Our Hay Formats and Types - Canada
Bale Formats
We offer a range of bale formats to cater to the diverse needs of our customers. The hay we harvest and purchase from our many suppliers is always in large square bales. The hay is dried and stored in this format. We can then change the bale format if a customer requires it. All our hay lots are therefore available in all our formats.
Large Square Bales
Depending on the hay lots, we have two sizes of large square bales. There are 3’ x 3’ x 4’ bales that weigh around 800 pounds, and 3’ x 4’ x 8’ bales that weigh around 1,200 pounds. The exact weight of each large bale may vary slightly depending on the lot, but these are the average weights. These bales must be moved using a tractor.
Compacted Bales
What sets us apart from other hay suppliers is that we use a compactor to produce smaller, easier-to-handle bales without compromising the quality or integrity of the flakes. This compactor allows us to cut the large bales into smaller ones that are stacked on pallets, making handling much simpler. In addition, compacted small bales are smaller and denser than standard small bales, which optimizes both transport and storage.
40-Pound Bales — Our Most Popular Format!
This compacted bale format is the most popular because each compacted bale contains the same amount of hay as a standard small bale, while taking up about half the space. Since there’s the same quantity of hay in each bale, it’s easy for customers to determine how many they’ll need. The number of bales remains the same, but the overall volume is smaller because compacted bales are much denser. This means you can fit nearly twice as many compacted bales in the same space as standard ones.
60-Pound Bales
This compacted bale format is less popular since the bales are heavier and more challenging to handle. Just like the 40-pound bales, these are placed on pallets for easy transport and storage.
30-Pound Bales
This format of compacted bales is less popular because they are very small bales, which means there are more bales to move in order to have the same amount of hay. Just like the 40-pound bales, these bales are placed on pallets for transport and storage.
Standard Small Square Bales
We have a system that allows us to disassemble large bales and repress the hay into standard, small square bales. Since the flakes from the large bale are broken up before being repressed, the hay is very short, and the flakes don’t hold together well, which makes handling more difficult. In general, this process isn’t very popular with our customers, which is why we’ve invested in a compactor to avoid the drawbacks of repressed hay.
However, we can produce small straw bales — and those are very popular!
Pallet Formats
Compacted bales are stacked on pallets to facilitate easier handling and transportation. The pallets are approximately 4 feet wide by 4 feet long. Different pallet heights can be made according to customer needs. Each row on a pallet holds six bales. Here are the pallet options we offer:
- 18 bales: approx. 3.5’ high, around 800 pounds
- 24 bales: approx. 4.5’ high, around 1,000 pounds
- 30 bales: approx. 5.5’ high, around 1,200 pounds
- 36 bales: approx. 6.5’ high, around 1,500 pounds
- 42 bales: approx. 7.5’ high, around 1,800 pounds
