Most bale net is sold as hay net, and most of it does go onto grass. The same net also goes onto straw and onto cotton, where the bale is denser and the net has to hold a heavier load with the same number of turns, and onto industrial bale presses that are not balers at all but stationary machines packing material for shipping. What those uses have in common is that the net has to hold its tension on a dense bale and release cleanly at the ejector. The specification that decides it is the same one everywhere: mesh weight, width matched to the machine, and a tension high enough that the net does not stretch out of place.
Bale net is usually catalogued under hay, which hides the fact that the same roll goes onto several different machines. That matters when a buyer is specifying two or three applications from one supplier rather than buying separately for each.
The straightforward use is straw and pasture, which is where most of the volume goes. The net is also used on cotton modules and on industrial bale presses, and those are harder on it in two ways. A cotton module is denser than a grass bale of the same size, so the net is holding more weight across the same surface; and an industrial press is a stationary machine that is loaded and cycled rather than driven down a field, so the net has to release cleanly at the end of each cycle rather than at the moment the baler decides to eject. What both need from the net is tension that stays put after wrapping and a mesh that does not stretch out of shape under the load.
The buyers are contractors netting for several farms, dairy and beef operations baling their own, hay traders who net and resell, and industrial operations packing material rather than forage. Because those buyers order by the pallet or the container, the container loading figures matter as much as the net. More on how netting fits into a bale handling setup is covered under bale net wrap, alongside the shade net and planting bag ranges that go to the same farms.
| Material | 100% new HDPE, warp knitted |
| Net weight | 8.33 g/m2 or 10 g/m2 |
| Net width | 1 m, 1.22 m, 1.23 m, 1.62 m, 1.7 m, or to your requirement |
| Roll length | 2000 m, 2134 m, 2500 m, 3000 m, or to your requirement |
| Tension | 35 to 43 N at 8.33 g, 43 to 55 N at 10 g |
| Use | Hay, straw, cotton modules and industrial bale presses |
| Packing | Rolls on cardboard tubes, 16 or 12 rolls per pallet |
| MOQ | 2 tons |
The net covers a bale in two to three revolutions, which is fewer than a standard mesh. On a baler that means more bales per hour and less time with the mechanism under load, which is where the wear on a wrapping system actually comes from. On a stationary press the same property matters for a different reason: the cycle is set by how long the wrap takes, so a shorter wrap is a shorter cycle. The heavier 10 gsm net is the one to specify where the bale is dense or the load is high, and the 8.33 gsm version where the netting is only there to hold the bale together until the next operation. Colour is normally white, with other colours to order.
Standard widths run from 1 m to 1.7 m and roll lengths from 2000 m to 3000 m, with 1.05 m by 3600 m and the narrower Japanese sizes made to order. Rolls are packed on cardboard tubes, 16 or 12 to a pallet, and a 20 ft container takes around 190 to 210 rolls against 490 to 510 in a 40 ft high cube; capacity is 400 tons a month. Tell us the machine, the bale or module size and the annual volume, and we will confirm the width, the roll length and the weight. Buyers tracking what is going into hay, straw and cotton handling can follow trade coverage such as HortiDaily and FreshPlaza for what growers are installing.
Does the same net work on cotton as on hay?
Yes, the mesh is used on hay, straw and cotton modules as well as on industrial presses. The difference is that a denser module wants the heavier 10 gsm net. Tell us the material and the module size.
Will it fit a stationary bale press rather than a baler?
The net is specified by width to match the machine, so a press is quoted in the same way as a baler. Tell us the machine make and the width you need.
How many turns per bale?
Two to three revolutions, which shortens the cycle on a baler and on a press. Tell us the throughput you need and we will advise on the roll length.
Tell us the machine, the bale or module size and the annual volume, and whether the net is going onto hay, straw or cotton, and we will confirm the specification, the sample and the packing that suit your order.
Mark Wu, Co-founder & Technical Director, Sichuan Zhifang Net Industry. 15 years manufacturing agricultural nettings for growers in 32 countries.
