For those of you making dry hay in the mid-atlantic region- how long ?can? you leave hay on the ground before a oncoming rain event will ruin it? In other words, if you mowed your hay on a Tuesday morning, and on Wednesday afternoon you were hit by a thunderstorm, would the hay quality and color suffer? I personally have mowed in the afternoon and been rained on overnight with practically no effect at all. What if the hay has been down for 24 hours? 36 hours etc? I am asking the question because there have been times that rain was in the forecast, and due to off farm work obligations I was considering mowing, letting the hay get rained on, and then drying out and baling. We are talking hay for resale here. I know some people will say they have baled rained on hay that has sat out for a week or so and their cattle ate it. That?s fine, but I?m sure there was considerable color loss affecting sale price. What have your experiences been with rained on hay?