When to cut?

[BryanM]

I just got home from work and on the way home I shave seen partial fields cut. Back to me though, I only have aprox 3 to 4 acres to cut. It is a pasture mix with alfalfa, clover and some orchard grass.

Being new to this I am assuming alfalfa and clover contains alot of moisture and needs 4 days to dry. I am cutting with a 1209 haybine. I tell ya I am glad I am not doing this for a living cause this type of patience would drive me crazy!

 

[BryanM]

Hay guys! get it! LOL!! My dad just called me and asked if I had started cutting yet. He also said he had talked to a couple farmers at the coffee shop and they said it doesnt hurt the hay to be cut and rained on! You just cant bale when wet? Main I am confused! If I cut it and it rains on it does it hurt it? The coffee club crew also said they rake when it was a little damp evening or mourning because it was easier on the leaves, meaning that it wont knock the leaves off. What do you think? I have no doubt that is the way these guys did it, but maybe times and ways have changed. I dont know! They also said this it wont dry if it isnt cut.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

We hit a 10 day window of opportunity here just about the time my 1st cutting was "ripe". With less than 25 acres, it wasn't a chore to get it cut, raked, baled, and in the barn. (Someone elses barn!) We had the WORST year I can ever remember last summer, as far as hayin' is concerned. So, this year I'm seeing anything and everything getting baled. Folks aren't waiting until August to see if we get another drought. If you can wrap a string around it, somebody is baling it.

It WAS hot and humid here last week. The weather guessers are saying 60's at night, mid-70's through the day, LOW humidity, 5 to 10 mph winds, and not even the first sign of a cloud for the next 6 days. I sure wish I had more standing hay. That is IDEAL weather!

30 miles north has been inundated with rain for the last several months. We're actually getting dry here.

 

[mark.r]

Everybody from the north keeps talking about not being able to get the hay cut because of the rain... I sure wish we had some of the stuff down here! We haven't gotten decent rain in at least a month here in North Texas, and my Bermuda is feeling the effects.

Weatherman says some chance on Wednesday, I've definitely got my fingers crossed.

Chet.

We got hammered again to day for about 3 hrs.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Hay guys! get it! LOL!! My dad just called me and asked if I had started cutting yet. He also said he had talked to a couple farmers at the coffee shop and they said it doesnt hurt the hay to be cut and rained on! You just cant bale when wet? Main I am confused! If I cut it and it rains on it does it hurt it? The coffee club crew also said they rake when it was a little damp evening or mourning because it was easier on the leaves, meaning that it wont knock the leaves off. What do you think? I have no doubt that is the way these guys did it, but maybe times and ways have changed. I dont know! They also said this it wont dry if it isnt cut.

Where are you located? In dry areas it is common to rake with a dew on it to keep the leaves on. Up here in WNY we do not have to worry quite as much about leaf loss on Alfalfa and clover till the third day.

As for rain on hay, if the hay gets rained on the day it is cut and is still fresh you will usually be ok if you get the tedder on it immediately. However, once the hay starts drying down (I don't remember the numbers) and it gets wet it will dust and then it is cow hay. Maybe the guys at the coffee house are old dairy farmers or cattle ranchers where they didn't worry as much about high quality "horse" hay. Grass cow hay is generally cheaper then horse hay and the market is very limited in some areas as most of the dairy farms have their own hay equipment so they don't usually have to buy hay.

One thing I will tell you is that a little foreign moisture won't hurt hay that has dried down. If you get a light sprinkle it is no different then a heavy dew. The time you need to worry is when you get a soaking rain. Either way, be honest with your customers if your hay gets rained on. Tell them what happened, when and what you did to dry it down. Then if they still buy it they know ahead of time that it may dust.

Also, old farmers can be a great source of information for your local area but choose which ones you listen to and which ones you ignore. What market your aiming for might be completely different from what they are use to and their "advice" may not be very good if you are going for a high quality horse hay market and they are giving you advice for baling junk hay for heifers. I learned a lot of what I know from my ex's father who was a lifetime dairy farmer. He knew what needed to be done to make quality horse or dairy hay. Anything that didn't meet those requirements would get fed to the heifers. I took what he taught me, and like you asked questions from others who have a lot more experience in the market I was in. I merged all their advice and tried different things to see what works and didn't work for my area. And I still look to learn more and more every year as well as try different things each year to see how they work in my area. Texas haying is a completly different game then haying in New York so I have to be careful just what type of advice I try to use up here (baling at night is not very useful up here).

Good luck on your hay and please feel free to ask more questions. There are a lot of people here who know what they are talking about and you can learn a lot from them. Also, Google is your friend. Do some searches and you will find a lot of information on haying from universities and farmers.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We got hammered again to day for about 3 hrs.

It rained here for 10 minutes rather hard now it is sunny again , at least I don't have to water the garden yet

 

[mark.r]

Robert, what is the "actual" definition of dusting?

 

[BryanM]

You make some great points Robert. I m located in nw ohio. And got some more advice from some other farmers, they are saying wait and told me a few reasons why which make good sense to me.

I am sure I will have a few more questions as we go. Thanks for the help!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert, what is the "actual" definition of dusting?

The hay starts breaking down creating a dust. Some people confuse the dust with mold but the dust doesn't have the musky smell or discoloration generally associated with mold. All hay will dust eventually as it gets older and breaksdown, being rained on after it starts drying makes it start to break down faster.

Is this what you were wanting to know?

 

[flusher]

I know weve talked this to death but never cut hay before, When do you decide to cut hay! Forecast calls for some kind of shower everyday only their slight chances like 30%. Do you go ahead and cut or do you wait until lowwer than that. I have seen a few people cutting hay but it also rained on it. What to do? my zip is 43416, take a look and tell me what you would do. thanks Bryan

We have the opposite problem here in the North Sacramento Valley--no measurable rainfall since 28 Feb. Temp is rising into the high 90s. RH is 10-15%. Winds blowing 10-20mph. Stuff is drying out fast. Big grass fires East and West of my place last week.

Three weeks ago one neighbor got a good cutting of oats on his 200 acres. Probably could be horse food, but most of it went to the feed lots.

Checked with another neighbor today. He ran his Hesston swather over his 20 acres of irrigated alfalfa last Saturday. It's green, but the stand was thin and he's got yellow star thistle mixed in. He'll let the windrows dry for a few days, combine them 2 for 1 and bale. Only good for cattle and goat feed now. Offered my newly acquired MF-124 two-twine baler for his use. Need to check that baby out.