about us
The Bale Blanket was designed by and for small ranch owners who needed an easy way to protect their hay without special equipment or barns. The Bale Blanket™ was created to be the most cost effective, easiest way for small ranchers have their outside hay preserved like barn-kept hay -- but without the barn.
meet our founder
Our founder Hannah, a small ranch owner in Texas, started out by purchasing round bales in small quantities of 3-10 bales at a time and didn't have a way of lifting the bales (no large tractor or bobcat), typical of many small acreage owners.
Therefore, she struggled with covering her round bales in a way that was simple and fast for her to do on her own.
While she lives in Texas, she used to live in Minnesota with her horses, so is familiar with both what sun and heat as well as cold and snow do to uncovered hay.
sleeves and tarps didn't stay on
sleeves had limited success (blowing off small bales and not able to go on larger ones) and taping, stapling, or securing tarps to the ground or to bales with ropes had limited success and was time consuming.
beginnings of the bale blanket
After one of the worst droughts in decades, hay prices tripled in Texas. The drought was then immediately followed by historic rains, with some locations receiving over 15" of rain in two weeks. The torrential rain and flooding ruined over $1000 of Hannah's uncovered hay.
She didn't have any tractor or way to lift the bales to get on a bale sleeve, and had not had success trying to "staple" tarps into the bale or into the ground -- the high winds ripped them out.
During the next sudden rainstorm, Hannah -- at night, in the wind, and in the rain -- tried to use a tarp and concrete pieces to cover the remaining hay but was not able to get the tarps to stay or adequately cover her bales.
Frustrated, as soon as she got inside, she went online to find a simple round bale cover with a drawstring she could buy in bulk to cover her hay. However, she wasn't able to find any.
So she decided to make her own.
years of work, in one design
3 countries, over 30 suppliers, over half a dozen prototypes, nearly two years of work. That's what went into the Bale Blanket.
how we are different
Hannah quickly realized there was nothing out there for people buying hay in small quantities. There were hay covers for ranchers storing dozens or hundreds of round bales with large tractors and special equipment, but none for small ranch owners who only had 1-10 bales at a time and no barns, tractors, or help.
The solution needed to be easy, fast, affordable, and effective, while being flexible enough to be used on round bales of various sizes (or even half eaten!).
Enter, the Bale Blanket™.