# Cutting in the afternoon



## farmboy9510 (Feb 16, 2009)

Hi Guys,
This year I will be starting work at 5am and getting of around 2pm. So my hay will be getting cut in the afternoon. What are your thoughts on this? How would you guys do it?
I'm really looking for advice.

Thank you

Alex


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## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

Here i have to cut and bale with the weather, So i cut all day and night if i have to, I rake before it gets to dry and bale till i get done, It will be raining the next day . Here we may have 4 days of dry weather at a time so putting up hay is a rats race.
THOMAS


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## chief-fan (Aug 27, 2009)

I don't really see any problem with cutting in the afternoon. I don't like to cut when there is heavy dew on the crop as it takes that much longer for it to dry. I have cut a lot more in the afternoon than before noon by far. You have to put it down before you can put it up so when it is ready and the window is there, cut it.


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## kyfred (Dec 23, 2009)

As of right now I drive a truck from 3:25am to 11:55am. Do what ever you have to too get by. Around here not to many people make a living farming full time. Small farms here is going to be a thing of the past. Just about everyone here has to work off the farm to get by. Cows will eat hay no matter what time of the day it is cut. It beats a snowball. The weather is what you have to watch. Hopefully one day we all can farm the way it should be done. Life is too short to worry about that. Have Fun In What You Do.


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## kfarm_EC_IL (Aug 5, 2008)

I would agree with BC Fence got to cut when you can. Weather is hard to beat and if you wait for an ideal condition it will rarely be there. This last year I was thankful to get anything baled and most of the time I was cutting while due was still on inorder to get everything done. If concerned about cutting in the afternoon then I might cut in the evening. I have cut well into the evening before. Not sure where your from but my advice would be to make it fit your needs and time. Good luck Mark


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## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

In agreement with the group...it comes down to what you can do where you live...in Indiana there is a dew much of the time until late morning and I cut after that is off when I can. Last year was rough here, wet as heck and I cut a lot well into the evening. In fact, to get a lot of the first cut up I resorted to round baling the whole first cut...to get off and look forward to that second, third cut the horse guys I sell to ask for anyway. Some of my hay last year even got rained on while down. I too have cut most in the afternoon and have that day job problem discussed by others. Do know some guys out west have to wait for a dew because of the dry weather. Baling at night to keep some leaves on, who would believe that in humid Indiana. Like kfred stated, l enjoy it while I can and go with the flow...won't ever get that that perfect weather...would be like bowling 300.


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## leenertshay (Mar 17, 2010)

I cut as much of my hay in the afternoon as I can. There are more nutrients in the stems and leaves in the afternoon.


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## DKFarms (Aug 11, 2008)

The weather determines when I cut, however, if conditions allow, I will cut hay that is destined for my horse customers late in the afternoon because the nutrient levels are higher and the sugar content is higher, making the hay more palatable to finicky horses. At least that's what customers have been telling me.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Hay Wilson had a thread on the best time of day to cut. I believe he said to get the highest testing hay, it should be cut at solar noon. The plant has taken as much sugar as it's going to by that time and if cut and conditioned properly the respiration should be done before dark so the plant doesn't continue to burn that energy up thru the night.

However, I have to agree with the previous posts as well, as bad as the weather was around here for hay making last year, I cut whenever I could. Cut as early as 8am if I knew I had hay to ted, cut around lunch time, after lunchtime and cut almost to midnight as well. I'm pretty much a one man operation so when I get a chance to cut I don't pay much attention to the clock.

I will agree with a previous post as well. A few years ago I had two small fields to mow, first one was a 6 acre and had it done shortly after 8am. There was so much dew on the hay that water was dripping off the reel and the cutter bar when I picked it up on the endrows. Finished that field, drove the tractor and mower up to the house and helped father load up several steers to take to be processed. Fed cows and did my other chores while home, then the wife sidetracked me with a few honey do's. Was almost noon before I got back to mowing another 10 acre patch. That field that was mowed at noon, was ready to bale hours earlier than the field that was mowed four hours earlier.

Purdue also claims that hay should be mown as early in the day as possible, but until they can come up here to Northern Indiana and prove that it's better to mow the hay while its sopping wet instead of waiting for the dew to burn off, I'm going to avoid mowing that early again. Besides, Discbine or sickle bar, when the hay is that wet, it makes a mess outa the mower and even my discbine doesn't seem to leave a nice a row when the hay is excessively wet. Just doesn't feed smoothly to the rollers is my best guess.

Now to your situation, I'm not sure where your located but I ted all my hay to insure it dries. In your case I'm gonna say by the next day it will be too dry for tedding. You could try mowing it as soon as you get home, then tedding it shorty after it's mown, but for the most part in my area, the dew is usually heavy enough that most people ted the next morning to fluff it back up. Several producers in the area have tried tedding the same day as mowing, but for the most part, the dew mats it down so bad, hay tedded the same day as its mowed can actually take longer to dry than hay that wasn't tedded at all.

How many acres do you have to make? You might possibly try mowing Friday afternoons, tedding Saturday mornings then mowing some more to be tedded Sunday morning.

I was in the same situation as you once upon a time. I worked second shift, 3:30 till midnight and just had to figure on mowing Thursday and Fridays then spending the weekends baling as just about the time hay gets dry around here, it was time to head to work.


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## geiselbreth (Feb 21, 2010)

like cutting in afternoon nutrients go up in day down at night


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## saltwater (Mar 26, 2010)

New Holland had an article on this a few years back. There were tests done that showed the nutrients and sugar is at its max between noon and 3. When fed side by side with hay cut in the morning the cows would leave the morning hay and go to the afternoon hay till it was gone and then go back to the a.m. hay. The p.m. hay is like frosted flakes and the a.m. hay is like unfrosted flakes. The kids will take the frosted flakes everytime.


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## Hay DR (Oct 28, 2009)

Get you a tedder it will save you a day drying time. We put up 800 acres twice a year in the TN mountains so we have heavy dews.


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## dalli (Jun 3, 2010)

i have to say cutting of bale is regularly should be maintain this gives strong stem and in afternoon its also good

thanks!!


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