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mold issue- on hay bales

9.3K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  Gearclash  
not sure where to post this...
i am in oregon and it does rain alot.
i have a 30x30 pole barn. three sides fully enclosed. front side is 1/3 for the horse run in,1/3 for the hay area and 1/3 for the tractor. the tractor area has a garage door and the horse area is open. the roof has a vapor barrier. and had gutters.

I store the hay in the middle on pallets, plywood walls. I have such a bad mold problem its terrible. i bought the hay late summer. $23 a bale so not cheap hay at all. what am i doing wrong? my horse coliced from the hay. i pull off the mold on the sides so i am wasting a lot of hay. the floor is gravel.

they hay starts with smelling like mold then the sides get a dusty mold then it turns to green mold. I might as well just leave the hay outside under a tarp, thats preety much what would happen.
i do not have power n the barn, but someone suggested a fan since i dont have any air flow other then the front of the barn. the back is the weather side so we didnt want to put any windows or doors on that side.

also how can i clean the floor of mold spores? i am cleaning out what is left tomorrow and getting more hay sunday. I was so hoping to be able to store hay all winter since this spring is going to be hard to find hay here.

Some possibilities:

1) You're buying wet hay---Don't! Get a moisture tester and check before unloading.
2) You're open face of the shed is facing the predominant direction for the rain/wind. Hang a tarp on the open face to prevent rain from getting blown onto the hay.
3) Condensation from the roof is dripping onto the hay stack. Hang a drip tarp (a tarp with a center drain) over the hay stack.

The "green" mold is not something I familiar with. But that could be a regional thing.

You cannot disinfect dirt.but you can make it inhabitable by putting down stuff like limestone which changes the PH.

Hope this helps.

Ralph