Green stem clover hay

Bkpigs · Jul 24, 2018

Baled some clover hay yesterday that the leaves were very dry and brittle. The stems we're still green and tough. I only did 65 bales and plan to leave them on the trailer for a week before stacking. I was going to hold off another day and roll the window another time but didn't want to loose all the leaves. Nomally I have enough dry grass and the stems are not this tough. I am using a conditioner to cut with. What moisture do you usually bale clover and do you all have a recommendation on a reasonably priced moisture tester for hay?

jon f mn · Jul 24, 2018

for clover I usually run the conditioner over it twice, once at
cutting and again the next morning while it's damp. Those stems
are hard to dry and breaking them up with a conditioner helps a
lot.

Lazy WP · Jul 24, 2018

That?s why we out west bale early in the morning.
Let the stems dry out then bale with the dew holding
the leaves on.

Bruce from Can. · Jul 24, 2018

I don?t even try to make dry Clover hay, I either chop
it or round bale and wrap in plastic.

Traditional Farmer · Jul 24, 2018

When I was a kid we used to put down salt between layers of hay like you're talking about as well as remember it didn't mold or get hot.

Leroy · Jul 24, 2018

We did that as well, Case 555 mower conditioner and then an AC conditioner only that was made for use with just a bar mower. That was about 40 years ago whenwe had dairy yet. As for checking moisture just take a single stem at a time with your fingernail see if you can peal the surface of stem off, if you can it is too green yet. There were no moisture testers at that time. And nothing cheaper than your fingernail or will tell better if hay is fit to bale.

Leroy · Jul 24, 2018

Did that salt thing, think it was a waste of time and money for the salt. Think the only time ever pulled hay back out of mow was when we put the salt in.

Ken Macfarlane · Jul 24, 2018

It is a waste, people confuse the preservation effect of a huge amount of salt to food ratio with the negliable effect of a few pounds per ton sprinkled around in a hay mow.

Because they didn?t know any better it helped them sleep tight but it doesn?t prevent heating or mould. It does make hay more palatable to livestock through especially when combined with hay that was moist enough to caramelize.

Traditional Farmer · Jul 24, 2018

The hay didn't mold and we put a good amount of salt on but then again it might not have molded anyway,used to be a pretty common practice.

hrRoss · Jul 25, 2018

if you wanna dry clover for hay, try freedom clover, doesent have the hairs on stems, drys in same amont of time as alfalfa. clover usually takes atleast 1 more day of good weather to dry

Bkpigs · Jul 25, 2018

I left the bales on their edge overnight in the field and picked them up the following evening. They seemed much better. I am going to leave them on the trailer for a little over a week before I put them up. I will try to remember to follow up on this.

Green stem clover hay

Bkpigs

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jon f mn

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Lazy WP

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Bruce from Can.

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Traditional Farmer

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Leroy

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Leroy

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Ken Macfarlane

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Traditional Farmer

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hrRoss

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Bkpigs

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