Just curious

[flying belgian]

how everyone does alfalfa. I sell all my hay so color is very important. I cut today, leave dry day 2. Rake it with curtain up on rotary rake day 3, leave it dry on day 4, rake it with curtain down on day 5 and bale it on day 6. That seems to keep green color while keeping some leaves on and getting it baled and out of sun as fast as possible. Before anyone starts throwing rain in there, this is assuming no rain which I know is rough a lot of times. But this is my goal for getting the greenest product for the horse people.

Now for grass which most of the horse people want I cut today, dry day 2 rake curtain up day 3, rake curtain down day 4 and bale late day 4.

 

[used red MN]

how everyone does alfalfa. I sell all my hay so color is very important. I cut today, leave dry day 2. Rake it with curtain up on rotary rake day 3, leave it dry on day 4, rake it with curtain down on day 5 and bale it on day 6. That seems to keep green color while keeping some leaves on and getting it baled and out of sun as fast as possible. Before anyone starts throwing rain in there, this is assuming no rain which I know is rough a lot of times. But this is my goal for getting the greenest product for the horse people.

Now for grass which most of the horse people want I cut today, dry day 2 rake curtain up day 3, rake curtain down day 4 and bale late day 4.

How do you cut it? You can’t hardly be using a moco if you have hay laying out 6 days, which I am suspecting the majority of them are sunny. Maybe alfalfa takes a lot longer to dry down in MN compared to KS. For the most part n KS if you weren’t baling it on the 3rd day you could say goodbye to most of the leaves.

 

[flying belgian]

How do you cut it? You can’t hardly be using a moco if you have hay laying out 6 days, which I am suspecting the majority of them are sunny. Maybe alfalfa takes a lot longer to dry down in MN compared to KS. For the most part n KS if you weren’t baling it on the 3rd day you could say goodbye to most of the leaves.

I cut with a disc mower. Yes, it's tough doing alfalfa in Mn.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

How do you cut it? You can’t hardly be using a moco if you have hay laying out 6 days, which I am suspecting the majority of them are sunny. Maybe alfalfa takes a lot longer to dry down in MN compared to KS. For the most part n KS if you weren’t baling it on the 3rd day you could say goodbye to most of the leaves.

Sunny this time of year is helpful, but doesn't always mean much with cool, damp, soggy nights. Tonight, for example, we're going to dip down to 48º with patchy dense fog by AM. Would have to shake that out with the conditioner or inverter depending on the stage of drying. The tough stems aren't going to help much either.

Now.... that's just to make hay. Making green hay this far into the calendar is another story!

Mike

 

[Tgrasher]

All depends on moisture conditions, ground dryness, wind, amount of sun, and of course, the prediction for rain. I cut with a haybine, rake it once with a wheel rake when almost dry in late morning, and bale in the afternoon. Being in the crossroads of weather systems, I can get rain from any direction, and the weather guesstimater's predictions are only part of decision to go for it.

 

[jon f mn]

I cut with a haybine with the row spread wide, go over with a conditioner the next day. Usually can rake the third day and bale later that day or the next. This year it was so humid and dreary from the Canadian smoke that the alfalfa layed for 10 days, was raked three times and still had wet spots. That was the worst I've ever had.

 

[DanielW]

For me at our Southern farm where I do Alfalfa (South-Central Ontario, right near the lake where we get heavy dews), it's cut day one, tedd day two early with a little dew still on to avoid leaf shatter, usually let sit day three, rake day four (just as the dew's coming off to avoid leaf shatter) and bale later on that same day four. But subject to vary. Sometimes can bale on day three if weather has been really good for drying. And if temp looks like it's going to stay above the dew point longer that night, I might rake later in the day on day three and let it sit in the windrow overnight (which can sometimes be the best for drying, but can also be a gamble if we get a heavy dew that soaks into the windrow and won't dry out).

Two things to consider are the time of day you cut and how wide a swath you cut into. Some folks cut into a really narrow swath to try and preserve colour, but that's really one step ahead and one step backwards. Putting into a narrow swath will protect it from the sun a little, so colour is a bit better preserved for that reason. But you're losing the effect of respiration that first day (the only day when you could have it) and the best drying potential, and thus often add one or two more days of drying to be required. And I find you'll end up losing more colour with it sitting out for that extra day or two than the colour you saved keeping it in a narrow swath.

Around here, if you have the option you're far better to cut into as wide a swath as possible earlier in the day. That way the plants are fully exposed to the sun and can then remain in the light-phase of photosynthesis where they'll dry much (much) faster because they're still respiring. If you do it right (and have the option), that first day will have way more drying potential than any subsequent day because of the respiration. But for it to stay in the light-phase, it has to be exposed to the sun (wide swath). If you can cut early into a wide swath, it will often dry down below 50-60% that first day, which is what you want: If you can get it less than 60% that first day, then it's dry enough that it won't enter the dark-phase of photosynthesis that first night and will thus preserve its sugars.

