# What do you do if your cut hay gets wet before baling?



## Follychoppins (9 July 2011)

Last weekend my farmer kindly cut and turned my hay. All was going well until the baler man was too busy to come and bale it for me on Monday and the rain began  It has been rained on and flattened for 4 days. The farmer is meant to be coming to turn it for me again today. It has gone a bit green underneath which the farmer assures me will be fine once it is dry again. I can't be the only unlucky person this has happened to either this year or previously. Advice please. Thankyou.


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## flowerlady (9 July 2011)

Re: What do you do if your cut hay gets wet before baling?

Cry


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## piebaldsparkle (9 July 2011)

Not great, but if it stays dry now and you can get it turned it will probably be fine.


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## Echo Bravo (9 July 2011)

Don't panic Mr Mannering, leave it to the farmer as he should know his job, they will just spread it again to dry out better, turn it, several times and then bale when dry and the other bloke is ready


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## Orangehorse (9 July 2011)

So long as it is baled when dry it will be OK - maybe not as much feeding value.

Mine got rained on quite a lot, over several days there was a shower which was enough to stop it being baled, but was eventually finished.  I got every old bale out to use first and guess which hay my horse prefers to eat if he is loose in the yard?  The new hay of course!


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## amage (9 July 2011)

Was it only turned once?? Get it turned and turned and turned and turned and then rake in and bale. Do give it a good few turns if weather will allow...


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## meesha (9 July 2011)

oh my god, poor you.  You will have to have it baled anyway to get it off the field so I would stick head in sand, get it baled and then well before winter open a bale and check the quality - if really rubbish you may be able to sell it for cattle/sheep or soak it for horses - hopefully though it will be ok.


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## Follychoppins (9 July 2011)

Thank-you everyone. The farmer told me not to worry and he is a decent chap so we will see what happens tomorrow and the next day. It is frustrating as it was so fabulous, however we have a very good doer so maybe a blessing in disguise if it isn't such good quality


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## Hedgehunter (9 July 2011)

pastie2 said:



			Hay is like food, the less it is handled the better it is. Hay that is turned and turned goes like sticks. The best thing to do is to row it up and let the ground dry before spreading it out , then there might be half a chance of getting hay.
		
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Thank god someone knows what they are talking about, don't touch it till a decent spell of weather forecast, keep smashing it around the parish and you will end up with straw!


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## jackessex (9 July 2011)

be carefull of nice farmer telling you it will be fine,im afraid this happened to ours and we lost over 700 bales


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## Dry Rot (9 July 2011)

Oh dear! Mine is also laying out in the rain as well with more rain forecast.

If it has been cut and not turned, I would say leave it until the weather turns fine again. But if it has already been spread out (tedded), I'd keep turning it whenever there is some sun and wind to dry to dry it off. If you can get it reasonably dry, row it up which will help keep it that way -- then spread out again when the weather is better. 

When it is first cut and just lying, moisture from the ground will keep it fresh -- a bit like flowers in a bowl of water -- even though it goes brown on top, it will still be green underneath for a good while. Once it has been spread out, that effect is lost and it will eventually go black and rotten underneath. Gentle turning will keep it aerated and slow down the rotting process. Yes, turning will shatter the leaves and stems and the rain will dissolve sugars and vitamins, but better that than no hay at all.

These days, all is seldom lost because if it gets to the stage where only a day or two of real hay making weather will save it (and the forecast is more rain) it can often be made into haylage.

So the answer is, "It all depends!"


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## amage (9 July 2011)

pastie2 said:



			Hay is like food, the less it is handled the better it is. Hay that is turned and turned goes like sticks.
		
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Yes I am well aware of that but if it has gotten wet then at first dry spell, turning two or three times will give the best result! Forage production is a big part of my job...i've seen the test results to prove what I am saying and seen the benefit in the forage quality. Turning wet hay can have a spin drier effect!


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## devilwoman (9 July 2011)

This happened to mine last year, I was frantic thinking i'd lost the whole lot, it ended up being rained on for days, but farmer was brilliant, let it dry completely before turning then letting it dry again, it all got baled and he only charged me half price for it and it was lovely hay, the horses couldn't get enough of it.


