Flack Farms, Inc. is home to the only Steffen Bale Converter machine currently in Indiana. Because of this, many people are not familiar with a sliced, soft compressed bale and we often get questions about what the differences are between it and a standard 2-string bale.
The main differences from a consumer standpoint are that the bales of palletized and wrapped so they are much easier to handle with equipment versus bulky, awkward 2-string bales. In addition, because they are compressed, stacked, and wrapped, they take up much less space in a barn or warehouse. Finally, each bale can be inspected for quality by the machine operator as it moves through the machine which produces a much more consistent, uniform product. Poor quality bales are removed immediately from the conveyor.
How the soft compressed bales are NOT different from standard bales is that they still flake off and contain a similar number of slices as the standard bale. And even though the bale is smaller in size, it still contains the same weight of product (or more) as a standard bale. While some producers routinely feed by the “flake”, it is best to feed by WEIGHT of the forage product to assure your animals receive adequate nutrition.
To see a comparison demonstration between a compressed bale of hay and a standard 2-string bale, please click below:
