cut hay Friday eve rained on saturday need help

xcsp · Jun 14, 2009

Hello I just cut my hay friday eve then this saturday eve we got some rain not much just enough to get the hay wet. what will be my next step ?????

We are going to have 3 nice sunny days near 80 degrees coming up so i am planning on baling tuesday afternoon.

I have a tedder when should i tedder the hay ??????? and then how soon afterwards do it again.

My field is timothy/Alfalfa hope it is not ruined ????? they keep changing the forecast and it almost missed us but it clipped us a little ,there are many farms that cut the same day I did .you just never know.

thanks
xcsp

beau5278 · Jun 14, 2009

I'd ted it ASAP this morning,depending on how much rain it got,and if the sun shines good today with a little air,it should be ready to bale Monday,letting it lay an extra day and bleaching the color out of it does more harm than the rain.You don't want to ted it more than once if you don't have to,between that and raking,it knocks to many leaves off of the alfalfa and that also affects quality.If it got quite a bit of rain,it may be better not to ted it just turn it over with the rake later today then turn it again tomorrow and bale.Most of ths information depends on the equipment your using,how thick the hay is,how much rain it got,your going to have to make the final decision and hope it's right.

New England Farmer · Jun 14, 2009

You'll be ok, just tedder it late morning, then again late afternoon, before the evening dew gets back on it. Three nice days of 80 degree weather you'll def be able to bale Tuesday. Tedder it the same on Monday and if need be once Tuesday morning before you rake it. Just keep grabbing handful and looking underneath, if it's still a darker, wetter green..tedder it again. You'll be ok though, same thing happened to me last year and it was fine.

xcsp · Jun 14, 2009

Thanks for the fast replys I am sitting here wondering what to do now I know thank-you for the info.
the sun is shining right now this morning we did not have lots of rain just enough to get the hay wet, I will go out and tedder it in a few hrs ,we are going to get sun-mon-tues no rain close to 80 degrees so that should help me out.

There was just a chance of rain yesterday and i thought we would miss it I was wrong never had to deal with rained on hay.

Will this affect the quality of the hay since it was rained on ????????

thanks again
Greg

Janicholson · Jun 14, 2009

I agree with Beau,
Tedding is good, rolling it is good, but it is best to minimize the process and get it bailed. Leaf loss and sun bleaching destroy nutrients, When it is just dry to the touch, do it. JimN

xcsp · Jun 14, 2009

Thanks for all the help as i type the sun is shining on the hay 9:00 am here I am making some coffee then going to go hook up the tedder and get it ready. I will tedder this morning .

Then hit it again tommorrow and if it is good and dry in the afternoon will bale it or wait until tuesday afternoon.

thanks
Greg

beau5278 · Jun 14, 2009

A little bit of rain won't hurt the quality anymore than a heavy dew.Alfalfa/Timothy mix hay,in 80 degree weather with a little breeze shouldn't take any longer than 2 1/2 days to dry.We used to bale between 800 and 1000 bales a day of that same type hay in PA,most of it went for horse hay in southern PA.We'd mow one day,ted it the next in the morning,then turn it on the 3rd day and start baling around noon,I can't imagine the weather in Ohio being much different unless your pretty far north.If your worried about good quality hay,don't leave it lay any longer than you have to.

RobMD · Jun 14, 2009

One word of caution here - don't be too aggressive with the tedder, going at it with hay flying everywhere will knock vital leaves off of the alfalfa.

Just ted it enough to spread it out, then that's enough.

waltdavies · Jun 14, 2009

I cut some on Thursday then a one row on Friday on another small field. Then yesterday I was sitting in the house watching TV while my Buddy went after two new belts for the JD 1209. All of a sudden the sky turned dark and we had more rain in a few minutes than we did all last month. BUMMER things are really wet today.
Walt

xcsp · Jun 14, 2009

Thanks for all the help and advice ,I just finished tedding the hay it surprized me that it was not wet maybe a little damp in places my tractor tires where not wet so it is done.

So my next plan was to do it again in the morning ???????
then rake on tuesday then bale it in the afternoon .
nice sunny day today getting hot.

Does that sound like a good plan ??????????????????

ok will keep you posted how it turns out
thanks
Greg

a.rothermel · Jun 14, 2009

you can tedder it early in the morning. (like before 7) or you should wait til about 10. Tedder it at lease 2 times. The first time tedding run in a lower gear with higher RPM's so you throw it around. The second time you tedder it go in a high gear but leave the tractor running in low RPM's. This will make the hay stand up. If you tedder it too much you will knock the leaves off which hurts the value of the hay. I always rake anywhere between 12 and 2. and then start bailing between 2-4. Good luck!!! and dont get stressed its supposed to be fun!!!

Larry NE IL · Jun 14, 2009

Unless it's been raked into a windrow already, I'd never ted alfalfa more than once. You'll wind up with bales of sticks!
Your pics show you already teded. That's enough! let it dry some then rake it into windrows. You might have to just flip the windrows with the rake just before baling.

kyhayman · Jun 14, 2009

Ted the minute the rain stops. It will throw off some of the water. Then, as soon as the top is dry ted it again. At this point you arent worried about getting the crop in at the peak of freshness with maximum protein. That time's gone. Right now its to save the maximum hay before it rains on it again.

Dairy Farmer in WI · Jun 14, 2009

i would just wait a day or 2 and check how dry it is getting. Had 30 acres of tall alfalfa get rain on for 2 or 3 days after i cut it this year and it started to get dry by the end of the 1st day after it rained. granted i chopped it but i chopped it the second day ofter it rained and it was starting to get dry and dusty. i would just wait a few days to let it dry out again and go at it baleing it if its dry
DF in WI

RodinNS · Jun 14, 2009

ditto....

LBH · Jun 16, 2009

I always found that when hay gets wet, it tends to disappear. you don"t get near the bales you would have, had it not got wet.

cut hay Friday eve rained on saturday need help

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