I cut and raked my hay field about a month ago and started baling. After about 20 bales, it started pouring rain for the next two days. Now that my second cutting has grow up, I'm needing help on how to deal with the clumps of windrows on the ground. Do I just rake them up before cutting again? Or cut and just rake/bale it in with the rest?
- Thread starter Txfarmer1
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David Snipes
Member
I had that happen once. I had to back way off on the bale compressor, bale them up and make mulch out of them
flying belgian
Well-known Member
Happened to me a couple times over the years. When it eventually got dry I baled them up and took them to the local hay auction. Someone will give a quarter a bale for them and use them for something. Do not bale them up mixed in next cutting. Then that hay will be ruined too.
If you waited so long as to be ready to cut and bale again you already have messed up. As soon as you could you should have rakes and bale or some such thing to get that bad hay off the field. Leaving it lay kills more grass plus now you have tall grass in with windrows of bad hay
My cattle would pick out the new hay from the old hay, so I would cut it (with my disc mower, lord help you if you have a sickle mower.....) and be fine. Not a great situation, but oh well.
But it will wreck the value of trying to sell the hay, no one wants to pay for mixed junk like that.
Be bad for horses, too.
Anyhow, next time, whenever it dries out, you have to bale up the old hay, to get rid of it. Need to clean it up for the next cutting. Some folk that have the equipment will run the old stuff through a silage chopper, and just let it blow back into the field. Finely chopped and spread after a couple weeks it disappears and wouldn't hurt your next cutting.
Paul
But it will wreck the value of trying to sell the hay, no one wants to pay for mixed junk like that.
Be bad for horses, too.
Anyhow, next time, whenever it dries out, you have to bale up the old hay, to get rid of it. Need to clean it up for the next cutting. Some folk that have the equipment will run the old stuff through a silage chopper, and just let it blow back into the field. Finely chopped and spread after a couple weeks it disappears and wouldn't hurt your next cutting.
Paul
I live in a very humid, wet region.
Just how dry is it where you are? Can you bale up the old stuff? If so, sure.
Things might be so different in your climate.... here the old windrow would be sunk in, grown into the new growth, and be sopping wet from the dew, never dry out. 'Here' as I mentioned I would just mow with a disc mower and put up the whole mess, but it won't be quality, nice hay. It will have the old junk mixed in, and here that would be damp old junk mixed in.....
Paul
Just how dry is it where you are? Can you bale up the old stuff? If so, sure.
Things might be so different in your climate.... here the old windrow would be sunk in, grown into the new growth, and be sopping wet from the dew, never dry out. 'Here' as I mentioned I would just mow with a disc mower and put up the whole mess, but it won't be quality, nice hay. It will have the old junk mixed in, and here that would be damp old junk mixed in.....
Paul
This June we averaged a half inch of rain a day for over 30 days.
Alfalfa and hay fields look very tough here.
Lot of folks were baling black, ugly hay 10-12 days after they cut it, driving up to the water sitting in the fields. Picking the hay up, left a lot of tracks.
A person has to do what's they have to do to get the hay up and gone for the next cutting.
My best hay this year so far has only 2 rains on it, looks pretty good.
Just a different perspective.
Paul
Alfalfa and hay fields look very tough here.
Lot of folks were baling black, ugly hay 10-12 days after they cut it, driving up to the water sitting in the fields. Picking the hay up, left a lot of tracks.
A person has to do what's they have to do to get the hay up and gone for the next cutting.
My best hay this year so far has only 2 rains on it, looks pretty good.
Just a different perspective.
Paul
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
If you're just feeding it to cows and you can get the new growth and the old hay dry then I'd just bale it up and feed it to the cows this Winter they'll pick thru it.The old hay isn't going to have any feed value but won't hurt them either.I've cut hay that was not cut the year before with lots of dry stuff in it cows eat what they want and stomp the rest in the ground
adds to the organic matter in the pastures.
adds to the organic matter in the pastures.
Donald in MN
Member
at one time dairy was common around here and sometimes in june it would be very wet. and the windrowed hay would spoil. the farmers had windrow pickups for their forage harvesters . they would set the pickups just high enough to pick up the old hay and chop it then blow it up into the air.
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