Damp Hay - How?

[chetlenox]

Man, I'm pretty sure ya'll are psychic. These responses are great.

RickB - Sure enough, we got about a 3/4 inch rainstorm yesterday about an hour or two before I got home from work. So I hurried home, headed out to the barn... not a wet spot on the floor of the loft. No joke. Now sure, I wasn't actually in the barn when it was raining, so a very small puddle could have dried up before I got there, but it would have had to have been small. You may be exactly right, I might not actually have a roof leak.

Oh yeah, and the barn is actually wood with a metal roof, so it's not exactly a steel building. But your model for condensation that drips off the screws still works. The funny part is, now that I think about it, the addition we put onto the barn a month or so ago (the one that I thought caused the roof to leak) would actually decrease the airflow to the loft, since it no longer has open eaves along one side (it's now a closed-in parking area for our camper and farm equipment). That is something I had never thought of. On top of that, the other side of the barn that was un-modified had the dryer hay. I thought it was because we hadn't messed with the roof there (so it wasn't leaking), but maybe it's more that it still has open eaves with better ventilation. I wonder if some fans are now going to be required for the few weeks after we bale to push the air around a bit.

Slowzuki - I'll bet you are right, I'll bet I did get quite a bit of moisture out of the ground by leaving them out overnight. Like I mentioned before, these bales were tighter than I usually do. In fact, they were so heavy that they were falling off the hay elevator "spikes" much more often as we were hoisting them up into the loft. You were also dead-on with the legume comment, I do have a pretty good mix of clover in my first cutting. I've definitely noticed that it is the last thing to dry out in the field.

Well guys, I think ya'll have nailed it. I'm pretty sure I started baling at the same hay moisture content as last year, but my baling and storage changed by a little bit in a couple of different ways, all in the direction of encouraging bale dampness:

1) Tighter bales (65 lbs instead of the usual 45-50 lbs)
2) My barn modifications decreased airflow to half the stacks
3) I left the bales on the field overnight, sucking up water before storage

This is great, I feel much better now that I've got some adjustments to my workflow that I can use. The funny part is that I was always so focused on the "when is it dry enough to bale?" question that I never really paid close attention to what happens afterwords.

Thanks again guys!

Chet.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Chet, my haying experience goes back 30 yrs and times have changed. The moisture meter I had, had a probe on it to stick into the bale. It did a decent job but I'd prefer a meter that worked on the unbaled hay. I did try and use the meter on unbaled hay. Grabed a handful of hay, squeezed as tight as I could and then stuck the probe in to the hay. It would report on moisture but always reported hay was dryer than same hay in the bale.

I still have the sprayer set-up for the Hay-Saver out in the barn but have no idea if they are still in business. System consited of a tank, looked like a beer keg that was mounted to the bailer, a small electric pump and hose and nozzle mounted so liquid was continually sprayed on to the hay at the baler throat. Only took about gal per ton.

Remember the first time I use this set-up. Weather turned cool and damp and major rain storm on the way. Turned the hay a couple times in the AM untill something had to be done in order to get crop off the field. Got it bailed and off the field that day and rain came in for a soild week. Later in the season my customer told me his boy entered a bale in the county fair and come home with a blue ribbon. Didn't have to use the hay-saver very often but it always did the job when needed.

 

[chetlenox]

Mickey_Fx,

You are right, the real value in a moisture probe would be to be able to measure while the hay is in the field. Seems like if the only time it gets accurate measurements is in the bale, all you've done is confirmed that you baled too early. I guess you could drive out and do one bale, then test. That would probably work.

The hay-saver sounds like a pretty good deal. I got one of my cuttings rained on last year, and it isn't any fun. And I'm sure it's worse (the potentially for rainy weather when you want to harvest) up in your neck of the woods.

Chet.

 

[slowzuki]

That haysaver is likely proprionic acid (spelling?) a few guys have them on balers here. The horse people don't like it if they know it was spraying. The horses don't seem to care other than I'm told it makes the hay taste a salty? How someone figures that out I don't know.

 

[mark.r]

The horses don't seem to care other than I'm told it makes the hay taste a salty? How someone figures that out I don't know.

We taste it!

Haysaver or similar set up . . .

 

[chetlenox]

FYI: I just found a nice summary on the use of Propionic Acid for baling wetter-than-optimal hay, published by the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture:

Preventing Mouldy Hay Using Propionic Acid

Chet.

 

[charlz]

I've been pretty surprised at how wet the bottom of a bale will from sitting in the field overnight. If you have to leave them out overnight it might help wait until the next afternoon or evening to pick them up. I have only a couple acres in hay so I walk around and kick them over if I need to get them off the field right away (only get irrigation water every 8 days).

 

[SPYDERLK]

I've been pretty surprised at how wet the bottom of a bale will from sitting in the field overnight. If you have to leave them out overnight it might help wait until the next afternoon or evening to pick them up. I have only a couple acres in hay so I walk around and kick them over if I need to get them off the field right away (only get irrigation water every 8 days).

Before picking up hay that sits overnite, turn bales after the dew burns off then wait at least an hr before pickup. I do this from a lawn tractor or golf cart without having to get off.

Regarding your heavy, hard bales - Hay that is damp will pack surprisingly hard in a baler because the bales resist slipping thru the chute more than when dry. I find it necessary to check the just formed bales frequently when starting a session and make adjustments accordingly when the hay is the least damp.
larry

 

[Mickey_Fx]

FYI: I just found a nice summary on the use of Propionic Acid for baling wetter-than-optimal hay, published by the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture:

Preventing Mouldy Hay Using Propionic Acid

Chet.

Propionic acid was the principle ingredient in the HaySaver spray.

 

[chetlenox]

Larry, that makes good sense to give bales a "turn and dry" before picking up if you have to leave them out overnight. I think I've learned my lesson though, and am going to do my best to always bale and stack on the same day.

We cut yesterday and are raking today, we are aiming to bale Tuesday. The weather is great, hot and windy, so I think we are going to be fine on the conditions going into the bale. I've already got my help lined up for Tuesday noon (we'll start baling once the dew burns off) so we won't be leaving bales out overnight. I'm also going to ask my baler to run a little looser than last time (45-50 lbs/bale) and will stack in the better ventilated side of the barn. I'm going to work on the poorly ventilated side after this cutting to see if I can get some better airflow now that I've messed it up with the extension built off the side. I was kicking around the idea of installing an "attic" type fan to improve things (when I've got hay drying), and ran across some really serious barn ventilation systems on the net. I imagine this guy doesn't have any trouble moving air through his barn!

Anyway, I'm working to do a better job this time. This will be my 5th cutting, and I'm still learning a bunch.

Thanks guys,

Chet.