Midwest/Southern hay cutting/baling... Why is it done the way it's done?

[Dadnatron]

I am from Southwest Colorado. I grew up haying as a way to feed our cattle through the winter. I've spent many monotonous days, eating dust as I baled on a JD 4020. We always had it custom cut, as a swather was not going to pay for itself on our acerage and we had plenty of other things to be doing at that time.

We never touched it after it was cut, unless we had to turn it because of an unexpected rain. Otherwise, we simply baled the windrows the swather initially made. Hay was mostly alfalfa with some grass.

Skip 30yrs later, I am living in Kentucky, and I see a lot of variation on cutting. I suspect this has to do with climate, weather, and rain, but I want to have a better idea. In SW Colorado, it is dry as a bone most of the time, so we had no issues with mold or long drying, while cut and immediately windrowed. However, I suspect that the reason it seems most hay in the midwest is cut 'loose and flat' (I don't know if there is a name for it) and then raked into rows at a later date is simply to better dry it. However, I don't know this is true. The 'rotary cutters' etc I see do not condition the stems by crimping them, so in all actuality, I don't really understand the process of making hay in the area.

Will someone give me a quick rundown on why haying is 'done the way its done' in KY? I have a lot of acreage, and will likely be having some custom work done this summer for an intended Teff planting. But, I do have access to an old NH square baler, and perhaps, in the future, might put my son to work and save on the custom split. I just don't know enough about it in this area to feel confident I wouldn't be wasting both hay and diesel at this point.

 

[AKfish]

I grew up in western SD. 16"-17" annual precip. Likely a bit wetter than your experience in CO. But, considerably drier than KY!

There are a multitude of differences that you're trying to recognize between CO, 30 years ago and KY today.

Look, ask and listen to the folk's that are making haying your area. Give yourself a couple seasons to filter the different techniques and discern the grower's that are the most successful at raising great hay.

Then, if you want to buy yourself and your son some "extra" work... Go for it!

However, as you already suspect - alot of the difference is moisture. Then there's improved genetics, new forage varieties and yield, yield, yield.

Throw in mechanization to reduce labor and time and alot of money... And you're probably gonna have a better idea of what the differences are from then and today.

 

[M5farms]

Down south we only get ideal windows for making hay in 3 to 4 days. Over 50" yearly rainfall and 70 to 80% humidity most days. Hay conditioners are still used on small acreage but because of the slower cutting time it can and usually gets wet. Ive cut thousands of acres on a heston mower conditioner . The disk mowers you are seeing are very economical and fast , You can lay a lot of hay down in one day. If everything is right the 2nd day you can tedder it after the sun heats up. The 3rd day you rake it into windrows and bale it. Down here you don't have alfalfa or heavy stemmed grass , Our summer grass are more fine and leafy so they don't have to be conditioned.

 

[Dadnatron]

I didn't think about the stem density not requiring conditioning. The grass I intend to plant this year is Teff, a very fine stemmed, leafy grass. I'll have to check into whether it needs to be conditioned, but now that I think about it, it is likely that it won't.

I'll have approximately 70ac or so in Teff.

 

[Tx Jim]

Relative humidity wasn't near as high 30 yrs back as compared to today in N Texas where I live which slows hay drying time. Back in '87 when I started custom baling one could cut/windrow Coastal today & bale it tomorrow with no molding problems. Today it's cut hay & lay it flat and it probably will be dry enough(15% moisture) to bale on the 3rd day.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

You wouldn't dare cut hay in PA and bale it the next day I don't care what kind of machinery you are using on a first cutting. We usually cut with a discbine or a haybine and they both have conditioners on them. Depending on the rain gap, sunshine, RH%, and temperature you sort of get a feel for what the hay needs to be able to dry. Thick heavy windrows may need a pass with the tedder to spread them out. A light 3rd(rare) or 4th(very rare) cutting may not need to be touched except to triple or quadruple the windrows to make baling faster. IF there is a heavy dew in the morning, you can't usually touch the hay till after 10 or 11am. It will just trap moisture under the hay then if you move it. Also, if the ground is holding alot of moisture from a wet spell, you need to move the hay to a different area because it will pull the moisture from the ground while the areas between the windrows will be dry from the new sun exposure.


In short, making hay is part art and part science. There is no substitute for experience in the climate you want to make hay in.

 

[cat fever]

Dadnatron, I think RedNeckRacin hit the nail on the head. In the west the ground is so dry it helps dry the hay, along with low humidity. Where you are now the humidity and ground moisture keeps the hay wetter longer. Where you have done haying in the past I'm sure you'll pick it up no problem in Kentucky.

For what's it worth, I have cut say Monday morning and baled Tuesday evening. Try that in a high humidity/wetter area.
Look how fast the oats dried out after cutting/baling last year. 3 days total time. I am only 70 miles from the Bonneville Salt Flats so it is dry here.

 

[vsteel]

I grew up in western South Dakota as well. We always used a windrower with a 15 foot head and no conditioner. We used a draper head to keep from taking the leaves off if it got to dry in a bad year. Normal years we could bale in 2 to 3 days.

 

[ArlyA]

Gee, all these SD guys.... I grew up in central, eastern SD and there was no hay crimpers or conditions to be found. Untll I got out of that area, I seen one for the 1st time.

Arly, will be there to visit family and friends come June. A

 

[svenlylethor]

I just got back from a hay conference. Technocrats will always be different by area. I'm in Utah where it's dry heat so hay dries quickly. I have a rotor and it has a conditioner. It's a dream compared to a sickle swather.

At the conference they said that you should cut it spread out and let it dry a little, then rake it together in the morning so you don't shatter the leaves and it cuts down the drying time.

A lot of farmers were against raking. If you rake Alfalfa above 45 percent moisture then you won't lose a lot of leaves... Rake it when it's dry and you're just messing up your hay.