The venom of the black widow spider contains poisonous chemicals that make people sick. Black widows are found throughout the United States, mostly in the South and West. They are usually found in barns, sheds, stone walls, fences, woodpiles, porch furniture, and other outdoor structures.
Some types of grass hay, in dry weather conditions or on dry ground, will be much too dry when baled as small bales using the eight to 15 percent moisture (the traditional rule of thumb) as a guide. Some of this grass hay produces the best quality bales when baled at 24 to 30 percent moisture.
When we baled orchardgrass at 17% moisture, mold counts were similar to unwrapped hay baled at 21 and 33% moisture. Based on these findings, we conclude that orchardgrass packaged in large round bales is susceptible to molding and forage quality losses at relatively low moisture concentrations.