If I get any mold in mine I end up throwing out the whole bale because I don't trust it. It's a risk here because so often local hay hasn't been dried properly before it's baled. Our weather doesn't always cooperate.
Haven't found any mold in this lady's hay yet. Or the last batch from the two old Norwegians... There's wasn't moldy ever, it just varied so much from bale to bale... like their field had no consistency at all in what was planted there. Mostly Timothy in one bale... weeds and crap in the next.
Yeah that happens alot here too. When I picked it up out of the field my self, I tried to get the middle of the field. I think you get the mixtures on the edges. That is if it's a good field to begin with.
It made me very nervous when I'd come across that white stuff in the bales. But I was "told" that when they looked like that it was OK to feed. It was explained that yeah the hay molded after being baled, but when it turns into that white powdery stuff, it is not "actively molding". It's only when hay is actively molding that it can cause problems for the horses. Once it's done molding and dies off, it's not as good a quality, but won't hurt.
I feed it, and never had a problem, but didn't like feeding it at all.
Becky