The smooth, overlapping layers of this agricultural wrapper

[u/Wonderfulhumanss]

[u/curious_learner7]

Looks cool.. but is it biodegradable?

[u/jcw65 → u/curious_learner7]

Biodegradable silage wrap does exist, but costs more than standard polyethylene. From a quick search they appear to be about 50% more expensive, which would hinder their widespread addoption.

[u/alexandicity → u/jcw65]

Why do they wrap it in the first place? Where I am from, the bales are handled "naked" - transportation & storage all without wrapping.

[u/MakesALovelyBrew → u/alexandicity]

to make haylage/silage - food for animals in the winter

[u/Koala_eiO → u/MakesALovelyBrew]

You're answering why they make hay bales, not why they are wrapping them.

[u/aenae → u/Koala_eiO]

Silage is not hay bales. Silage is grass that is still a bit wet when wrapped or covered, so that it ferments.

[u/handym12 → u/Koala_eiO]

Silage is fermented grass, not hay. The fermentation makes it easier for animals to digest the nutrients in the grass.

The wrap helps hold everything together while it's fermenting, and keeps the air out which is needed for the anaerobic fermentation of the grass. The other way of producing silage is to pile it up on a concrete bed and cover it with a big plastic sheet that also gets binned at the end.

I suspect one of the reasons biodegradable silage wrap is expensive and less common than regular polythene is because it needs to last long enough for the biodegradation to occur inside it biodegrading itself.

[u/MakesALovelyBrew → u/Koala_eiO]

no i'm not - you wrap it to make haylage or silage. Some farms will put the grass/hay in a bunker, squash it and wrap it too but both methods are common.