I am in central MN. I have all of 3rd cutting alfalfa and 2nd cutting grass hay to go yet. We had a ridiculous amount of moisture since mid August. Really no window to get started.
A good frost followed by a warm spell will do a lot to take some moisture out of standing alfalfa. Right now the ground is wet and the alfalfa is really high moisture standing.
During the summer, I usually like to rake hay the same day I bale. Late in the year, you have to get it up in the air maybe a day or two ahead of baling. I usually pull a couple windrows together, but if the hay is thick at all, I rake single rows with a rotary rake.
If you are going to be feeding the hay this winter, you can get away with baling a little higher moisture late in the year.
Either wrapping or preservatives are options. If the hay is being kept to feed to beef cattle, Id wrap it. For dairy Id go with preservative. If you are selling it, Id hope it drys down enough to bale decent.
I cringed when i read the "lots of clover" part. Makes great hay, but for me its tough to get dry under good conditions. Hopefully we get an unseasonably warm and dry fall. We need it. BW
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