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## Mike007 (9 July 2011)

If a farmer is any good at his job ,he will have windrowed two swathes into one to reduce the rain damage.The top layer acts like thatch and it takes a LOT of rain to ruin it. It should be left well alone and not turned until a suitable weather opportunity occurs to dry it.The next stage is to move the windrow sideways onto the now dry ground and let the area the hay was on ,dry out. The next day (about 11 am ) spread the row for maximum drying effect.Row up again in the early evening. Repeat the procedure the next day and hopefully bale in the afternoon.Turning wet hay is complete c++k. If we gave up on every hay crop that got wet ,no hay would be made in most years.


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## 0ldmare (9 July 2011)

Agree with Pastie and Hedgehunter, too much thrashing it about turning is not a good plan!

I've had hay that's been rained on and as long as its allowed to dry out properly its usually fine. Horrible feeling though isn't it, you feel like sobbing as the rain starts!


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## Tnavas (10 July 2011)

Definately cry and rant and curse the baler men for being so mean to you - obviously your money is not worth as much as the person with the big field.

Rained on for 4 days - I'd be getting rid of it as it will not be any good for horses. You may get a dairy/dry stock farmer prepared to take it but to be honest it will be very poor hay.

I've been down the make my own hay road and will no longer do it. With a small quantity you will always be on the bottom of the list for cuttig and baling. I found it cheaper to graze the field and buy in good hay.

Tried making small bales of Balage but baler man didn't wrap it well enough so was a horrendously expensive exercise.


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## amage (10 July 2011)

pastie2 said:



			Well if you are so knowledgable and forage production is a big part of your job, I am quite amazed that you can spout such cr@p, equally amazed that you hold such a job.
		
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Crikey you are rude...OP has already stated the farmer is going to turn the hay for her. I merely said that more than one turn would be better for the hay to ensure full drying. Actually if the OP was my client i'd have taken samples across the sward by now and and analysed to ascertain whether it would be better at this stage to make haylage out of it...assuming of course that the grass was cut young enough to make good haylage. of course given how steep wrap prices have gone this year then OP may not want to go that route. I would also be putting an additive on whether hay or haylage to prevent heating and maximise the digestibility of the product, reduce the sugar and nutrient loss, inhibit moulds forming and protect the quality but am not going to advise OP to do that when I 1: haven't seen the grass sward, 2: don't know if her contractor has an applicator and 3: don't know is she willing to spend more money or has somebody in the vicinity able to advise her correctly on using one. In an ideal world Mike007's advice would be the best however if the weather suddenly takes a turn for the good then most contractors/farmers will be to busy to go to those lengths. The idea of baling to sell for cattle/cows is bloody ridiculous. Good cowmen will not feed bad forages to their animals and given the cost of inputs this year will not waste money on bad hay unless the want to hinder their animals performance. With feed prices potentially set to rise again due to worrying grain harvest crops then the forage is going to be even more crucial on farm and in yards!


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## scarymare (10 July 2011)

Don't panic

We tried making hay for 6 years in Aberdeenshire (went to haylage last year thankfully) However, despite it sometimes taking two weeks from cut to bale it was still OK.  Wouldn't have been feeding it to an event horse but for mine who winter off and out it was fine.  Only thing is you may need to supplement with hard feed.  

I'm afraid I agree with the turning though - if you look like you've got a small window the get farmer to move rows to the dry bits , let the wet rows dry and then turn twice a day once dew off fields.


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## Tnavas (10 July 2011)

A farmer friend of mine in the UK make the most amazing hay - they cut as soon as the dew is off. They then spread it out and row up before dew rises. Next morning when the dew is of it is spread out, a few hours later it is turned and spread out, then rowed up again in the evening. Next day it is spread and turned and then in the afternoon is rowed up and baled. It's brought in off the field as it's baled.

Their hay is bone dry, whispers when it falls apart when you cut the string. It can if cut too late lose it's seeds but these farmers seem to get it smack bang on and get it right every time. Ive never seen such lovely hay.


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## ILuvCowparsely (10 July 2011)

Just keep turning till dry.  Our first crop got soak. We'll drowned. For a week rained every. Day. Went brown when. Baled.  Horses loved it tho


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## Follychoppins (10 July 2011)

Thankyou again everyone. It is a bit dark but I picked up a handful and tried both my ponies with it and they hoovered it up. It is drying and the combination of leave it move it advice means I have left some and moved some but at least it is drying. I live in hope as always and if it turns out to be a total disaster I will just buy some in and try harder to get it right next year.


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