Heavy dew v rainfall

[davidroberts30]

How much mm of water would a heavy dew leave on grass?

 

[PSQ]

I've been pondering this myself with cropping over the last 6 dry weeks.
I would guess the longer the grass / crop / leaf area, then the more dew will condense on it and run down the stem ?
Ergo, dew mm depends on size of crop. 10" well tillered wheat gets a fair bit, bare soil / recently sown spring crops get sweet FA.

 

[livestock 1]

Been thinking the same thing here. Had fert on over a fortnight with no rain. Dew seems very light not enough to dampen the bike tyres whilst lambing but different story when silageing waiting till 10 or 11 for the dew to go off

 

[livestock 1]

I've been pondering this myself with cropping over the last 6 dry weeks.
I would guess the longer the grass / crop / leaf area, then the more dew will condense on it and run down the stem ?
Ergo, dew mm depends on size of crop. 10" well tillered wheat gets a fair bit, bare soil / recently sown spring crops get sweet FA.

A decent crop will catch and hold more water

 

[farmerm]

A decent crop will catch and hold more water

But it will also have a greater surface area to transpire water back to the atmosphere....

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Depends how much grass and how well it covers the soil. You can catch a lot and then have it all whipped away if there is soil visible between plants

 

[davidroberts30]

Just pondering really as i cut grass yesterday ?‍and it had 2mm overnight in the gauge
In the field the last 1 I got to cut theres hardly moisture left on the standing grass but the mown grass has a few droplets on,I'm not worried the tedder will sort it out.

Just got me thinking that I could have seen it as wet with 2mm on as a heavy dew falling

 

[livestock 1]

But it will also have a greater surface area to transpire water back to the atmosphere....

Possibly but a short open crop wouldn’t catch and hold it in the first place to loose it

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Just pondering really as i cut grass yesterday ?‍and it had 2mm overnight in the gauge
In the field the last 1 I got to cut theres hardly moisture left on the standing grass but the mown grass has a few droplets on,I'm not worried the tedder will sort it out.

Just got me thinking that I could have seen it as wet with 2mm on as a heavy dew falling

I'd agree, and so would our cat.
She's been out mousing in the grass behind the barn this morning and came in looking pretty wet, just from dewy grass.

We catch a lot of dew and keeping the soil surface moisture constant is no.2 priority behind infiltrating heavy rain events.

 

[yellowbelly]

I'd agree, and so would our cat.
She's been out mousing in the grass behind the barn this morning and came in looking pretty wet, just from dewy grass. View attachment 875613
We catch a lot of dew and keeping the soil surface moisture constant is no.2 priority behind infiltrating heavy rain events.

Bit disappointed to see you feed your cat Pete - I thought you NZ guys left your livestock to forage for themselves with no supplementary concentrates

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Bit disappointed to see you feed your cat Pete - I thought you NZ guys left your livestock to forage for themselves with no supplementary concentrates

She needs it, unlike her fat-ass carpet-shark colleague Fox. He's close to 7kg at 2 years old.

They probably still catch a dozen mice each a day out of the grass, it's funny because they've learnt to come out when I move the mob and catch all the mice they flush out of cover - who needs hunting dogs?? ?