# Rained on alfalfa.....what's it worth?



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Had some alfalfa get rained on in the windrow two days in a row. One field was black, slimey, and moldy so I know it's junk but the other field didn't get enough rain to soak the windrow all the way through and it was salvageable. I know it's not horse hay but im thinking it might be good cow hay. The exterior of the windrow got kind of a funky smell and is completely bleached out but it did not mold or must. I kicked the windrows out with the Tedder yesterday and got it raked back up and baled this morning. It doesn't have a lot of color but doesn't smell too bad now that it is dried back out and is not molded. I baled it in 4x5 net wrapped rolls. Any idea on how to price this hay and what it would be worth? There are no other round bales of alfalfa sold around here so I have nothing to price it against. If it had not got rained on it would have been square baled and sold for $300 a ton.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Don't worry that it's alfalfa. What are round bales of decent grass cow hay selling for? That's your competition basically.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> Don't worry that it's alfalfa. What are round bales of decent grass cow hay selling for? That's your competition basically.


 $25-$30 just about regardless of quality. Most of it is fescue with a lot of other weedy grass and broadleaves mixed in. Basically unmanaged fields that are cut and baled twice a year. Many of which are never fertilized. This alfalfa has got to be worth a lot more than that.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> $25-$30 just about regardless of quality. Most of it is fescue with a lot of other weedy grass and broadleaves mixed in. Basically unmanaged fields that are cut and baled twice a year. Many of which are never fertilized. This alfalfa has got to be worth a lot more than that.


Theoretically, of course it is. The trouble is you're going to have to really differentiate your hay in what is a salvage quality market. If cow buyers are accustomed to getting their hay for $30, you're going to have to do a serious marketing effort to get most of them to even consider $40. You probably only need one buyer so it's not like you can't aim high, but once you enter that salvage territory, you're going to be at the mercy of that market.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> Theoretically, of course it is. The trouble is you're going to have to really differentiate your hay in what is a salvage quality market. If cow buyers are accustomed to getting their hay for $30, you're going to have to do a serious marketing effort to get most of them to even consider $40. You probably only need one buyer so it's not like you can't aim high, but once you enter that salvage territory, you're going to be at the mercy of that market.


 Yep, I realize that and I'm planning on aiming high. With it being alfalfa I can use that as a selling point since that is a novelty item here and also the fact it should have a lot more feed value thAn regular old fescue hay. I just wasn't sure what alfalfa of the quality I described would actually be worth from a feeding standpoint irregardless of my local market. For all I know about rained on alfalfa it could only be worth mulch....kind of doubt it though. I guess I would be interested in hearing what this hay would be worth in other areas.


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## ozarkian (Dec 11, 2010)

i would have it tested and then price it according to protein levels. A lab test should always justify the selling price.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

We call that grinder hay. $25-$35/ton here. Rained on alfalfa (depends on how much rain) isn't all that bad, but loses digestbility pretty quick. How much bloom did the hay have dictates dollar value too.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

pics would sure help


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

stack em up said:


> We call that grinder hay. $25-$35/ton here. Rained on alfalfa (depends on how much rain) isn't all that bad, but loses digestbility pretty quick. How much bloom did the hay have dictates dollar value too.


 Im guessing the grinder hay your talking about is like the unmanaged fescue hay I was talking about and not the rained on alfalfa? I'm not fully sure how much rain this alfalfa got.....we had a half inch at the house and one field got way more than that and the other appears to be less than that. The hay down inside the windrow didn't even get wet but by the time I got it all back dry there wasn't much of any color left. This is the first time I have had any amount of alfalfa get rained on......alfalfa bleaches out way worse than grass hay that was rained on. It was late bud into first bloom when I cut so it would have been some pretty good stuff.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

carcajou said:


> pics would sure help


 Didn't take any before it was baled. I can take one of a bale but not sure how much you will be able to tell from that. Not much color left.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

We've been fairly lucky at dodging the rain but the second cutting is really dragging out two weeks ago I made some second cutting that was about 2/3 bloom and if that had had a shower or two I don't think it hurt it much. Just the week before I made some 2/3 Alfalfa 1/3 Orchard Grass horse hay and the alfalfa was in full bloom for at least a week before we cut it. And that he did not get a shower either and it's a good thing it didn't. If that type of hay would get one shower being that mature it would deteriorate very quickly it does not smell rank yet but it does lack that good smell. There are people looking for hay right now and I sold every stalk of second cutting so far that I bailed.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I pulled some hay out of one of the bales so I could get a picture of it. It actually looks better in the bale than it did in the windrow.

