Newells Contracting: A Full Hay Outfit Based Around Forbes NSW

Newells Contracting is based around Forbes in the Central West of New South Wales.

Forbes sits on the Newell Highway and right in a mixed-farming region where cropping, livestock, hay and transport all overlap.

Cal and the crew are not simply running a baler around chasing windrows.

They have built a full hay operation.

That means the grower can potentially use Newells for one part of the job or have the crew handle the process from standing crop through to bales stacked and ready to move.

That was the story we started telling in EP14.

EP22 lets us get closer to the final part of that system.

The baler.

The Massey Ferguson 2270 XD: Cal’s Large Square Baler

I asked Cal to give me the simple walkthrough.

This is a Massey Ferguson 2270 XD.

The crop comes through the pickup and into the pre-compression area.

Material builds until a complete flake has formed.

The stuffer then transfers that material into the main bale chamber, where the plunger compresses it into the bale.

Cal refers to those compressed sections as biscuits.

Massey Ferguson generally refers to them as flakes.

Either way, they are the individual compressed sections that eventually make up the complete large square bale.

And this is where I started going down my first baler rabbit hole.

What does XD actually mean?

Dillon Learning Mission: How Does a Large Square Baler Actually Work?

Righto.

For the people who already know balers, bear with me.

For everybody else, this is how I now understand it.

That is obviously the simple version.

There is plenty more happening mechanically.

But now when Cal says the stuffer fills, trips and sends the biscuit into the chamber, I actually know what he is talking about.

What Does XD Mean, and Why Does Bale Density Matter?

The XD in MF 2270 XD means Extra Density.

According to Massey Ferguson, the 2270 XD can produce bales containing up to roughly 20% more material than a standard 2270 while keeping the same 1.2m by 0.9m bale cross-section.

Same general bale dimensions.

More material packed inside.

That matters because baling is not only about making bales.

The bales then have to be:

• picked up;
• stacked;
• stored;
• loaded;
• transported;
• and often handled again at the destination.

If you can safely put more tonnes into fewer bales, there can be efficiencies right through the rest of that chain.

Want to Know What Contract Hay Baling Costs?

If you landed here because you are also trying to understand hay baling costs, we have a separate guide covering the common ways contract baling is priced.

Per bale.

Per hour.

Per hectare.

Different jobs suit different pricing structures.

That article is a guide based on what Broadacre sees across the contracting market.

It is not Broadacre setting an industry rate.

Hay Bale Moisture: Why Cal Likes 12–13% in Large Squares

I asked Cal where he wants moisture when baling.

His answer was around 12–13% as the sweet spot, while keeping the hay comfortably below the higher moisture levels that create storage problems.

This was one of those things I knew in broad terms.

Wet hay can heat.

Wet hay can burn.

But I had never really stopped and asked why.

So I went searching.

Agriculture Victoria recommends roughly 12–14% moisture for large square hay intended for safe storage.

That recommendation makes sense when you remember just how dense a large square bale is.

The denser the package, the harder it is for heat and moisture to escape.

If hay is baled too wet, microbial activity and later chemical reactions can build heat inside the bale and stack.

That can reduce feed quality, encourage mould and, in serious situations, create a spontaneous-combustion risk.

It is worth saying clearly that moisture is not one universal magic number.

Bale size, density, crop type, preservatives, weather conditions and storage all matter.

But large square bales give you less room for error than a loose, small bale.

That is why measuring moisture while baling is so useful.

How a Moisture Marker Helps Identify Wet Bales

Cal then showed me the moisture and marker setup.

This is one of those bits of technology that immediately makes sense once somebody explains the purpose.

A moisture-sensing system monitors hay as the bale is being formed.

Depending on the system fitted, large square balers can use chamber-mounted star-wheel sensors or microwave sensing technology to measure moisture.

A compatible dye-marker system can then be configured to visibly mark a bale when the measured moisture exceeds the operator’s selected threshold.

The marker has already identified it.

That bale can then be kept separate and managed according to its actual condition rather than disappearing into the middle of a dry stack.

I originally thought this was basically an infrared system reading every biscuit.

After digging further, the sensing systems are more varied than that.

That is why doing the follow-up research matters.

The interesting part to me is not exactly which sensor technology is fitted.

It is the outcome.

That is useful technology.

And I would actually love to know what operators did before these systems became common.

Handheld meter?

Experience?

Feel?

Watching conditions change through the night?

