Unrolling round bales is one of the cheapest ways to feed cattle: no feeder to drag around, hay spread in a long ribbon so the timid cows eat too, and a cleaner pickup because the herd isn't standing in one churned-up spot. Plenty of producers feed all winter this way. But two questions trip people up every year — what do you do about the net wrap, and why won't the dang bale unroll all the way?
Here's how unrolling actually works in the field, including the one step you can never skip (pulling the net), how baleage behaves differently than dry hay, and what's going on when a bale balls up and quits unrolling. It's straight from producers who unroll hundreds of bales a season.
Quick answer: You can unroll both dry hay and baleage to feed on the ground. Always pull the net wrap (or twine) off first — leaving it on and letting cattle "ball it up" is how cows die of plastic ingestion, and the net tangles in your unroller besides. Feed only what the herd will clean up in a day so it doesn't get trampled or rained on; baleage especially needs to be eaten fast. Bales that won't unroll the last 20% are usually baled too wet or too dense in the core, and unrolling against the bale's roll direction makes it go farther. How far a bale unrolls is unpredictable — anywhere from 50 to 200+ yards depending on the windrow and crop — so peel layers to ration it.
Why unroll instead of using a feeder?
Unrolling spreads hay in a thin line on the ground, which does a few useful things: every cow gets access (not just the bosses crowding a ring), the herd doesn't stand and foul one spot, and you skip the chore of hauling and cleaning feeders. Producers who switch often report the cattle clean it up better than expected:
"I just started unrolling hay bales in pasture instead of using bale rings all the time. So far so good where the cows are cleaning up the bales really well when unrolled in the morning. They normally have it cleaned up completely by night time."
— 1478, AgTalk · Unrolling baleage
The key is to unroll only what they'll clean up in a day. Put out more than the herd eats and the surplus gets trampled, bedded on, and rained on — which erases the savings. If the weather's about to turn, a couple of bales in rings can carry the herd through a storm without waste. Unrolling and a good bale feeder aren't enemies; a lot of operations use both depending on the day. (If your main goal is cutting feeding waste overall, see our guide to reducing round-bale feeding waste.)
Take the net wrap off first — every single time
This is the part that matters most, and it's where people look for a shortcut they shouldn't take. Yes, getting the net off a bale before you unroll it is a hassle. One south Texas producer summed up why a lot of folks avoid their unroller entirely:
"I don't normally use my unroller because it's such a pain to get the net off ... I find it way easier to cut some string and pull it off than dealing with net when unrolling."
— StxPecans, AgTalk · Unrolling netwrap bales
The tempting shortcut is to leave the net on, cut it, unroll the bale, and let the cows "roll the net into a ball" you pick up later. Don't. The reason shows up in the same conversation, in one blunt sentence:
"Neighbor used to do that. He lost 2 cows one year due to plastic ingestion."
— HuskerJ, AgTalk · Unrolling netwrap bales
Net wrap doesn't break down in a cow's rumen — it balls up and can cause a fatal impaction. Beyond the safety issue, leaving the net to "clean up later" rarely goes to plan in an open pasture:
"It will be chewed on, some missing and some on the other side of the pasture or wrapped around a leg. I also put on alot [of wraps]."
— StxPecans, AgTalk · Unrolling netwrap bales
So pull the net before you feed. A practical rhythm from a Michigan producer: "Most times I unroll the wrap before I open the gate and carry the bale high" so the cattle aren't storming the bale while you're working. Keep a sharp knife or a net-cutting hook on the loader, and have a plan for the wad of net — a lot of guys end up "shoving it in the cab," which is its own mess. Better to stuff it in a feed sack or a mounted bin and deal with it at the end of the run. For the safety side in full, see cattle eating net wrap and how to remove net wrap safely; for what to do with the pile afterward, used net wrap disposal.
Does baleage unroll differently than dry hay?
A little. Baleage (wrapped wet forage) holds together more than crisp dry hay, so producers new to it worry it won't peel off cleanly. The common question:
"Baleage seems to 'stick together' more. I assume it unrolls ok once it gets going. But I have never tried."
— SE Wisconsin producer, AgTalk · Unrolling baleage vs dry hay
In practice it unrolls fine once it's going, with two caveats. First, chopped/cut bales don't unroll — if your baler has a cutter knife system, the forage is in short pieces and there's nothing to peel. As one Missouri producer put it, "if it's not a bale made with a chopping baler, there is no reason you can't unroll a partial bale each day." Second, baleage needs to be eaten fast once it's open to the air, so unroll only a day's worth. A handy trick for the leftover half:
"I took a couple portable panels and made a little pen in a corner of the field to drop the unused half in for the second day so I didn't have to carry it home and back again."
— olivetroad, AgTalk · Unrolling baleage
And of course the plastic film comes off the same way the net does — all the way off, before it reaches the cattle. (New to feeding wrapped forage? Start with our first-time baleage guide.)