People used to think that cutting later in the day was better because the plant produces its sugars during the daytime, so you want them to produce as much as possible before cutting. But the opposite has now been proven: Although the plant will have a little more sugar content if cut later in the day, it won't have dried down enough by sundown to prevent itself going into the dark-phase of photosynthesis. So that first night it will enter the dark-phase, during which it burns up all those sugars it accumulated through the day. Far better to cut earlier in the day into a wide swath - both for sugar content and to get the most bang for your buck drying down due to respiration. If you cut in the 11:00-1:00 window, it's still had enough time to produce a lot of sugars, but will also have a good chance of getting below 60% before nightfall to preserve those sugars.

Of course, that's not always possible. If you have wet and heavy land, you may need to cut into a narrow swath to let the land dry out beside it and then turn it onto the dry land. And if you're like most of us with a job off-the-farm, you usually end up having to cut after work, whenever time allows, even if it means less-optimal dry-down and an extra day or two.

 

[tom upton]

how everyone does alfalfa. I sell all my hay so color is very important. I cut today, leave dry day 2. Rake it with curtain up on rotary rake day 3, leave it dry on day 4, rake it with curtain down on day 5 and bale it on day 6. That seems to keep green color while keeping some leaves on and getting it baled and out of sun as fast as possible. Before anyone starts throwing rain in there, this is assuming no rain which I know is rough a lot of times. But this is my goal for getting the greenest product for the horse people.

Now for grass which most of the horse people want I cut today, dry day 2 rake curtain up day 3, rake curtain down day 4 and bale late day 4.

Weather not withstanding it depends on the time of the year. I have baled second cut that I didnt touch but was early in the season. This time of year around here you generaly need 4 good days for dry alfalfa hay but if at all possible I wont touch until the day of baling then turn it over with the inverter just as the dew is coming off usually mid morning. given a sunny day with some breeze we can usually start baling around 4 or 5. Also depends on how heavy the hay is. If a super heavy crop I will usually run the tedder fluffer over it day 2 or 3. Dad always said "the less you have to touch the hay the better it will be" The other thing he would say if I was getting frustrated waiting for good weather and/or hay to get dry enough to bale was " better to let the weather spoil it than spoil it yourself" Second cut this year has been a testament to his saying as we have only managed to get about 10 acres done waiting on decent weather. This week aint looking great either, and another thing Dad was pretty adamnant about was never cut alfalfa after the first week in September or you wont have much of a crop next year. Sad to say I have proved his theory to be correct once or twice!

 

[showcrop]

I am just retired from haying after 35 years. Soil and weather conditions here in the Northeast dictate that you ted your hay to get it dried down as quickly as possible. Here is the procedure that I settled on: I usually mowed in the evening so that the first rays of sun were drying my hay. I nearly always mowed into a narrow swath, just as everyone else in the area does. I would mow into a wide swath if the ground was dry, but usually it was moist enough that the tires would press some fresh cut grass down in many places where the tedder couldn't pull it out. After around five hours of drying both the hay and the ground between swaths, it was time to tedd it out. This meant that it was spread and drying for around eight hours that day. Second day it would be tedded a second time mid morning. Late afternoon it would be raked to minimize the damage from the dew, and additionally got any remaining wet bunches off the ground. Next day the windrows were "tipped over" mid morning, and baling would start early afternoon. After my first ten years or so my hay was always sold before it was cut, and I had a number of customers who bought from me for over twenty-five years.

 

[flying belgian]

Weather not withstanding it depends on the time of the year. I have baled second cut that I didnt touch but was early in the season. This time of year around here you generaly need 4 good days for dry alfalfa hay but if at all possible I wont touch until the day of baling then turn it over with the inverter just as the dew is coming off usually mid morning. given a sunny day with some breeze we can usually start baling around 4 or 5. Also depends on how heavy the hay is. If a super heavy crop I will usually run the tedder fluffer over it day 2 or 3. Dad always said "the less you have to touch the hay the better it will be" The other thing he would say if I was getting frustrated waiting for good weather and/or hay to get dry enough to bale was " better to let the weather spoil it than spoil it yourself" Second cut this year has been a testament to his saying as we have only managed to get about 10 acres done waiting on decent weather. This week aint looking great either, and another thing Dad was pretty adamnant about was never cut alfalfa after the first week in September or you wont have much of a crop next year. Sad to say I have proved his theory to be correct once or twice!

“Better to let the weather spoil it than to spoil it yourself” I like that.