Hay Customers?

[Hayboy83]

I have baled hay with my dad since I was in High School. It has been all prairie hay for cattle. Well this yar I sprigged some Jiggs, purchased equipment, fertilized, mowed, baled, and now selling for myself (I also partnered with my brother).
Anyhow, I got a call from a customer that needs his hay to be light green with minimal bleaching. To be honest I never heard of curing hay be referred to as bleaching it. I understand he wants good hay, I realize that I have a lot to learn from my customers.
Anyone else heard of any terms or requests that are new to them?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Jiggs is a hybrid bermuda. You can cut it on a hot day, and bale it the next day or two after all the dew is gone. I'm talking 100 degree days. It will have that green color to it still.

Horse customers are picky but pay top dollar.

 

[Hayboy83]

Thanks for the info Kyle. We usually cure it a day to prevent moisture in the bales. What is a good indication that the Jiggs is ready? Do you at temp, hours cured, and color?

 

[zzvyb6]

Bright sunlight lightens the hay to a washed out or even yellowish color. Too much raking or tedding, or exposure to sunlight in a barn will turn its color. I have lots of windows in my barn. Hay stored in the mow will have the bleached look on the sides of bales exposed to light. As soon as you pull them away, the hay behind them is unbleached.

This is for the owners benefit. Horses are color blind. I've seen bales sprayed with food coloring right there from the propionic acid injected into the bale chamber to prevent mold. The acid also bleaches the hay. You can tell. Smells like vinegar.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

This year we've had thick crops of hay. Most years, you can dry 1 day. If it rains on it, you need to add another full day to let it dry. The blades will be all dried out. I used to live in Manvel, back in 1979. When it stormed those 2 bad storms, 7 days apart on Friday nights. 30" rain in 24 hours on the first one, 24" the 2nd one.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Many horse hay customers will take square bales.

Welcome to the forum. there is a wealth of knowledge and many diverse, kind people willing to offer it here.

 

[Tx Jim]

Jiggs is a hybrid bermuda. You can cut it on a hot day, and bale it the next day or two after all the dew is gone. I'm talking 100 degree days. It will have that green color to it still.

Horse customers are picky but pay top dollar.

Rarely do I cut Coastal one day & bale it the next day because the relative humidity has gotten so high. Back when I started custom baling in '87 it was common to cut Coastal 1 day & bale the next but not in the last few yrs. I guess my relative humidity is just gotten too high. I know it's a lot more humid than when I was a youngster.

 

[joeu235]

We put up about 5000 bales of coastal bermuda for horse owners each year. They are very picky but the price can be 3x what a round bales sells for. Customers trickle in until around February and then it goes quickly.

In the summer we cut early in the morning and bale the next evening. Try to get 18% moisture content. My mom has a probe she sticks in the second bale out of the baler. The hay spends only couple hours in the field and gets immediately picked up. Usually the trailers are backed into the barn loaded and then unloaded the next morning.

 

[Hayboy83]

Thanks for the info guys, I REALLY appreciate it! Joeu235, I read some info printed out by Texas A&M and they said Bermuda should be baled with 18-20% moisture. If your gonna feed it to horses. I was looking into getting one of them moisture meters. They also gave a good idea on how to check moisture by using a 18" long×2" thick peice of PVC with screwed on caps. Put a hole on one cap, pack it with hay and stick the meter probe in there. I like y'alls idea better.

I plan on baling Nov 5, it's a 10 acres field. From what the weather report says, it'll be in the mid 80s. Y'all think cutting in the morning the day before will be ok with that temp? It's the third cut so it'll be all square bales. I'll keep y'all posted and take pics.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

You might need 2-3 days at least with these lower temps. Unless humidity is way low.

 

[joeu235]

I baled some Jiggs two weeks ago. Cut it Friday evening and baled it Sunday evening. It was cow hay for my cows so perfect was not a requirement, just dry enough to not mold and not so dry that all the leaves don't fall off. I would guess you need at least 3 days.

Another dryness method is to grab a hand full out of the windrow with both hands. Twist the hay like your peddling a bicycle with your hands 3 times. If almost everything breaks into two handfuls, its ready to bale. Jiggs seems to have more stems than coastal and some of the stems may not break.

One trick with moisture content. If its too dry in the evening, bale it the next morning when there is has a little dew on it.

