Producing Quality Oat Hay

Time line
Spontaneous fires in stacked hay do not usually
occur in less than 10 to 14 days after stacking,
and generally require five to 10 weeks. Under
ideal conditions of moisture and high ambient
temperatures ignition has been observed in
six to seven days.
Monitoring - a simple test
The temperature of a stack may be checked by
the use of a ‘temperature probe’, a crow bar or
other piece of steel. The bar should be left in
place and checked regularly (Figure 8.2). A pipe
or tubing should not be used as this may entrain
air into the stack and cause ignition to occur.
Any stack that is known to be heating should be
checked even more regularly to determine if
temperature is rising or falling. If the stack
continues to heat the only solution is to pull it
apart. Water and fire fighting equipment should
always be on hand to extinguish a possible
fire. Bales that have reached a high enough
temperature may spontaneously combust as they
are introduced to a more available oxygen supply.
Figure 8.2 provides information on a simple
method of estimating the temperature of hay in
the stack.
Figure 8.1 Causes of heating in hay – source C Sheaffer & N Martin.
PRODUCING QUALITY OAT HAY
Figure 8.2 Testing the temperature of hay
within the stack – source Victorian Department of
Primary Industries.
81