I'm thinking it would be some pretty good cow hay but here is the kicker though.....the bales got 2.5 inches of rain on them last night and apparently alfalfa doesn't shed water at all unlike grass hay. The hay is soaked at least 6" or more down into the bale on the top and sides. The bales are heating as well where they have soaked up the rain.....the hay was dry when I baled it. I'm sure they are worth even less now.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

6"? Net wrap?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> 6"? Net wrap?


 Yep, and they are net wrapped. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it myself.....of course I'm accustomed to seeing round bales of grass which shed water pretty good and the first couple rains don't hurt too much. Wet alfalfa seems to be a way different animal than grass hay.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

FarmerCline said:


> Yep, and they are net wrapped. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it myself.....of course I'm accustomed to seeing round bales of grass which shed water pretty good and the first couple rains don't hurt too much. Wet alfalfa seems to be a way different animal than grass hay.


Thats one of the reasons I like at least a touch of orchard grass in my alfalfa,the bales shed rain much better.Baleing a little on the tougher side is better then to dry also,bales are more solid and packed better so they shed water better.Leaves shed water stems don't.


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

FarmerCline said:


> Yep, and they are net wrapped. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it myself.....of course I'm accustomed to seeing round bales of grass which shed water pretty good and the first couple rains don't hurt too much. Wet alfalfa seems to be a way different animal than grass hay.


Last year I had 2nd cutting bundles rained on before they got moved out of the field, maybe 1/2 ". One bundle was the one that transitioned from pure alfalfa to mixed grass . The alfalfa was soaked top to bottom and molded before I got it all fed. The rest of bundle was only wet on top bale. Most of those bales dried out after a lot of hours of sunshine.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Good to know that I'm not going crazy when I said the bales were soaked 6" down. I guess every rain now they will just get wetter and wetter down through the bale? This wet alfalfa seems to be some nasty stuff.....slick and slimy where it is wet and the smell reminds me of ammonia. Bet I won't be able to sell theses rolls for anything.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> Good to know that I'm not going crazy when I said the bales were soaked 6" down. I guess every rain now they will just get wetter and wetter down through the bale? This wet alfalfa seems to be some nasty stuff.....slick and slimy where it is wet and the smell reminds me of ammonia. Bet I won't be able to sell theses rolls for anything.


Eventually they're going to get a crust that armors them more but the sooner you could move them the better.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I've baled alfalfa that looked at least that bad. Wanna say the RFV was around 100, which isn't good at all, but it's not horrible either. We fed it to dairy calves and heifers and they ate it right up. Not sure what to say about the rain penetration in the bales. I've been round baling a little alfalfa (custom) for 8 years now, no one has ever complained that the bales got damaged from setting out side, which they all did for most of a year.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

letting round bales sit outside is increasing loss by 25% to 30% I make $10 to $15 more /bale then rounds stored outside.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Beav said:


> letting round bales sit outside is increasing loss by 25% to 30% I make $10 to $15 more /bale then rounds stored outside.


 Yeah, I know there will be a good bit of loss with round bales stored outside. I just wasn't expecting them to get wet that deep in the bale after just one rain......with grass hay it would take a while for them to get that much spoilage. The barn is almost full and I'm running out of room for good squares or I would have stacked them inside to start with.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

that is with all types of round bales in my area I have 3 or 4 hay tarps that I can put 60 or so round bales I use when the shed is full at $500 each they have paid for themselves 3 or 4 times. Inland hay tarps from Indiana makes all sizes good tie down system.


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