Hay and 90 degrees

steve in wi · Jun 15, 2018

Good afternoon what do you guys think of cutting hay Friday and baling Sunday. With temps over 90 degrees would alfalfa and grass dry down enough. It's thick but I will Tedder it out few times . Possible? Cutting with Ford 5000 select o speed. 3rd generation trans.

Ken Macfarlane · Jun 15, 2018

Wind? Humidity? Conditioned?

steve in wi · Jun 15, 2018

Surpose to 10 to 15 winds dew point in 70s humidity in 60s se wi. Condition yes.

LPgas only · Jun 15, 2018

Dad always said you can't bale hay unless you get it cut down.
Cut it down.
G.

Roger in Iowa · Jun 15, 2018

and what is soil condition under the hay. Recent rains?

cjunrau · Jun 15, 2018

Only ever seen alfalfa cut and bales the next day once in my life. It was so dry that it was 20 percent when cut. It won?t be cured and I would never try it unless it is bone dry. Best thing is to cut down and see when it?s dry enough

showcrop · Jun 15, 2018

Moisture in the ground will be the deciding factor. It can't dry with water vapor coming up out of the ground. Don't ted it past morning of second day.

JD Seller · Jun 15, 2018

With 70% humidity I do not think your alfalfa will be dry in just two days. It would need to be cut NOW so you would get the full benefit from the Friday afternoon sun. Then ted early Saturday morning.

craigco · Jun 15, 2018

I can bale with two days of drying. But we have teens for humidity, upper 90s for temp and lots of wind. Dries quick.

dhermesc · Jun 15, 2018

I am cutting good fertilized brome hay and its taking about 22-25 hours between cutting and baling. Sickle mowed and left laying flat in the field before raking just ahead of the baler. Making about 65 pound string tied bales 36" long.

Many times prairie hay put up the same way can be mowed in the morning and baled in the afternoon.

farmerwithmutt · Jun 15, 2018

I have cut hay in morning and baled at night . Had a moisture tester and everything was right but. First i had 7 ft hay bine i cut high leaving stubble so air could go underneath and swathed to just the pickup size of baler ( side note with moisture tester found out raking will raise moisture content). But again it was not heavy first crop .
Are you making large round bales or small square bales ? Small square bales can be salted .One other thing is tough hay won't burn but rained on hay will.

BarnyardEngineering · Jun 15, 2018

If you ted it a bunch of times it'll be dry because you knocked all the leaves off.

old · Jun 15, 2018

A whole lot depends on what you mowing it with. If a sickle bar mower not as likely to dry out in that time but if mowing with a moco the stems will be broke down and the water squeezed out

MSS3020 · Jun 15, 2018

I cut thurs evening after work.. exactly the crop your talking about... alf, brome, mix grass..figure thurs no dry time..fri, sat, at 100 good dry times with a good wind.. baling sunday asap..

I also use a mo/co though and spread it out wide as she will go then rake before baling..

David G · Jun 15, 2018

I would not tedder more than once, no sense beating it more than needed, also only rake once.

David G · Jun 15, 2018

Also, do you tedder and rake work while dew is set so it helps to hold leaves on alfalfa

showcrop · Jun 15, 2018

(quoted from post at 11:56:43 06/15/18) If you ted it a bunch of times it'll be dry because you knocked all the leaves off.

Barnyard, he indicates that he has no intention of tedding a bunch of times he said "a few".

Texasmark1 · Jun 15, 2018

I cut Tuesday, early in the morning on fairly thick Sorghum-Sudan Haygrazer. Came back with 2 passes of a crimper and 3 passes with a tedder. Raked it this afternoon for baling tomorrow. Even though we have had mid 90's, mostly sunshine, few clouds on some days, temp well above dew point so non overnight condensation, the humidity has been high, over 50% most of the time and that doesn't help.

I use the 3 turn twist test for ready: Wad of hay grasped with both hands, fingers down around hay, hands butted together, twist like you are raising a scissor jack. If you make 3 complete turns and it pops during that time it will bale ok. If only one or two stems in the wad resist, that is ok too but best to leave the bales out to air out for awhile....a week or so. If you fail the test, question your moisture level.

I barely passed today, should be ok for tomorrow. One thing about my JD baler, it doesn't care how dry the hay gets, it eats it anyway. One thing good about Haygrazer, the leaves stay intact even when very dry. Wink!

For once in my life, the weather isn't threatening me and causing me to make irrational decisions on when to bale.

If you were baling bermuda grass you'd probably be ok. SS?????, especially if you have large stems, no crimper, might iffy. Never did Alfalfa so can't say.

David G · Jun 15, 2018

More than once is a bad idea with alfalfa.

Traditional Farmer · Jun 15, 2018

Cut some pretty heavy hay Wednesday with my NH 456 sickle bar sunny yesterday hot and a good South wind today baled it this afternoon just right.Never use a tedder and use a NH
hay conditioner every now now and then.

Bkpigs · Jun 15, 2018

I cut with a Hesston 1120 Moco on Thurs and will bale Saturday. I leave about 4-5" of stubble to help dry and leave the windrow as wide as will fit under the tractor. You don't gain anything by making it wider just to run it over. I am in Southern Illinois, so plenty of humidity. If the hay will pass the twist test and you see some dust from the baler, you are ok. A nice fluffy windrow after raking the day of baling helps. It seems to mix the hay better in the cross auger. Then if there are any moist spots, they are spread apart and have some dry stuff mixed with it.

Bkpigs · Jun 15, 2018

I should have also added, when you rake the day of baling, even an hour or two in some good strong sun will do wonders on the moisture level of the hay. You will learn to position the rake to get any green on the bottom to the top.

showcrop · Jun 16, 2018

(quoted from post at 19:33:56 06/15/18) I cut with a Hesston 1120 Moco on Thurs and will bale Saturday. I leave about 4-5" of stubble to help dry and leave the windrow as wide as will fit under the tractor. You don't gain anything by making it wider just to run it over. I am in Southern Illinois, so plenty of humidity. If the hay will pass the twist test and you see some dust from the baler, you are ok. A nice fluffy windrow after raking the day of baling helps. It seems to mix the hay better in the cross auger. Then if there are any moist spots, they are spread apart and have some dry stuff mixed with it.

Excellent advice for BK pigs. moisture in the ground is a huge factor.

steve in wi · Jun 16, 2018

Well I only cut six rounds yesterday during the day just to experiment I didn't want to lose the whole field if it didn't work.i think it might of worked ground was dry under the hay. The weather guessers all said 20% chance like a tenth or so. Well we got a inch and a tenth of rain. I will let you all know how it worked.

Determined · Jun 16, 2018

(quoted from post at 07:29:04 06/16/18) Well I only cut six rounds yesterday during the day just to experiment I didn't want to lose the whole field if it didn't work.i think it might of worked ground was dry under the hay. The weather guessers all said 20% chance like a tenth or so. Well we got a inch and a tenth of rain. I will let you all know how it worked.

Rain on fresh cut hay is nothing to worry about it.
When it is ready to bale and it gets soaked is when you will loose quality.

Many times I will start cutting on the last day of a forecasted rain and sometimes keep cutting through light showers.
Having it down on the ground that extra day often buys you the time you need to get it rolled up before the next storm.

Texasmark1 · Jun 16, 2018

Well I turned the wws over this am to fluff them up and baled the lot. Really nice. Happy for a change.

Hay and 90 degrees

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