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Temp to Cut and Dry Hay

F

farmallboy15

Member
What's the coolest temperatures you have been able to dry hay in the field? It looks like we will be having some days in the mid-70's next week and wondering if that will be warm enough. Work is sending me to Louisiana for the month of June so I only have about 2 weeks left before I have to pay someone to put it up for me... I bet it's warm enough in Louisiana to get it dried!
cvphoto87973.jpg
 
It can be hard to relate temperature alone to drying - if you have some breeze and low humidity it will still dry even if the temps aren't real high. 70's would seem good to me if the humidity isn't high and some breeze.
 
We've cut hay after it froze. If we are between 50 and 75 would be probably normal. The dairy guys around here will be cutting in about 2 weeks and then every 4weeks after that. If it happens to get dry, they will bale it. But most chop and bag or wet wrap bales around here.
 
Yup the Humidity has as much effect on drying as temp. I've dried hay in Oct for 3rd or 4th cutting and temp was not much over 65-70 for a few hours during the day with dew each morning. In MI in Oct dew hangs around till close to noon then cools down by 4PM or about that time. Early hay like this will have more moisture to dry out of hay than a bit later also.
 
farmallboy,

I look for 80 degree weather to cut and bale grass hay. Since I do everything by myself, I also look for a rain-free window of three days. Cut, ted, bale and pickup.

My rule-of-thumb is to be able to start haying in mid to late April. It's now May 11 and I haven't been able to cut one stalk of hay. This is turning out to be a tough spring in Middle Tennessee.

Tom in TN
 
You cannot measure drying time by air temperature alone. Grass hay will dry much quicker than alfalfa or clover. And first cut hay often is more lush and a heavier stand than second and third cutting, so will require more time to dry. Also when taking fist cut, the ground the hay is laying on tends to be much wetter than what the field will be while doing later cutting. And the damp ground will slow the drying. Not to mention, do you crimp the hay, do you spread it wide, do you Ted? All these things effect drying time 70 degrees or 80 degrees.
 
Relative humidity is what matters.

Best hay Ive ever made was 2 times, mowed as I was combining beans. Was 40 degrees mostly. Dry air, no rain or dew. Hay dried out slow but didnt lose any leaves or color. Sun was pretty low in the sky.

Paul
 
I often make grass hay in October in Mn. The hay , air and ground are all pretty dry already by then here and maybe even get a frost in there. The dew and short days don't help but I get some nice hay late in the year. In spring ? Never tried it this early here.
 
I actually cut some in December once, it was just a few square bales of alfalfa, but the days were too short to dry well, and once in the '70s, Dad cut some grass hay that turned out ok, in December. And I remember cutting hay in October several times, but that is unusual.
Actually I think I will cut some today, about 6 acres that is kind of thin, but the weather should be dry all the rest of the week, just cool in the *60s. I am in northern Ky. Mark.
 


I will try to give you something to hang your hat on. I will say 65 degrees. Now this is with 10 hour sun per day which should be no problem, mowing with a mower conditioner, no shade, dew point below 50 degrees, lugs on tires staying dry when mowing, tedd three times. If you can meet these conditions it is no problem.
 
Humidity and breeze are bigger factors than temperature has been my experience. And not getting it rained on!
 
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