 

[holeycow]

Making hay is an art.

The moisture in the ground, the moisture in the air, whether it's cloudy or sunny, the wind, the lay of the land, the type of equipment used, equipment settings, and the species/maturity of the grasses all have a bearing on when it is "ready to go".

Sometimes you bale in the morning when the dew just comes off, sometimes in the evening as the air cools and gets more humid. Sometimes in the dark, and on and on.

After a while you just get to know. Your nose is the most important sense required. Smell it as you are feeling it, bending it, breaking it. Check the heavy swath and the light swath. Get to know your fields and your grass.

Commit to memory what proper hay feels like in your hands and most importantly; smells like. Moisture meters are a somewhat crude way of compensating for a haymaker's lack of "feel" when making hay. Or sometimes when conditions are tricky the meter gives you one more piece of info to confirm your own senses.

It can be difficult to make perfect hay, especially when the weather is not cooperating.

Bottom line; it has to keep.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[Tx Jim]

Hayboy83
The few times I baled Coastal Bermuda at 20% moisture as indicated by my Delmhorst moisture tester it turned out musty/dusty. I try to stay around 15-16% moisture content for my hay.

 

[Hayboy83]

Thanks for y'alls input. Holycow, I like the handle by the way, you make a lot of good points on getting to know your land and how perfection comes with experience. I'm just getting started with this type of grass so hopefully I can master it soon.
@Jim- what model delmhorst do you own? Joeu235-which moisture meter are y'all running? I'm pretty excited about this next cut. We haven't baled square bales since I was a youngin.

 

[holeycow]

I don't own a moisture meter. I have played with a couple. I have no need of one. Not even a little bit. Ymmv.

Your nose and your hands, the air around you and the ground under you tells ALL of the story. The moisture meter tells you the moisture content of your sample, that is all.

The hay's condition frequently changes minute by minute...

 

[Tx Jim]

I don't own a moisture meter. I have played with a couple. I have no need of one. Not even a little bit. Ymmv.

Your nose and your hands, the air around you and the ground under you tells ALL of the story. The moisture meter tells you the moisture content of your sample, that is all.

The hay's condition frequently changes minute by minute...

May I ask how long have you been baling hay and approximately how many bales you have baled?

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Making hay is an art.

The moisture in the ground, the moisture in the air, whether it's cloudy or sunny, the wind, the lay of the land, the type of equipment used, equipment settings, and the species/maturity of the grasses all have a bearing on when it is "ready to go".

Sometimes you bale in the morning when the dew just comes off, sometimes in the evening as the air cools and gets more humid. Sometimes in the dark, and on and on.

After a while you just get to know. Your nose is the most important sense required. Smell it as you are feeling it, bending it, breaking it. Check the heavy swath and the light swath.Get to know your fields and your grass.

Commit to memory what proper hay feels like in your hands and most importantly; smells like. Moisture meters are a somewhat crude way of compensating for a haymaker's lack of "feel" when making hay. Or sometimes when conditions are tricky the meter gives you one more piece of info to confirm your own senses.

It can be difficult to make perfect hay, especially when the weather is not cooperating.

Bottom line; it has to keep.

Anyway, good luck!

I'll second this. I have baled hay for 15 years and I can tell when hay is ready by smell. I feed my own 40 horses and I don't like dealing with horse people. These are not backyard mutts either, well some of them are but the majority are show horses. Horse people think they know hay but its only what they have heard in conversation for the most part. I have never used a moisture meter and don't plan on getting one. I have let fields go that hay got rained on after the hay was dried for 2 days. Just take the hit, and spread it out with the brushhog. Its not worth baling.

 

[houstonscott]

I've seen balers with a spray system on them, what is it they spray and treat the hay with.... HS

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I've seen balers with a spray system on them, what is it they spray and treat the hay with.... HS

acid.

 

[holeycow]

May I ask how long have you been baling hay and approximately how many bales you have baled?

I've been making hay for over 25 years. I have lots of 30-60 acre fields of various grasses to bale. At this point I put up 600 to 1000 round bales a year for my own use. Occasionally I have to buy additional. We only get 1 cut around here.

I am thinking of making a change and might get back into making some small squares. That is a lot trickier than rounds.

Why do you ask?