This is a great way to add organic mrtaaiel to the garden. I did this same thing but dug a trench so as to set the bale in by half. I did this in the fall, watering in two or three different kinds of organic fertilizer: blood meal, emulsified fish and kelp letting it mellow over the winter. I think you reversed a sentence when you wrote that straw bales are more dense and heavier than hay that is unless the farmer cranked open the adjustment on the hay-baler so that he could sell one bale for the price of two.Glyphosate (Roundup)is what they are spraying on the grains now. It does'nt cause the grain to mature at the same time, but it kills the living stalk that the grain is attached to so the grain will dry down to the right moisture level so harvest can begin. Then it is sold to cereal companies to be made into breakfast cereal for kids.