Cubing Alfalfa Hay: Systems, Facilities and Costs

Report Summary: The facilities, equipment and labor requirements needed to cube alfalfa hay were determined. The investigation was primarily concerned with stationary cubing operations, located in humid areas of the country that used dehydrators. Operations in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, California, Utah and Arizona were analyzed. Cubing is a process that compacts small amounts of hay into small rectangular solids, usually 1 .25 in. x 1 .25 in. by 6 in.. There are several reasons for doing this. The compacted hay has a higher bulk density and thus more hay can be stored in a given volume of space. Feed handling, mixing and storing are simplified. Waste of feed by livestock is reduced, and leaf loss that normally occurs during handling of baled hay is minimized. It was determined that a single cuber dehydration/cubing plant would cost about $1.7 million. The annual fixed costs for such a plant would be slightly in excess of $200,000 and the variable costs would be approximately $64 per-ton