compressing a 4’x4’x8’ bale into a size that’s much more convenient.

What are the benefits of choosing a compressed bale over traditional forage bales? Here’s how our compressed bales can help in a number of different situations.

Combat Rising Forage Prices

The price of forage continues to rise, and in some areas of the country, like California, you may be paying $20 or more per bale. Some alternatives, like coastal forage, may not be the healthiest option for your horse, leaving you with few choices.

Our compressed bales give you a practical, affordable alternative. You can supplement or entirely replace your forage with these bales, so if there’s a forage shortage or the prices get to be too much for you, you’re still able to provide your horse with a reliable, quality source of forage.

Take Along on Trips

Heading to a horse show? A camping trip? A competitive trail ride? Our compressed bales are easy to take along. Not only can you fit more forage in a smaller area than you can with traditional bales, but you’ll find that the fact that the bales are wrapped means you can store them just about anywhere – including in your trailer’s dressing room – without worry of getting forage everywhere.

When it comes to loading and unloading these bales, the handle that’s incorporated right into the exterior cover makes lifting the bales easy. No forage strings to cut into the palms of your hands, especially when you’re loading and unloading multiple bales.

Stock Up With Limited Storage

Are you working with a barn that has limited storage space for forage? If you’re tired of bringing home a new load of forage every week because you only have so much room, a compressed bale may be the perfect alternative.

Because we’ve fit a 4’x4’x8’ bale into a much smaller package, you can fit more forage into your barn, which means fewer trips to the feed store and valuable time savings for you. You won’t have to constantly worry about your forage supply, and because the bales are wrapped, you won’t have loose forage getting all over your barn if your storage area backs up to other spaces. The covers also help to keep the forage protected from dust, fly spray, and anything else that may get kicked up in your barn, so your horses can enjoy fresh forage when you unwrap the bales.

Feeding Compressed Bales

Think our compressed bales are right for you? Before you feed them out, please take a look at these tips:

• Be sure to weigh each portion out – because these bales are compressed, it’s easy to feed more forage than your horse has been receiving.
• Cut the bale bands 7 to 10 hours before you feed so the forage can expand – this helps to reduce the chance of overfeeding your horse.
• Like all feed changes, gradually introduce our compressed forage during a 7 to 10 day period.

Whether you’re dealing with a forage shortage, are looking for an option that’s convenient for travel, or are working with limited forage storage space in your barn, our compressed bales can help with any number of different situations. Give them a try and let us know what you think!