Haymaking quandary.

[neilo]

I have a field of hay down. It’s only 8ac and a lightish crop of mostly ryegrass, with a couple of big trees in it, and bounded by woodland that puts it in shade after 6pm. It was cut last Thursday afternoon (couldn’t cut sooner as sprayed to clean up nettles & thistles) and is nearly there. It was damp underneath when I tedder it at lunchtime, from the dew overnight, and hardly drying weather today.
It’s almost there, but not quite. Looking at the forecast (strong possibility of thunderstorms on Thursday/Friday, which won’t help my Winter Barley), do I leave it for hay or chop/wrap it and risk it going mouldy?

I don’t want to be the only person in the country stupid enough to have hay spoilt through be rained on this year.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Would think it's got to be worth wrapping unless your forecast improves? Fodder already short this year so should be very saleable to recoup wrapping costs?

 

[Al R]

Risk it! God loves a trier!

Surely mown Thursday it is dry enough already?

My Neighbour mowed his Red clover 9pm last night, hell of a heavy dew overnight but very dusty and high amount of pod shatter baling at 6 tonight. 5bales an acre as opposed to the 12 bales/ acre of first cut.

 

[yellowbelly]

Bale it first thing in the morning if you're going to wrap it. In the days when we made a lot of haylage, that's what we always did if we had some that was 'getting a bit dry'. It always goes 'backwards' a bit overnight.

It's funny, however long a dry spell is, there's always somebody who needs it to last just one more day longer

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Where you been

 

[hendrebc]

Id try for hay as its only one field. Only need some sun on it and a bit of wind youd ted it rake and bale it in no time anf you have 2 whole days till then. Especially if your doing round bales theres nothing to lose. If they get rained on badly you can just wrap them anyway theyll be fine. He who dares wins

 

[neilo]

Where you been

In my defence, everything else is undercover, baled nice and green, and stacked in columns on pallets as instructed by the masses on here.

It’s just the last field, which needed tidying up with a sprayer before I could cut it. It was grazed tight six weeks ago, so hardly worth cutting before.
Given the tree cover, I wouldn’t try to make hay in that field ordinarily.

 

[yellowbelly]

I was trying to like that post of yours @Bury the Trash but all I get is this.......

What on earth have you been doing? Are you on the naughty step and banned from getting 'likes'

 

[neilo]

Risk it! God loves a trier!

Surely mown Thursday it is dry enough already?

My Neighbour mowed his Red clover 9pm last night, hell of a heavy dew overnight but very dusty and high amount of pod shatter baling at 6 tonight. 5bales an acre as opposed to the 12 bales/ acre of first cut.

Ryegrass stems are still a tad ‘sappy’, along with heavy dew here every night still (which is just about keeping grass alive). But yes, i’d Have thought it should be fit by now too, especially given last weekend’s temperatures.

 

[ajcc]

Nice try.....no rain about for Welshpool. Next weeks forecast rain will doubtless be amended and disappear over the weekend. Like gold at end of rainbow, or stepping on your own shadow!

 

[Ukjay]

I was trying to like that post of yours @Bury the Trash but all I get is this.......
View attachment 692244

What on earth have you been doing? Are you on the naughty step and banned from getting 'likes'

Looks like the update for the site has crashed it again. There was the same issue last month for a lot of us.

 

[Danllan]

...I don’t want to be the only person in the country stupid enough to have hay spoilt through be rained on this year.

You won't / wouldn't be, but nobody else would admit it...

 

[Joe]

It was grazed tight six weeks ago, so hardly worth cutting before.


I read this and sobbed a little, sowed redstart, grass and mowed silage here 7 weeks ago and no rain since. Nothing has grown and nothing is growing, mad the differences in ground in this drought.....

I'd be tempted to wrap btw, especially if have loads of hay already under cover

 

[It was already broken.]

'Hay is for gamblers' was a post on here last year I remember. I was going to bale the last of mine today. Combines started here yesterday. Drizzling rain now. Think I will spend the morning trying to change a couple of springs on the haybob.

 

[DeeGee]

I have a field of hay down. It’s only 8ac and a lightish crop of mostly ryegrass, with a couple of big trees in it, and bounded by woodland that puts it in shade after 6pm. It was cut last Thursday afternoon (couldn’t cut sooner as sprayed to clean up nettles & thistles) and is nearly there. It was damp underneath when I tedder it at lunchtime, from the dew overnight, and hardly drying weather today.
It’s almost there, but not quite. Looking at the forecast (strong possibility of thunderstorms on Thursday/Friday, which won’t help my Winter Barley), do I leave it for hay or chop/wrap it and risk it going mouldy?

I don’t want to be the only person in the country stupid enough to have hay spoilt through be rained on this year.

Why would it go mouldy if wrapped Neil? We make almost all our haylage here as virtually damp hay and it makes a lovely product when the bales are opened in the winter, horses and cattle love it and the customers always ask for the dry bales.

If you are in any doubt about it being fit for hay especially so under the trees etc. then bale it when as damp as possible and triple wrap it. As others have said it will be a very saleable and valuable product this year!

 

[neilo]

Why would it go mouldy if wrapped Neil? We make almost all our haylage here as virtually damp hay and it makes a lovely product when the bales are opened in the winter, horses and cattle love it and the customers always ask for the dry bales.

If you are in any doubt about it being fit for hay especially so under the trees etc. then bale it when as damp as possible and triple wrap it. As others have said it will be a very saleable and valuable product this year!

True. I wrapped the headlands on some hay last year and it came back at 85%DM when we tested it IIRC, without any mould. Just trying to justify saving some money really I guess....

Scorching hot again here today. Tedder at 10am and just having a cuppa before getting off raking up. Baler coming at 2:30 with the intention of wrapping first time round and then seeing what it looks like.

 

[andybk]

it will only be carp under hedges and trees , best wrapped and forgot for winter belly fill , make hay in middles , nothing worse than coarse dodgy heavy hay bales ,

 

[neilo]

All baled into hay. Even under the woods it was only 13%.

Nothing to see here.....

 

[davidroberts30]

I have a field of hay down. It’s only 8ac and a lightish crop of mostly ryegrass, with a couple of big trees in it, and bounded by woodland that puts it in shade after 6pm. It was cut last Thursday afternoon (couldn’t cut sooner as sprayed to clean up nettles & thistles) and is nearly there. It was damp underneath when I tedder it at lunchtime, from the dew overnight, and hardly drying weather today.
It’s almost there, but not quite. Looking at the forecast (strong possibility of thunderstorms on Thursday/Friday, which won’t help my Winter Barley), do I leave it for hay or chop/wrap it and risk it going mouldy?

I don’t want to be the only person in the country stupid enough to have hay spoilt through be rained on this year.

take 1 for the team

 

[hendrebc]

All baled into hay. Even under the woods it was only 13%.

Nothing to see here.....

I knew it would come