5 Hay Bale Wrap Types For Hobby Farms On a Homestead Budget

You’ve spent weeks growing, cutting, and raking your hay, and now the baler is finally rolling through the field. That feeling of turning a field of grass into dense, storable winter feed is one of the most satisfying parts of homesteading. But the job isn’t done until those bales are secured, and the simple choice of what you use to tie them has a bigger impact than you might think. It directly affects your feed quality, your wallet, and the amount of work you’ll be doing later.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Why Your Bale Wrap Choice Matters on the Homestead

Choosing a bale wrap isn’t just about keeping hay in a tidy package. It’s your first line of defense against the elements and the primary tool for preserving the nutritional value you worked so hard to create. A poorly protected bale is a moldy, spoiled bale, which means wasted money, wasted effort, and potentially sick livestock.

Your storage situation is the single most important factor. Are your bales going straight into a dry, well-ventilated barn? Or will they be sitting outside under a tarp, exposed to rain, snow, and sun? A bale stored indoors can get away with minimal wrapping, while a bale stored outdoors needs a virtual raincoat to prevent moisture from wicking in and starting the process of decay.

Finally, think about your end use and your own time. Making high-moisture baleage requires a completely different approach than storing dry hay. Likewise, some wraps save you time in the field but require more cleanup later. Every choice is a tradeoff between cost, convenience, and the ultimate quality of your forage.

Sisal Baler Twine: The Natural, Biodegradable Pick

Sisal is the traditional, old-school choice for a reason. Made from the fibers of the agave plant, it’s a 100% natural and biodegradable material. This is its greatest strength on a homestead. When you’re feeding out bales in the pasture, you don’t have to stress about finding every last scrap of twine, as it will eventually break down and return to the soil.

The major tradeoff with sisal is its vulnerability to the elements. It will rot if it stays wet for too long, which can cause bales to lose their shape or even fall apart in storage. This makes it an ideal choice for hay that will be stored indoors, completely protected from rain and ground moisture. It’s not the right pick for bales you plan to leave stacked at the edge of a field.

Keep in mind that sisal is also less resistant to rodents than its plastic counterparts. Mice and other critters can chew through it, leading to loose bales in the barn. Despite these limitations, for the homesteader with a good barn and a focus on natural materials, sisal is a fantastic, environmentally sound option for small square bales.

Polypropylene Twine for All-Weather Durability

When you need strength and weather resistance on a budget, polypropylene twine is the answer. This plastic twine is impervious to rot, making it far superior to sisal for any bales that might be exposed to moisture. It’s also significantly stronger and has a uniform consistency, which means fewer frustrating breaks and reties during the baling process.

The durability of poly twine comes with a critical responsibility: it does not biodegrade. You must be diligent about collecting and disposing of every single piece. If left in the field, it can be ingested by livestock, leading to severe digestive problems, or get tangled in equipment for years to come. This cleanup is a non-negotiable part of using plastic twine.

Poly twine is sold in various tensile strengths, so you can match it to your needs. A lighter weight is fine for small square bales, while small round bales will require a heavier, stronger twine to hold them together securely. It’s an affordable, reliable workhorse, provided you commit to responsible management.

Pritchett Net Wrap for Tighter, Weatherproof Bales

Net wrap represents a significant step up from twine for round bales. Instead of just a few strands holding the bale, a wide sheet of plastic netting is wrapped around the entire circumference. This creates a tight, dense package that holds its shape exceptionally well and does a much better job of shedding rainwater.

The practical benefits are huge. Baling is much faster, as it only takes 2-3 turns to wrap a bale with net versus 15-20 turns for twine. This saves significant time, fuel, and wear on your baler. The resulting bales are also easier to handle with a tractor spear and are far more resilient to being moved around, with less sagging and hay loss.

Of course, there are downsides. Your baler must be equipped to handle net wrap, and the initial cost per roll is higher than twine. Like poly twine, it’s a plastic product that requires careful removal and disposal. However, if you store many round bales outside, the dramatic reduction in spoilage from weather exposure can easily make net wrap the more economical choice in the long run.

