Rain and making hay

Can't make up my mind when to cut hay, should have about 3 and a half weeks ago there was a window but was still trying to plant then. I thought I was going to pull the trigger and cut today but the next two day are calling for high percentage of rain and all next week. There certainly is quantity out in the field not much quality. A neighbor cut about 10 days ago got it washed at least 4 times. He did get it baled after a week, wet big squares and wrapped them, left ruts all over the field. I think I will buy hay early this year. That said the corn is starting to look a little better not so yellow, it's a little spotty for all the wet spots but growing.

I got lucky when I cut the whopping three acre hay field and had a ten day dry window to put it up. Rarely do I put up first cutting without rain. I cut, raked once and baled, simple as that. I was actually hoping for a rain after baling to give the alfalfa a head start. Corn around here is spotty. We have very few fields that look great all across the field. Most of the corn fields have thin spots and the good corn does not have a perfect picket fence stand. The very late June planted corn has a good stand in places but a poor stand in other places. I am in northwest Iowa.

I cut and bale some a couple weeks ago. Almost cut hay the day before yesterday but watched the weather on TV and they said rain so I didn't but my computer weather app had it at 0% and then 2 days 20% but yesterday it 20% all over with high winds and thunder

Sometimes there is just not a choice, it is best to have rain on fresh hay if possible.

Boy,I know what you mean. Doesn't make much sense to cut when high percent rain in forecast. It gets rained on enough when no rain in forecast. On the other hand here in south central MN. Hay is so over ripe, stemmy and poor quality that I think it would be better to cut it and get it rained on so next cutting can get growing. What to do, what to do.

Our 1st cutting completed 2 weeks ago here. I try to be aggressive about getting it mowed down. But we had 4 acres get rain on it 3 times. Luckily minor showers only. By the 2nd week of June it seems the weather turns drier and we can finish up. Gets rainy around July 4th, just in time for 2nd cutting alfalfa. Oh boy. Good luck guys.

Wow that 4020 sure needs a new steering wheel. I have thrown better than that in the dumpster. I never seen one break around the outside edge like that. Usually they break up around the middle and the emblem no longer stays in. Tom

The forecasts that we get now make it so much easier than it used to be. I used to use 30% rain chance as a threshold, but now with so much better information on humidity and cloud cover I can wait usually for 25% if other factors are good. We also factor in length of daylight and ground moisture. If ground is dry and crop is not too heavy and other factors are good we can plan on drying it down in two days.

We have the same conditions around here (Peoria IL). Still have some beans to put in but this week looks promising to cut maybe tuesday. This is the year i really need tedder and thinking that i may get one this week.

I see your companion sitting next to you. Surprised the noise doesn't bother him/her. Always wonder about people who keep their pets with them in things like tractors and boats. On tractors I can see they just jump off and do their job, but still noisy for the keen hearing of pets. On boats............. I can't even mow my back yard where the dog has a 40'x40' enclosure and nice home with a porch, large shade tree that covers the lot, without her running off in a corner and making contemptuous, leering glares at me. Afterwards I have to go in, sit down in the lawn chair provided for the purpose, and love on her before she will eat her supper.

As the old saying goes........"you gotta make hay when the sun shines".

There really isn't any other time do do it. Sometimes nature just throws up these roadblocks and you are forced to deal with it. At this point, you might as well wait it out for good dry weather. It will be what it will be. It turns out most of the folks who buy from me are not sophisticated enough to know the difference between really good hay and crapola. If it's cheap, they will buy it.

We have had exactly two short weather windows suitable for making hay all spring. I didn't have much to do, so managed to take advantage of both to get my hay up and dry.

Having said that, during the first narrow window, a heavy crop of mixed grass hay was cut early, and even despite being run through a conditioner and good drying weather, it was a real ordeal to get it dried down, baled and in the barn in time. Within 24 hours, we got about 2 inches of rain....and it stayed wet for 3 more weeks. And about a week or so later, I found a few bales in that group that had some "green clumps" in them that never did dry out and those bales had already gone moldy and had to be kicked out. Contributing to the issue was still wet soils under the hay......so even though the stuff on top exposed to the sun and wind was dry, stuff deep down below was still as green and wet as when I cut it the day before.

So after that ordeal, I went on a hunt for a tedder and found a good used one. That made all the difference in the world. Same type hay as before, but hit it with the tedder about 8 AM day after it was cut......about the time the dew was lifting......and by noon the same day, hay was bone dry and ready to bale. Moisture meter had it at around 13% in the bale. So instead of fighting it for 3 days, it was dry and in the barn at the end of day 2. Better product and shorter harvest window.

I'd never run a tedder.....saw one used once, but thought it was a joke and totally unecessary. It's not. Under right conditions, a tedder can be a savior.