The Big Boss: Bale With Confidence

HayBoss and AGCO Hay Preservative

“There are only a few things we can control,” says hay grower Brett Bunker about farming. “So anything I can do to give me an advantage, I need to do it.”

Bunker says he gets that edge with AGCO Buffered Acid Hay Preservative and his HayBoss G2, a precision monitoring and automatic preservative application system. Both help guarantee his hay quality by dealing with moisture levels in his bales. They also help him maintain his growing cycle of four crops a year on the 1,000 acres near Delta, Utah, where he and his family grow alfalfa to sell to dairy farmers.

For example, he says, because he uses the HayBoss and AGCO Hay Preservative, “If I get too much dew overnight, I can still bale and get my hay out of the field with a little higher moisture. Or if I need to bale before a rain and push it a little bit, I can do that instead of letting the storm hit, then letting it dry back down again.

“The quicker I can get hay off the field,” adds Bunker, “the better the hay and the quicker I can get growing on the next crop. [HayBoss] can save me anywhere from a half a day to even on the outside of five days.”

“Often, the producer can’t wait for things like the dew to dry, and we understand that,” says Jeff Roberts, president of Harvest Tec, the company that manufactures HayBoss and AGCO Buffered Acid Hay Preservative, and markets them through AGCO Parts. “The main benefit with HayBoss and the preservative is that extended operating window, by raising the level of moisture at which hay can be baled.”

Roberts adds that HayBoss provides the producer peace of mind. Its moisture monitoring and application offer an accuracy unmatched in the industry, and they work seamlessly with Hesston balers. That’s because, says Roberts, “we work with the engineering department at Hesston to incorporate HayBoss into the designs of their balers.

“The AGCO Buffered Acid Hay Preservative is also made with the same care and consistency. That makes it far more reliable than other brands and totally safe for animals, the environment, the operators and their equipment.

“With HayBoss,” Roberts continues, “the grower gains confidence that their window is expanded into the upper ranges … as high as 27% moisture for large square balers and slightly higher for round and small square bales. That,” he adds, “has the potential to be a good contributor to overall profitability.”

Bunker agrees. So does the one customer for his bales. “This is the eighth year he’s bought all of our hay,” says Bunker. “He told me recently, ‘Everything you grow, you send it to me.’

“How’s that for confidence?” Bunker asks, then adds about the HayBoss system, “I won’t have a baler that doesn’t have it.”

<< Read more about baling tips and other advice on producing quality hay.