# Raking the day before baling?



## ElkHunter (May 2, 2013)

Newbie here. I have hay down and we have been getting intermittent light showers for the past few days. Nothing crazy, just occasional short showers. Hay is still wet. I work full time so I have to hay around my work schedule. My question is this... We are supposed to get two good days of weather tomorrow and Thursday with hopefully lots of Colorado sunshine. I would like to bale Thursday evening after work. For me, raking Wednesday evening would be best for my schedule. I know Thursday morning raking would be ideal but I would have to find someone else to do it for me. Any significant problems raking 24 hours before baling?


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## DSLinc1017 (Sep 27, 2009)

I wouldn't rake if its still wet. The hay under will never dry, if you do, you will most likely have to rake it again..... Some times again, and again.

I have raked the day before if its dry and I have no choice. Be careful tho, if the ground is wet, and there isn't much stubble that wind row could soak up some of that ware.

On the same note I have raked, Into a real tall wind row ( rotary rake). With real dry weather and a good breeze and have had good drying results.

It comes down to the weather! 
I'm sure others here will give you more accurate advice!

Good luck!


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

I have hay down and we have been getting intermittent light showers for the past few days. Nothing crazy, just occasional short showers. Hay is still wet. I work full time so I have to hay around my work schedule. My question is this... We are supposed to get two good days of weather tomorrow and Thursday with hopefully lots of Colorado sunshine. I would like to bale Thursday evening after work. For me, raking Wednesday evening would be best for my schedule. I know Thursday morning raking would be ideal but I would have to find someone else to do it for me. Any significant problems raking 24 hours before baling?

Your Situation may have different demands. But the Universal truth is valid here and there.

The Humidity is what is our major factor. 
One truth is we can not field dry hay if their is no drying weather. Irregardlessly!

The golden rule is not to rake hay when the hay is less than 40% Moisture. 
The first truth is with a humidity ( down next to the hay ) is 90% the hay will be No Lower Than 40%.
What this does not address is the different drying rates for leaves and stems. In theory the leaves could be 20% moisture while the stems are 60% moisture, average 40%.
That is trouble. When finished raking that hay you will have a windrow of damp stems and a field covered with dry leaves.
Ideally the hay has cured down enough the first day so the leaves are dry enough to not have respiration over night. This can happen if the hay is in a wide swath, behind the mower.
The stems could still be 60% moisture.
The next morning with the night dew (90% humidity) you can rake the hay, save the leaves and that day the stems will dry some more.
The following day it may be possible to bale.
Universal truth is 70% humidity the hay will be no drier than 18 to 20% moisture. ( small square bales)

Universal truth is 65% humidity the hay will be no drier than 16 to 18% moisture. ( Round Bales )

Hopefully the night before Stems were stem snapping dry, then with the overnight humidity the stems will still be stem snapping dry but the leave will be 30% moisture. Average 18% moisture and good to bale.
With both stems and leaves at 20% moisture the hay will sweat more, loose more leaves than desired and end up with hay that is 20% moisture but 15% of you dry matter is laying on the ground and your hay is a number of percentage points less protein.
Now if you wish you could bale just as the average bale reaches 20% moisture. In this case the stems may be 30% moisture and the leaves 10% moisture, average 20%, but the hay will be closer to 25% moisture and you will have a bale of wet stems, ripe to mold and heat.

The devil is in the details and there are a number of details.

It is so simple a backward Texan can understand it. 
Reverse this and it is reasonable to bale hay with dry leaves and still damp stems.

You can write me or we can meet at the next AFGC Conference, come January.


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## terraceridge (Jul 21, 2011)

One of the results of raking the day before baling is that the dew only sets on top of the windrow, not across the whole field. This can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on your climate.


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## ElkHunter (May 2, 2013)

Wow, thats a lot of information!

I cut with a swather and it has been sitting since. Laid out in swaths. Haven't touched the hay since it was cut. Mixture of about 60% alfalfa and 40% grass. Definitely still fairly wet due to the occasional showers.

Should be good weather the next couple of days. Forecast tomorrow calls for humidity in the 30-40% range with sunshine to partly cloudy and high in the mid-upper 80's. Thursday looks very sunny and warmer with less humidity. I am hoping we have a good drying day tomorrow then maybe rake after work and let it sit until Thursday after work and start baling. I don't know....