Why won't my round bale unroll all the way?
The classic complaint is a bale that unrolls fine until the last 20%, then balls up and quits — leaving a hard core you have to drop off and let the cows pick at. Almost always, the cause is one of three things.
It was baled too wet. Moisture makes the layers cling so they won't separate. The first reply to one "cores won't unroll" thread cut straight to it: "Sounds like it had moisture when baled." Damp hay and a tight core are a bad combination for unrolling.
The core is denser than the rest of the bale. On many balers the first foot or two is packed by spring pressure before the bale chamber takes over, so the center is harder than the outer wraps:
"The first 30 inches or so of the bale density is from the spring and not cylinder ... When I unroll a bale, going a certain way makes a difference. I think that way is opposite of how the bale comes out of the baler."
— StxPecans, AgTalk · Round bale cores won't unroll
Direction matters. That last point is the cheap fix: a bale unrolls more easily against the direction it was rolled in the baler, and feeding it the "wrong" way fights you. If a bale won't go, flip it and try the other way. An unroller-spear combo will also tend to leave a core on the spear; that's normal, and the cows will usually clean up a fist-sized chunk. If a lot of your bales won't hold together to unroll at all, the issue may be upstream at the baler — see round bales not holding shape.
How far will a round bale unroll?
Shorter answer than you'd like: nobody can tell you exactly. It depends on the windrow thickness, the crop, and how the bale was made, and the range producers report is huge — from about 50 yards with a bale bed in grass hay up to 150–200 yards for a fluffier bale. The useful part is that you control it:
"If your doing it by hand you can peel a couple layers off every round and make it go much shorter, or go the opposite direction of the roll and go further."
— cflory, AgTalk · Unrolling a hay bale
So don't try to predict the distance — use it to ration. Peel layers and change direction to lay out exactly enough for the number of cattle you're feeding that day. Match the line length to the herd so every cow gets a spot and there's little left to trample.
The bale itself has to cooperate
Everything above assumes a bale that's well-formed and dry enough to peel. A bale that's baled too wet, wound too loose, or that's lost its shape in storage will fight you no matter how you feed it — and it'll shed net wrap raggedly too. A firm, uniformly wound bale is what unrolls in a clean ribbon, and that starts at the baler: tight, even tension and good net wrap that holds the bale's shape from the field to feed-out. The net's only job out here is to come off in one clean pull before the cattle ever touch the hay — which is exactly why you want wrap that holds firmly on the bale and releases cleanly when you cut it, not net that's already sagging or torn.
If you'd rather not unroll at all in deep winter, the related approach is to pre-place bales and ration them behind a wire — see our bale grazing guide, which covers the same "pull every net and twine" rule on a field scale.
Frequently asked questions
Do you take the net wrap off before unrolling a bale?
Yes — always remove the net wrap (or twine) before unrolling, every time. Leaving it on and letting cattle ball it up risks fatal plastic ingestion (producers report losing cows to it), and the net also tangles in the unroller. Cut and pull the net off first, ideally before you open the gate, and collect it rather than leaving it in the pasture where it gets chewed, lost, or wrapped around a leg.
Can you unroll baleage?
Yes. Baleage holds together a bit more than dry hay but unrolls fine once it's going — unless it was made with a chopping (cutter) baler, in which case the forage is in short pieces and won't peel. Remove the plastic film completely first, unroll only a day's worth because baleage spoils fast once exposed to air, and pen any leftover half to feed the next day.
Why won't my round bale unroll all the way?
Usually it was baled too wet, or the core is denser than the outer layers (on many balers the first foot or two is packed harder by spring pressure). Try unrolling in the opposite direction to the way the bale was rolled in the baler — that alone often fixes it. A small leftover core on an unroller spear is normal; the cattle will clean it up.
How far will a round bale unroll?
It varies a lot — roughly 50 yards with a bale bed in dense grass hay up to 150–200 yards for a fluffier bale — and it can't be predicted precisely because it depends on windrow thickness, crop, and how the bale was made. Use that to your advantage: peel layers and change direction to lay out exactly enough hay for the cattle you're feeding that day.
Is unrolling hay better than a bale feeder?
It depends on conditions. Unrolling spreads hay so every cow gets access and the herd doesn't foul one spot, and it skips hauling feeders — but feed only what they clean up in a day or the surplus gets trampled. Feeders waste less in mud or when you can't get out daily. Many producers use both, unrolling on firm or frozen ground and switching to feeders in wet weather.
This guide is maintained by the XES Netting team — a bale net-wrap manufacturer. Producer comments are quoted verbatim with a thread link so you can read the originals.
Related guides
Featured photo: Dérouleuse portée balles rondes (a tractor-mounted round-bale unroller feeding cattle) by DELRAN, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
