What do you do?

   / What do you do? #1  

Draagyn

Silver Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
201
Location
Woodpecker, Canada
Tractor
65 JD 3020, 75 IH 966
Hey all.

Looking for some suggestions.
I cut 10 acres and the morning I was planning on raking and baling it rained.
Ended up being a decent day so I attemted to rake it out, let it dry, and then bale but it was still too wet.
Now I'm looking at a week of rainy days.

What to do?

Thanks.
 
   / What do you do? #2  
If you have a tedder and can spread the hay out you MIGHT be able to save it after one rain. If it got two good soaking rains, I would bet the hay is lost unless you want to use it for bedding or mulch.
 
   / What do you do?
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I don't have a Tedder but am looking for one now.

It will most likely be ruined before I get it off the field.

Should I bale it to get it off field?
Or just let horses into field and leave behind whatever they leave?
 
   / What do you do? #4  
If can't get it up can let horse's in and see if they will eat it but doubt they will with the green grass. I wouldn't won't to leave all the dried grass in my pasture,I would eventually get it baled and throwed into a wash or burn it in windrow when knew it was going to rain. Cured hay that's been rained on is hard to get anything to eat it,maybe goats would or use it for bedding like mentioned I guess.
 
   / What do you do? #5  
unless i were running a specialized horse meadow, i'd just leave it. plenty of time to break down till frost. unless it's an exceptionally heavy cutting.
btw don't know anything about foundering & feeding broken down field growth to horses @ this time of yr. just to cover the bases :)
 
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   / What do you do?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks guys.

At this point we're planning to wait as long as it takes to be dry enough to bale, get it off the field, and set it aside to see what we can make of it.
 
   / What do you do? #7  
Are you planning on making a second crop? I'd brush hog it to get it broken down asap if you are wanting to do another cutting. You might damage the baler if you can't get it dried up enough or it might leave dead areas if it lays to long.
 
   / What do you do? #8  
I'm with RedNeckRacin on hogging the down grass; although some of the 3pt finishing mowers or flail mowers might do a better job of chopping it fine enough and spreading it enough for the grass to grow back up through it.

Of course if you were thinking of reseeding the field, then this might be the right time to plow, disc and reseed.
 
   / What do you do? #9  
If you are not going to go for a second cutting or do anything else to the field, I'd bush hog it a bunch and try to scatter it around to break down. Otherwise, bale it up and use (maybe sell) for erosion control. I wouldn't use damp or moldy hay for bedding. It probably isn't good for the animals and it definitely isn't good for you while spreading in a barn.
 
   / What do you do? #10  
I agree with the brush hogging group. Brush hogging will chop it up and spread it out so it'll decompose faster, and it'll at least add some organic matter to the soil, so you'll get some benefit out of it.
 
 
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