Probably a combination of everything.

If you have been baling for 30 or 40 years, I want to hear how you used to judge it.

Why Is the Baler Weaving in the Windrow?

This was another thing Cal explained that I had seen before but never really understood.

The baler uses load cells associated with the plunger system to measure how evenly material is feeding into the chamber.

If one side is carrying more load than the other, the monitor gives the operator guidance to adjust their position on the windrow.

So when you see a large square baler making small left-and-right adjustments through a windrow, the operator is not necessarily struggling to drive straight.

That helps build a bale with more consistent shape and density from side to side.

Which then takes my brain straight back to the rake.

A smooth, even windrow has to make the baler operator’s job easier than feeding a row full of big clumps and light patches.

And that brings everything straight back to EP14.

The mowing and raking job affects the baling job.

Nothing is really isolated.

The Double Knotter: Where the Twine Meets the Bale

Then Cal showed me the knotters.

And I will say now, this is where my brain started checking out.

The MF 2200 Series uses a double-knotter system.

The baler has to form, tension and secure the twine around a high-density bale while the whole machine continues operating.

Timing matters.

Twine matters.

Wear matters.

Adjustment matters.

I am not going to write five paragraphs pretending I could rebuild one tomorrow.

The important thing I took from the conversation is that knotters are a critical part of the entire baling system.

You can make the best bale in the world.

If the twine does not hold it together, you have not made a finished bale.

So baler operators reading this:

What gives you the most grief?

Twine?

Billhooks?

Timing?

Dust?

Adjustment?

I genuinely want to hear it.

Cal’s Biggest Baling Advice: Get the Job Right Before the Baler Arrives

I asked Cal for the key advice he would give somebody like me who has never done the job.

His answer started before the baler.

Get the cutting timing right.

Get the crop conditioned properly.

Allow it to cure.

Build a consistent windrow.

Then let the baler do its job.

This ties directly into our Newells Contracting TGT EP14 article.

In that episode, we spent more time around the mower conditioner, windrower and Twin Star rake.

EP22 makes the relationship between those machines much clearer.

If the crop is not conditioned evenly, moisture can vary through the windrow.

If the row is lumpy and inconsistent, the baler has to work harder to feed evenly.

If the material is too dry, quality can be lost through leaf shatter, particularly in leafy forage crops such as lucerne.

That is probably the biggest lesson I took from this episode.

It is not:

“Send a baler through and make bales.”

It is a chain.

Cut it properly.

Condition it properly.

Cure it.

Rake it.

Bale it at the right moisture.

Stack it safely.

Move it efficiently.

That is where having a contractor with the full hay setup becomes valuable.

“Baling Is Therapy” — Until the Baler Stops

I asked Cal what he actually thinks of baling.

His answer was gold.

He described working away through the night, smashing out bales, then watching the sun come up and finally seeing everything you achieved while everybody else was asleep.

I have never baled.

But I understand that feeling.

I have felt it in a header.

You work all night.

You are tired.

You are dirty.

Something has probably annoyed you at some point.

Then daylight comes and you look back across the paddock.

And there it all is.

Baling just adds the excitement that at any moment a knotter can apparently decide you have been too relaxed.

Want Your Contracting Business Featured on Talking Gear Tuesday?

This episode is exactly why we created Talking Gear Tuesday.

Cal knows balers.

I do not.

So instead of pretending I do, we put Cal in front of the camera and let him teach us.

Then we turn that conversation into video, social content and articles that help growers understand the contractor, the machinery and the thinking behind the operation.

If you are a:

• hay contractor;
• baling contractor;
• harvest contractor;
• spray contractor;
• spreading contractor;
• cotton contractor;
• machinery manufacturer;
• dealer;
• fabricator;
• or somebody doing something genuinely interesting in agriculture;

we want to hear the story.

We will travel.

We want to meet people.

We want to understand what makes operations work.

Need a Hay Baling Contractor Around Forbes or the Central West?

Broadacre Contracting helps growers connect with hay, straw, silage and baling contractors across Australia.

Newells Contracting is one option around Forbes and the Central West, with capability covering the complete hay process.

If you post a tender through Broadacre, give contractors useful information from the start.

Registered users can view tender details through the Broadacre platform.

Paid membership is required for direct messaging and contact access, and growers can choose a verified-members-only tender when additional verification is important for the job.

If your job is outside those regions, call anyway.

Broadacre is built to connect growers and contractors across Australia, not just one district.