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Rain on hay

K

Keith Molden

Well-known Member
We have hay down and were planning on baling today. We had a thunder storm during the night so I'm just wondering how much the hay will loose in food value. It was nearly ready to bale yesterday evening. I usually have pretty good luck with watching the national weather service but it got me this time. With any luck and plenty of sunshine it will be ok this afternoon to bale. Keith
 
early cut hay has more protein to start with , than say hay cut in full bloom , or grass that is headed out. No one could ever really tell you the answer for how much the protein loss will be from being rained on, too many variables . How much rain fell ? How long will it have to lay before you can get it turned , or fluffed up so that the bottom doesn't start to mold and rot. Rained on hay will loose it's flavor , and cattle will sort and waste more.
 
I think a lot depends on how heavy is the hay, how much rain, was it raked and what type of hay. Getting wet when its about ready to bale is never good. Need to get it dried out as soon as possible. I've had luck with a hay tedder spreading it out quickly, even if it had been raked. If it was still in the swath it will dry faster. Hopefully you are having a breezy day as that helps a lot. Wet hay molds pretty quickly in my experience.
 
The closer to dry it was when it got rained on, the more the nutrient loss. The only way to tell for sure is have a sample tested.
 
Hey Bruce, Pop never started haying until between the end of June and the 4th of July. That crap tested between 4-5% protein if it wasn't rained on. The rained on stuff tested 2-3% protein and you had to dump molasses on it to get the cows to even think about eating it. Milk production was rather unimpressive, as you might expect. Growth rate of heifers was about what you would expect, too.
 
Keith: I have dealt with this a lot and as one said if it was just cut not to big an issue if it was dry bigger issue. Tedder the heck out of it big issue is if ground under it get wet. for me up to 1/4 inch is not to bad but any more and its an issue. If square baling be careful as wet hay will combust in the barn!!!! As for nutrient some say very little but it does tend to change color to a brown yellow. You could bale it and sell it for mulch hay (bedding, roads, ditch etc.)
 
One other odd thing is the time of day you cut . If i remember right in the morning high in nitrogen and then high in protein. In the afternoon high in sugar but lower in protein. Protein is the measure of how much nitrogen you have so i would cut for sugar content even though it was lower in protein.
 
I doubt it loses much nutritional value. The only people who would question my statement would be the horse nuts.
 
Rain doesn't really hurt hay if the hay is still green when rained on. But if dried and rained on before it is baled, there will always be some damage. Extent of damage depends on how much rain, and how long afterwards it takes to dry it out and bale it. Alfalfa has less tolerance for this than grass hay.
 

Early cut hay will be hurt a lot less than you think!!! Years ago we had half a field down and it was within 2% of dry enough to bale when it got rained on. Next day we mowed the other half, the day after we baled the rained on hay and the third day the new mowed other half. We got both tested and the rained on hay tested within two points of protein value and probably 10 points of RFV. The rained on early June hay tested higher than typical mid to late July hay that is not rained on.
 
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