Hay Terminology
Bleached: Hay that has turned yellow from exposure to sunlight. The integrity of the hay is not lowered if it is fresh.
Blister Beetles: An insect that carries cantharidin in its body fluid. When crushed and consumed by a horse, is deadly.
Bucking hay: When hay bales, usually 65 lb. to as much as 140 lb., are stacked by hand in a storage area such as a barn. The act of throwing the bales up to a higher level is called "bucking."
Cake-y: A hard bale that looks compressed. It is the result of too much moisture during the baling process and too much hay in the bale.
Chaff: The loose hay that falls to the ground after cutting open a bale.
Chemical Conditioners: Chemicals that are sprayed onto the hay to speed evaporation of moisture. Typically used to stop hay from "cooking," maintains color, leaf often falls off stem, which is "woody."
Clean: Free of Weeds, dirt, debris and foreign material.
Colic: Defined as abdominal pain. The most common forms of colic are impactions and gas. Colic is a major cause of premature death. The number one reason for colic in horses is from feeding mature Coastal Bermuda, one of the many types of Bermuda.
Compressed hay: Regular size bales that have been compressed, re-baled, and sliced for efficiency. This is to increase the weight per square foot.
Crop rotation: The practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons to help avoid excessive depletion of soil nutrients.
Dump: Used on loading trucks, for counting hay inventory and when stacking hay roadside. Each dump of hay consists of 68 bales.
Flake: The way a bale splits. There should be about 17 flakes in a three string bale.
Good Color: Hay that is bright to the eye. Judge the inside of a bale color, not the outside. Quality hay can be bleached out on the outside of the bale. When the bale is opened, it will be bright and clean.
Mechanical Hay Conditioner: A machine that crimps and crushes hay to promote faster and more even drying. A crimper/conditioner, breaks the stem and rolls out the moisture from the plant, giving the producer the opportunity to bale their hay sooner because the hay cures quicker.
Herbicide: A chemical used to kill unwanted plants.
Impaction: A blockage caused by non-digestible food.
Insecticides: A chemical used to kill unwanted insects and pests.
Minerals: Elements found in the body that are required for maintenance and function of the skeleton, nerves and muscles. These include calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and chloride. Horses also need trace minerals such as magnesium, selenium, copper, zinc and iodine.
Mold: Mold can be detected by sight; as white spores or a mold dust. Spoiled hay has a disagreeable moldy odor that is created from improper moisture control either during the baling process or from exposure to moisture during storage. Mold is deadly to horses.
Organic farming: A form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation,
green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers & pesticides.
Over mature hay: Hay that is old, or "mature". Over mature hay can mean many things, from the stance of hay to the cutting cycle.
Premium Hay: Safe, green, fresh, and soft, with a fine stem and a excellent stem to leaf ratio. The flake will hold its integrity. It will have a clean aroma and a palatable texture.
Poor Quality Hay: Dry, poor color, over bleached, coarse-stemmed with poor aroma and feel. There is little leaf, heavy stem and the leaf falls off of the stem. It may be moldy, dusty or rotting.
Protein: A macronutrient essential for bodily function.
Rained on hay: Weather damaged hay that is poor in color.
Retail hay: A lighter three string bale sold by the feed store on the west coast. Average bale weight is 82-100 lbs.
Rope-y: Very mature Bermuda hay that has the texture of rope.
Round bales: Hay baled in a round shape weighing approximately 1000lbs. to accommodate the ability to free feed cattle and clean up fields.
Round-Up Ready Alfalfa: Alfalfa that's been genetically modified to tolerate Round-Up. Hay USA DOES NOT carry any Round-Up ready alfalfa.
Safe: Insect free, mold free, disease free, trash free, fresh and clean hay.
Semi Full Load: A semi truck trailer also known as a "full load" of hay. Full loads consist of approximately 22 to 23-1/2 tons.
Silage: Fermented hay for cattle.
Soft: Soft to the touch, not ropey, easy to digest.
Soaking hay: To remove excess sugars for foundered horses. This is to only be done in an emergency situation.
Spontaneous Combustion: When hay catches on fire due to excess
moisture in the bale. Hay must be kept dry in storage or it may rot. Care must be taken that hay stored inside is never exposed to any possible source of heat or flame: both dry hay and the dust it produces are highly flammable.
Squeeze: Is a truck that picks up 56 to 68 bales at a time. The squeeze also loads and off loads semi trucks. A squeeze has two large hydraulic arms that are 10' long that squeeze a dump of hay to be loaded and off loaded.
Stable Hay: Heavy 3-string hay (approx. 120 lbs/bale) usually delivered to the stables and off loaded by a squeeze.
TDN: Total digestible nutrients.
Tender Hay: A younger hay that is, easy to digest and soft to the touch.
Tobacco Cured Hay: Can be brownish in color, it gives a sweet hay, tea, rose oil, or fruity aroma like tobacco, and it looks like tobacco.
Ton: 2000 pounds of hay.
Windrow: A row of cut (mowed) hay that is allowed to dry before being baled or rolled.
Zebra Striped hay: Hay that was left in the wind row and bleached in the sun. It is considered a second grade hay.