DIY Easy and Cheap Hay/Straw Storage using Pallets and Tarp

We’ve been having a HUGE problem with straw storage, because we don’t have a barn on our property, and our feed shed is very small, so just big enough to fit a few bales of hay for the goats and the grain and chicken feed. We need to keep a bale of straw around to use as bedding for the goats, and I will occasionally use it in the chickens nesting areas, or around the garden, etc.

Recently we have just been keeping the straw on a pallet in the driveway, and it was covered with a light tarp, but not secured in any way, so it would constantly blow off, leaving the straw exposed to the elements, and eventually molding inside. So now, much to my husband’s dismay, there is straw strewn all over the back of the driveway since I completely gave up on the tarp. HENCE, needing to come up with a better solution, and a cheap/DIY one since we can’t afford to build a barn right now.

I’ll post pictures below of what I came up with… we’ll see if it works and I’ll update the post with any changes we make.

What you will need to build DIY Straw/Hay Storage from Pallets

Pavers – I used cheap pavers from Home Depot to lay down the base for the straw storage area.

Cinder blocks – Cinder blocks can be really useful around the homestead for a variety of projects, whether temporary or otherwise. We have one of our chicken coops propped up on cinder blocks, and I’m using them here to keep the pallet up off the ground so the wood doesn’t rot as quickly. Again, you can get these from Home Depot.

Pallet – Any old pallet will do, just make sure the slats aren’t too far apart so the hay or straw won’t just completely fall through the holes.

Heavy duty tarp – Pick the size depending on how much hay or straw you plan on storing, but this one is the 6×8 heavy duty tarp from WalMart. I chose the heavy duty one because this will be constantly exposed to the elements.

3M Hooks – I used the 3M hooks to attach the tarp on one side to the wall of the shed.

Short light duty fence post – You could alternatively use a garden stake, but the light duty fence post has little hooks and holes where you can easily attach the tarp with a small zip tie. I may end up changing up the design and using two of these, but we happened to have one laying around. You can get these at any farm supply store like Tractor Supply.

Put Down a Foundation for the Straw Storage

The first thing I did was move some pavers we had laying around to the side of the lawn shed, as well as four cinder blocks. This created a nice base for the little pallet holder I set up.

I also added the garden stake about two feet in front of the cinder block set up.

Put the pallet on the cinder block base

Then I just stacked the pallet on top the cinder block base. Honestly at some point I will probably change out this pallet since the slats are pretty far apart, and this one had already been exposed to the elements, so it has already started to deteriorate, but I needed something to use right away and this was available. Which I guess is the whole idea of DIY pallet storage, this is something anyone could do in a pinch!

Attach the 3M hooks onto the side of the shed on either side of the pallet storage. Then simply stack the straw onto the pallet, and pull the tarp over. Attach the middle grommet on the tarp to one of the hooks on the fence post, and you have cheap, easy, DIY straw storage! If you need to, take a pair of pliers and bend out the hook a little if the grommet won’t fit into it. Now, we’ll see how long this lasts, or if I can convince DH to move to a farm with a barn… 🙂

Let me know in the comments if you have any tricks for DIY hay or straw storage without a barn, we could definitely use them!