# What to do with rained-on hay



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Just couldn't avoid "the black cloud" with this cutting. Got rained on. How do you "market" rained on hay? Are you up-front and mention to customers it got rained on?
I tedded it twice after it got rained on, raked it and baled it up and moisture wasn't too bad. Some bales were >20%. I put those in a seperate pile. Most bales were 8-18% with moisture probe.


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

_Always be up front with the buyer that hay got rained on. It takes years to build a good reputation in the hay business. It only takes one time of not being up front about hay to destroy it. Stuff like that spreads to other buyers quickly._


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks, I agree. How much is it de-valued? If it was $6/bale hay, what's it worth now?


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## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

Tell the customer what is is, then come to a mutual agreement on what it's worth. Unless you've got something to feed it to, that's all you can do. It's only worth what someone will give you for it.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Now that I have bovines again, I feed it.
Before then I always dried it a well as I could then either sell as reclamation hay or cow hay.

Always be up front about the hay. Price it for what you think the market will bear. If the low moisture hay has good color and smells good when you cut a bale, it should still be alright. I have seen some rained on hay that looked better than some baled with out rain, but at the wrong time.
I have a friend that says the rain just washes the dust off the hay.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

This hay looks/smells good. However, about 20 bales tested over 20% moisture. I will try to sell for $1 less per bale than reg hay I've had over the years.

Anyone know how long it takes the moist bales (say 20-30% moisture) to get hot enough to be dangerous? 
I put all the wet stuff across some fence rails on ground floor of barn with space between them. I have no experience with hay over 15% moisture and dont know what to expect.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Another thing to realize is that if it gets rained on early after cut is not as bad as latter in the curing process. Like Tim says cut one open and check to see what is in there. Rain does not ruin the hay if it doesn't stay wet for a period causing mold. Martin


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

It rained on the hay the night after I cut it while it was still green.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

I agree with the above who say always be honest about your hay. Most folks will be able to tell the quality of your hay with the first bale they break open.

I was lucky to find a broker who sells a lot to contractors who blow it on the ground. I sell it to him as mulch hay and at that point, I'm just trying to move it out of my barn and recoup most of my expenses.

Worst case scenario is when you have a field baled and it gets a soaking rain on them before you have a chance to get them out of the field. There is just not a good way to dry out wet square bales. About all you can do is dump them in a ditch somewhere or bust them back open and spread them out to dry. There again, a lot of time and expense for what will be mulch hay.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> It rained on the hay the night after I cut it while it was still green.


Best case scenario. It will dry out during the normal curing process and you probably will not even be able to tell it was rained on.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Did you get it tedded after? Did it dry pretty quickly? if so I would say that and be sure to include that it rain the night you cut , and I would tell buyers you have discounted it but show them a bale and smile at they're good fortune. Martin


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

How about moisture/heat? 
If I have some bales at 25-35%, will they heat up?


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Nitram said:


> I agree with the above who say always be honest about your hay. Most folks will be able to tell the quality of your hay with the first bale they break open.
> 
> I was lucky to find a broker who sells a lot to contractors who blow it on the ground. I sell it to him as mulch hay and at that point, I'm just trying to move it out of my barn and recoup most of my expenses.
> 
> Worst case scenario is when you have a field baled and it gets a soaking rain on them before you have a chance to get them out of the field. There is just not a good way to dry out wet square bales. About all you can do is dump them in a ditch somewhere or bust them back open and spread them out to dry. There again, a lot of time and expense for what will be mulch hay.


Thanks to all!! You are more helpful than I could ever have hoped!! 
I cut it on Friday, it rained Friday night. I tedded it first thing Sat morning and let it sit in the sun while hay was curing. I raked it this (unday) morning and noticed it looked pretty decent. 
While baling late AM/early PM with threat of more rain moving in, my JD baler moisture meter read anywhere from 8-18% most of the time, but where hay was heavy, it would blip up to as much as 25-30%,not surprisingly. I was surprised generally it read mostly low on moisture.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

I would be concerned as well. you might want to pm vol cy or hay wilson. how many are that wet? might want to take there temp every now and again


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

OK overnight? Theyre not stacked, just on pallets on ground floor of barn


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I have a couple of thermometers with long probes. They were made for compost, very cheap at Wallmart.
When I have a question about hay I probe a few and leave it in the worst ones. 
I do not began keeping an eye on hay unless it reached 125 degrees. I have never had any get that high. Some consider 125 as normal sweating. Even on dry hay I usually get @ 100 degrees as the hay continues to cure in the bale.

Just my observations from being curious, hay temps will rise after baling no matter the moisture. Most of the time it will be about a week or so before the temperature goes down to the air temp.

I remember from a hay conference it was said said spontaneous combustion could occur @ 160 degrees.
One point I remember was that it seems some fires began as the hay was being moved from the barn stacks and the fresh air/oxygen hit the hot spots. If the person thought the hay would reach 160, to move it before it got that hot. (Just an FYI, I know you have not stacked the hay yet)

As others have said, it is much better for hay to get rain while it is still green. Fresh cut hay is high in moisture and will not absorb much. The wet ground would probably be more of a problem than the wet grass when trying to cure it into hay. (Assuming it was grass hay)


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## Bob M (Feb 11, 2012)

JD3430 said:


> How about moisture/heat?
> If I have some bales at 25-35%, will they heat up?


I would keep a close watch on your hay, and would probe it for temp. If no acid was applied it will heat up. If you have a amish dairy farmer close, you kight consider selling to him. The rained on part doesn't concern me but the moisture does.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

OK, thanks. I will probe the. Bought the John Deere moisture/temp probe and will keep checking them.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Wait till the dead of winter or early spring when folks are out of hay or close to it and they aren't near as picky. Their critters aren't near as picky either when they have the choice between nothing and rained on hay.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

To be honest i would like to see a study onthe difference in CP TDM between rained vs non. Given this type senerio


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Nitram said:


> To be honest i would like to see a study onthe difference in CP TDM between rained vs non. Given this type senerio


A ton of variables there. How mature is the hay, what mixture of grass/alfalfa? What type of grasses? Just how dry was the hay when it was rained on? How much rain? How quickly did it dry back out?

