Production Facility
Production Bale Yard
When baled hay first comes into our facility it is stored in the bale yard. At this stage, we verify moisture content and conduct core sample tests to double-check and document each lot’s grade. Hay is stacked in our covered bale barn or under tarps.
Press
This state-of-the-art machine allowing the use of a variety of bale sizes, including 4×4, 3×4, or 3-tie bales. This capability gives Eckenberg Farms the flexibility to procure, hay from farmers, that exactly meets our customers’ needs.
We know uniform and high quality export bales are critically important to our customers. Bales are strapped and cut to the size each customer requires, capturing all stems and leaves inside the bale ensuring no loss in quality even in dry conditions.
There are a number of ways to load export containers including face loading, block and wrapped, depending on bale size and customer needs. Exporting 1000’s of containers each year, we always maximize loading to get the best weight possible.
Cubers
As hay is chopped and compressed into cubes, it passes by many magnets to remove any threat of metal contamination originating in the farm fields. After the product emerges from our custom-built cubers they pass through a metal detector and proceed into coolers, making them ready for storage.