hay got rained on

cdv · Sep 30, 2018

don't know what to do 1st year hay farmer I am ,,was going to bale 10ac of grass hay last sunday and out of the blue it rained for 11 hours. hay on the ground now a week but its getting dry nice has alitte black color to it don't know if I should tedder it and bale or just bush hog it any suggestions thanks cdv

old · Sep 30, 2018

I've been doing hay for 30 plus years and every once in a while I get my hay rained on. Most of the time as long as it was not raked yet it turned out to be good enough to rake and then bale.

Leroy · Sep 30, 2018

Have not made hay since 1981. We every year it seemed like we would get rain on either in swath or row. We would ted and some times in swath or row we would have to do it 2 or 3 times. It will loose some of its value but it will always be better feed than snowballs. So ted and get dry and bale and let animals pick out what they want and use rest for bedding. They will not eat it if it is too bad then you know to just use as bedding.

JCCWI · Oct 1, 2018

Been making hay to sell for last 20 yrs. When hay gets rained on , especially when almost ready to bale , IMO hay has to be tedded as soon as ground gets dry. Matted down it will mold from the bottom. If rain continuous for days and hay was not raked into windrow , then just let itlay and new hay will grow threw and be just fine.

Couple years ago every time I cut it rained....NOBODY would buy rained on hay......baled it all and piled separately in barn. A year later...dry spell...not much hay to bale.....By late Mar. barn was empty and some of the bales were two yrs old. Guess rained on hay was OK compared to NO hay.

redforlife · Oct 1, 2018

Try to bale if at all possible. But it has to be dry when you bale. If it just turns dark, it would be ok. Just be a lower quality hay. probly only consider doing something different if mold becomes an issue. If it gets moldy much, it won't work for hay.

paul · Oct 2, 2018

Been raining three years now.

The good hay has only been rained on a time or two.

The poor stuff we have to rake out of the regrowth a week or two later, after 4-5 days of rain.

I could sure go for a good drought.

Paul

MJMJ · Oct 2, 2018

(quoted from post at 09:45:28 10/02/18) Been raining three years now.

The good hay has only been rained on a time or two.

The poor stuff we have to rake out of the regrowth a week or two later, after 4-5 days of rain.

I could sure go for a good drought.

Paul

Careful what you wish for. Rained on hay is still better than no hay. Or $200/ton hay.

rustyplow · Oct 2, 2018

Cut this 2 1/2 weeks ago. Can't get 2 days in a row without rain. Raked it 4 times now. Was close to dry enough sat. but no go. Been raining since. If I can get it dry, I'll bale it If not, chop it back on the ground. This right here was the basis for the post couple weeks ago about burning hay in a wood stove.

MSS3020 · Oct 19, 2018

FUnny how that works.. huh!!

Tx Jim · Oct 20, 2018

There's some Sudan/haygrazer about 2 miles from where I live that's been on the ground for over 3 weeks that recieved over 12'' of rain on it since cut. We've recieved about 24'' of rain since Sept 1. CRAZY WEATHER for sure.

Texasmark1 · Oct 21, 2018

I had some I had to bale early once and when I saw it getting hot I sold it to a neighbor (highly discounted and delivered) for immediate distribution. We watched the bovines clean it up. It was a win win as we were in a drought (barring the showers at baling time) and his cows were out of pasture and he was out of hay.

I think with the current weather one might think about bale as you use. Or as some have mentioned from time to time, wait till a good heavy frost and dry Norther and bail it then. I have seen guys around here baling in December well past when I thought was too late. Where you are surely helps to determine what to do. My only concern is mold/mildew but I have never had a problem with bovines, considering limited contamination.

hay got rained on

cdv

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old

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Leroy

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JCCWI

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redforlife

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paul

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MJMJ

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rustyplow

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MSS3020

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Tx Jim

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Texasmark1

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