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Cutting hay before the rain

mikewood869

mikewood869

Well-known Member
I know you can cut hay after the rain, but is it alright to cut the grass a few hours before it rains? I was planning on mowing (New Holland 489) late tomorrow afternoon around 4 (should be done by 6 or 7 pm) and its supposed to rain around 9 pm to 5 am Monday. After work I was thinking of hitting it with the tedder which should be around 3 pm or would I loss all the nutrients. I was planning on making heavy rows from the mower. Temps are averaging 85.

This post was edited by mikewood869 on 06/11/2022 at 08:38 pm.
 
It's usually best to avoid rain from the
time you mow, until it's in the bale (if
you can). In my opinion, it's best to wait
a few days, if you can avoid the rain. But,
...everyone hits those rainy spells, where
waiting a few days turns into weeks. And
that brings with it, a different situation.
And sometimes you got to scratch that idea,
and just bite the bullet. Because you CAN
wait to long to catch a dry spell as well.
This happens when quality of hay goes down
hill simply from waiting to long.

That said, if hay has to get rained on,
it's best for it to get rained on when it's
green (fresh mowed). Rain will do more
damage if hay gets dry, and then gets
rained on before it is baled.

My experience- rained on once and it'll
still make descent hay. Rained on a second
time, and quality really starts dropping
off fast and more drastic.
 
When hay gets cut, it is 80% or more water. If it gets rained on before it starts drying, it will not change
anything. But if it starts drying and gets reset, things start to deteriorate depending on how dry and how
wet. The worst being a soaking rain right before you would have baled it. Some deterioration is a heavy
dew on dry hay, which will bleach the top. So I will mow right after or even before rain assuming clear
weather is forecast, no problem. Use a tedder multiple times. Works great.
 
Hi Mike

Have to agree with what the previous two posters have said. Early rain in the drying process does way less damage than on about to be baled hay. Good luck and hope the forecast is correct for you.
 

For the past few years our first cutting hay has been between rain showers with 3-4 dry days between showers
Mowing after it rains often doesnt give hay time to dry down enough to bale before the next rain comes in, so cutting before or during the rain often gives an extra day for drying and baling
Most every field I mowed this year got rained on within a few hours of cutting, the next afternoon Id give it a good tedding to scatter the hay and get it off the ground, depending on how much rain we got and how heavy the hay is Id give it a light low rpm tedding the morning before I baled to fluff and lift the hay to dry off any ground moisture
I do round bales to feed my cows so marketable hay isnt a concern to me. There is probably a small amount of nutrient lose but not as much as waiting for a week of clear weather and baling up overripe dried up hay stems
 
If you Ted it out and then have weather forecast for good drying for a couple days you should be fine. As mentioned some rain on
green hay that hasn't dried down doesn't hurt quality. If it rains on it for a couple three days after you cut it that's a
different story.
 
Thank you, I guess well see what happens.
mvphoto93138.jpg


mvphoto93139.jpg
 
I was planning to cut hay tomorrow till the weather man said chance of rain on Wednesday so I'll nt be cutting hay yet. I always want at least 2 full days after cutting hay with out rain.
 
Yes - It's OK cut cut before a rain or even in the rain - if you have a disc mower or disc mower conditioner that will not plug like a sickle mower.

Think tea leaves. If you wash green tea leaves, not much tea. If you wash dry tea leaves, you get tea. Same with grass. You won't loose much with rain when the hay is fresh cut and green. Three days
later, dry hay and rain - not good.
 
Yes, green hay getting rained on wont go bad, I have the same haybine, you ever have any problems
with your wobble box?
 
(quoted from post at 15:55:04 06/16/22) Yes, green hay getting rained on wont go bad, I have the same haybine, you ever have any problems
with your wobble box?
Click to expand...
We havent had any problems yet (knock on wood). At one point the tongue cracked or snapped and was wielded up. I just noticed a crack on the hitch the other day. The hay came out good. We got 210 bales.
 
(quoted from post at 01:16:33 06/17/22) Good to see that it worked out for you. Is that a 489 or 492 haybine your using?
Click to expand...

Its a 489. Its a lot better than the New Holland 477. That needed rollers (had to cut in 1st year), the frame bent and then the axle broke.

This post was edited by mikewood869 on 06/17/2022 at 07:28 am.
 
I run a 492 which has been good for me. Had a bearing go on one conditioning roller so get some beefier bearings from a local supplier. They are very similar to the 489. We don't see 477 here in Australia.
 
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