I mowed this AM, by 4pm the stems on the alfalfa all cracked halfway down thru the windrow, stuff on bottom is still tough. I use super conditioning rolls so if my hay got rained on tonight it'd hurt it much more than somebody who might have mowed a little later in the day with stock rolls.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

mlappin said:


> I mowed this AM, by 4pm the stems on the alfalfa all cracked halfway down thru the windrow, stuff on bottom is still tough. I use super conditioning rolls so if my hay got rained on tonight it'd hurt it much more than somebody who might have mowed a little later in the day with stock rolls.


Whoopsie, so much to do so little time to proof read. Meant mine would be hurt more since it would very likely be a lot dryer than somebody who mowed later in the day, somebody who was using stock conditioning rolls or both.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

JD3430 said:


> How about moisture/heat?
> If I have some bales at 25-35%, will they heat up?


Most assuredly they will. Seperate them from the rest, if you have some pallets use those to get some air flow around the whole bale. If the weather is promising bust em open and use the tedder or rake to break em up and let em dry out.

I had a chart I've posted a few times on hay temp and what to expect at certain temperatures. I'll repost it later if I get a chance.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

120°F or below No concern, no action needed.

120 to 140°F Check temperature daily.

140 to 150°F Check temperature twice a day.

150°F Entering the danger zone! Check temperature every two hours.

150 to 160°F Begin moving hay out of the structure. At a minimum, stacked hay should be
disassembled to allow more air to move around heated bales to cool them.

160 to 175°F Call fire department; have them on-site before moving hay.

175°F The danger of spontaneous combustion is rapidly increasing. Hot spots or fire
pockets are likely. If possible, stop all air movement around hay. Call 911 to
alert of a possible hay fire.

185°F	Remove hot hay. This should be done with the assistance of the fire service.
Fire service should be prepared for hay to burst into flame when it contacts
fresh air. Move hay away from buildings with bucket-loader or bulldozer.

200°F or higher Hay is almost sure to ignite. Remove hot hay. This should be done with the
assistance of the fire service. Fire service should be prepared for hay to burst
into flame when it contacts fresh air. Move hay away from buildings with
bucket-loader or bulldozer.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I checked the bales with highest moisture today with temp probe. They were only maybe 5* warmer than outside air temps. These bales had 20-30% moisture.
That surprised me. I thought they'd be warm by now. Does the warming process take many days?
If i keep them seperate and in 1 layer, you would think they'd be OK.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

I would put them in one layer on edge. I also would be very concerned on 35% bales. They can be extremely dangerous and could have green spots in them that you don't detect. I would not put them in my barn. JMHO Mike


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

They were baled Sunday at 2PM. Am I OK for tonight?
Took temps this morning. Nothing over 75*.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

JD3430 said:


> They were baled Sunday at 2PM. Am I OK for tonight?
> Took temps this morning. Nothing over 75*.


Not sure about your probe, but mine takes several minutes to give an accurate reading, just saying. Most likely fine for tonight, but check em first thing in the AM, the wettest ones will heat, may take days, sometimes a week, but heat they will. If they go up much or even start to approach a 100 degrees given how wet you say some were, I'd get em away from the rest of the hay and keep a very close eye on them.


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## Bob M (Feb 11, 2012)

I leave my probe in until temp stops rising.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Baled another 150 today with more rain on the way, I didn't want to wait anymore. Most bales in the 15% range. Some 20-30%. Nothing over 30%.
Tested every bale with probe in 3 spots.
Bales from Sunday got a little warmer about 80*, but nothing crazy.

My baler moisture monitor is reading lower numbers-like 12-15% running through the chamber. Seems OK while baling, but when the bales are made and probed, they read higher.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> Baled another 150 today with more rain on the way, I didn't want to wait anymore. Most bales in the 15% range. Some 20-30%. Nothing over 30%.
> Tested every bale with probe in 3 spots.
> Bales from Sunday got a little warmer about 80*, but nothing crazy.
> 
> My baler moisture monitor is reading lower numbers-like 12-15% running through the chamber. Seems OK while baling, but when the bales are made and probed, they read higher.


1. I think you should take a bale, probe it in a certain area then bust it open take the hay from that area and do a microwave test and find the real moisture level and then have a idea on where your testers ie baler and probe are compared to actual moisture.

2. Thats if you are the curious type like me. I have the fx 2000 and test in the windrow and then in the bale with the probe it gets fairly close compared to the microwave numbers but...in the bale when compressed it reads higher than in the bucket loose. I round bale all mine and it stays outside and I tend to loose some from slightly overly dry baling.

3. as stated before keep an eye on them for at least a couple weeks and laying them out single on pallets may have save you a lot of trouble down the road


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

When do they eventually "cool off" for good?

I spread them all in single layer. Looks ridiculous and takes up too much space, but better safe than sorry.....
What really worries me is some bales will read 14.5 in 2 spots, then 28 in another spot. There's potentially a lot of missed moist pockets in some of my bales.


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## caseihgirl (Jun 3, 2012)

Last year i had a 2nd crop field get a little rain (two-3 tenths) on it when it was ALMOST ready to bale (Already raked) It was wet underneath so I spread it out with the tedder and re raked. That hay tested better than my first crop that had no rain. Granted neither one tested very well...I was straight up with my buyer. Told him it got a little rain on it but it tested better than the first crop with no rain-he bought it all.


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