Sunfilm Gold Stretch Film for Small-Scale Baleage

Stretch film is a completely different tool for a different job. This isn’t for dry hay; it’s for making "baleage" or "silage bales," where hay is baled at a higher moisture content (40-60%) and fermented. Sunfilm Gold is a high-quality stretch film designed to create an airtight seal around the bale, locking out oxygen and allowing beneficial bacteria to ferment the forage.

The process involves wrapping the bale with multiple layers of the film, which is tacky and sticks to itself to form a perfect seal. This anaerobic environment preserves the feed with minimal nutrient loss and results in a highly palatable, digestible feed that is excellent for dairy animals or finishing livestock. It’s a way to capture peak forage quality without waiting for a perfect hay-drying weather window.

Making baleage is a more advanced technique. It requires a bale wrapper, which is an additional piece of equipment, and careful handling to avoid puncturing the plastic seal. For homesteaders looking to maximize the nutritional value of their forage and gain more control over their harvest timing, investing in a system for making small-scale baleage can be a game-changer.

SiloFlex Bale Wrap for High Puncture Resistance

Within the world of stretch film, some are tougher than others. SiloFlex is a brand known for its exceptional strength and resistance to punctures. This becomes incredibly important when you’re baling coarser forages like first-cutting hay, millet, or sorghum-sudan, which have stiff, sharp stems that can easily poke through a standard film.

A tiny hole is all it takes to ruin a bale of silage. Oxygen gets in, mold grows, and the entire bale can be lost. Choosing a high-puncture-resistance film is cheap insurance. It protects your investment of time and resources against accidental damage from sharp stubble in the field, sticks in the storage area, or even birds pecking at the bales.

While it might cost slightly more per roll, the added security can be well worth it. If you’ve ever lost bales to spoilage because of a few small, unnoticed holes, you understand the value of a tougher wrap. For anyone making baleage with less-than-perfectly-soft forage, a robust film like SiloFlex is a smart move.

Comparing Costs: Twine vs. Net Wrap vs. Film

Looking purely at the price tag on a roll, twine is the clear winner for the lowest upfront cost. For a few dozen small square bales stored in a barn, it’s almost always the most economical choice. The low material cost and minimal equipment requirements make it the default for many small-scale operations.

The calculation changes with round bales stored outside. While a roll of net wrap is more expensive than a roll of twine, it can dramatically reduce storage losses. If net wrap prevents 15% spoilage on a bale worth $40, it has saved you $6. Multiply that by your total number of bales, and the net wrap often pays for itself by saving more hay than it costs. You’re trading a higher material cost for a lower loss of finished product.

Stretch film for baleage is in its own category. The cost per bale is the highest, as you’re applying multiple layers of a specialized product. The economic justification isn’t about preventing spoilage of dry hay, but about the increased value of the high-moisture, fermented feed you create. You’re investing in a premium feed product, and the cost of the wrap is simply part of that production process.

Proper Wrap Storage to Maximize Your Investment

Your baling supplies are a valuable input, so protect them. All types of wrap—sisal, poly, net, and film—degrade when stored improperly. The ideal storage location is a cool, dark, and dry place, like a corner of the shop or an enclosed shed, away from direct sunlight and moisture.

UV radiation from the sun is the number one enemy of any plastic-based wrap. A roll of net wrap or twine left sitting in the sun for a season will become brittle and weak, leading to constant, frustrating breaks in the baler. Keep rolls in their original packaging or covered with a tarp to shield them from sunlight.

Rodents are another significant threat. Mice will happily chew sisal for nesting material and will shred plastic wraps just as easily, rendering a roll useless. Storing your supplies on a pallet or shelf off the ground is a simple and effective way to deter them. A little care in the off-season ensures your wrap will perform as expected when you need it most.

Ultimately, there is no single "best" bale wrap; there is only the best wrap for your farm, your budget, and your goals. By matching your choice to your storage capacity, equipment, and livestock needs, you do more than just tie up hay. You protect the valuable resource you’ve worked all season to create.