A pair of Picola farmers has taken out Australia’s first award for heaviest hay bale.
Scott and Diane Baxter's 763kg bale was recognised at the 2021-22 Feed Central National Hay Quality Awards.
To compare, the average hay bale is about 550kg.
The heaviest bale award was introduced this year to recognise the increased importance of optimising hay for transportation and storage.
Feed Central managing director Tim Ford said the award was part of an ongoing campaign to highlight the value of heavy bales.
“We want to continue to draw the industry’s attention to the necessity of heavy bales,” he said.
Mr Ford described heavy bales as “the way of the future”.
“The freight component of the hay transaction continues to rise and the heavier the bale, the lower the per-tonne cost of freight.
“Larger bales improve the efficiencies of shedding because you can store more hay in the same shed, (and gain) on-farm efficiencies with less labour and tractor hours.”
Growers invest considerable money in new machinery to produce these heavier bales, but the trade-off is a saving on freight and more sales.
“The heavier bales are selling first,” Mr Ford said.
“They can be a bit more expensive on an ex-farm basis, but they are cheaper on a delivered basis.”
Another farmer won the award for heaviest straw bale, but they wished to remain anonymous.