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Man this is a tough one since you can't rake at the best time. I guess this is what I would do if it was me. Check the hay late afternoon tomorrow. See if it is mostly cured. If it is fairly cured wait until at least dark to rake so you can save some of the alfalfa leaves. This time of year it gets humid faster right after dark over here on the eastern slope. If it isn't mostly cured I would wait another day and gamble. I think it would be better raking at dusk/dark then first thing in the morning especially if you happen to have a heavy dew morning. You don't want to rake dewey hay onto dewey growing hay. That will take longer to dry. Just make sure the stems of the alfalfa is cured. That is the most important part. This time of year you have wiggle room with grass hay.


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## farmboy9510 (Feb 16, 2009)

Here in Ontario we would never get away with raking the day before baling the hay will always be to tough on the bottom of the windrow


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I prefer to rake day before baleing.Rakeing in the morning with some dew or if really dewy as it if burning off.Hay is around 40% moisture with some wet spots on bottom of windrow yet.V rakeing 2 windrows together making a 5' wide fluffy windrow for rd baler.If it is to wet it won't be a fluffy windrow.More like 2 ropes.Baleing the next morning as dew is comeing off loosing very little leaves.

One thing for sure every day is different.Depending on humidity,wind and time of yr you never know what time of day it will be.It could be 4AM or noon.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

There are some real words of wisdom in this thread.

raking the day before baling is that the dew only sets on top of the windrow, not across the whole field. This can be beneficial or detrimental,* depending on your climate*.
Just* make sure the stems of the alfalfa is cured*. That is the most important part. This time of year you have wiggle room with grass hay.

never get away with raking the day before baling the hay will always be to tough on the bottom of the windrow again *depending on your climate*

rakeing 2 windrows together making a 5' wide fluffy windrow for rd baler.If it is to wet it won't be a fluffy windrow.More like 2 ropes.Baleing the next morning as dew is comeing off loosing very little leaves.

*One thing for sure every day is different. Depending on humidity,wind and time of yr you never know what time of day it will be.It could be 4AM or noon.*
Raking to dry hay will in fact build some nice ropes of hay, plus some real wet slugs. Thank one and all.


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## ElkHunter (May 2, 2013)

Awesome advice so far. Here is where I am at. I have to be at work at 6:30am every morning and leave at 3:00 every afternoon. Therefore, mid morning raking is not possible this time around. So, I can either rake super early before work the day of baling or rake the evening before baling. I figure raking this evening would be best. The weather looks great today but I still expect the hay at the bottom of the swath to be a little wet. Thats because of the rain the last few days. So, if I can get that turned over to dry before and after the dew hits it, baling tomorrow afternoon is possible. Again, this is not ideal but what better options do I have? Tell me where I am wrong here.


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## ElkHunter (May 2, 2013)

Well, if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Lol. I decided to rake into windrows late this afternoon, weather was great all day and looked great for the evening. I was a little less than halfway through raking when I noticed the clouds starting to form. Stopped the tractor and decided to go in for dinner in order to see what the weather was going to do. Looked at the radar and the only disturbance in Western Colorado decided to center itself over my hay field. Rained for a little bit, not a lot of rain but enough to wet the field and make me call it a night. Didn't want to rake a wet field. Have a little less than half of the field raked. I think I will rake tomorrow and bale immediately after. Warmest day in a while tomorrow so the hay should be pretty dry prior to raking. Question...Do you think I should re-rake the rained on windrows to fluff them up and turn them over prior to baling?


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

You probably won't know whether you'll need to re-rake until you get home from work tomorrow. Depending on how much rain (and many other factors already discussed in this thread) it may be a toss up. But you should figure on raking it. That way if you don't have to it will be a bonus instead of planning not to and having to do it at the last minute.


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## Hand&Hand Farms (Feb 5, 2011)

We rake the day before alot here in MS. I sort of like baling the next day, the windrows lay down some as not to drag on bottom of tractor and hang up on the drawbar. Since school started back and lost my help during the week it makes things easier for me. Cut one day and next morning, rake that afternoon, cut more the third morning and bale that afternoon. I can average 180 to over 200 rolls a day. I save the square baling for weekends.


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