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["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw AT chilitech.net>]

> I am told that the huge round bales which are almost
> the only thing used in our community now wind up
> wasting almost a third of the hay.  Though the labor
> is much much less.

The cost, too, is much less than small square bales. I pay $25 for 800-900
pound big round bales, but $3.00-4.50 for a 45 pound small square bale. I
have a beautiful bank barn with a loft, but I can't afford any kind of hay
that I can store in the barn! Last year I put a few big square bales in
there and forked it down, but my tractor can't handle those big bales (I
had to push them into the barn using the tractor, and they got  muddy on
the bottom).

In years past, we cut hay, loaded it loose on a wagon with a hay loader
(an absolutely wonderful contraption), and put it in huge piles in the
barn. The kids loved climbing way up in the rafters and jumping in the
hay.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Peasant Farmer
Tioga County, PA