# Baling Alfalfa with high Humidity



## metzen (Jun 28, 2013)

I had some alfalfa hay I baled at night when the Humidity came up so I wouldn't shatter the leaves. I knew the hay was dry because I checked it during the day. My moisture meter read out 18% moisture. So I applied Prop Acid because this hay was for a dairy producer. Results came back from a lab and the moisture was 8%. Did I really nead to apply preservative OR would the moisture from the humidity leached out without causing problems.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I don't think you needed to use the acid. That moisture was most likely from the leaves which is good and not the stems. Stem moisture in alfalfa is bad to bale with. Some leaf moisture is the way to bale. The ideal time to make sure the alfalfa is indeed cured is right before the sun goes down in my area. If you feel in the middle of the afternoon it might feel a bit more dry then it really is.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

This is where the trouble comes between stem moisture and surface moisture. The moisture meter can not tell the difference between them. But if your growing high quality hay for a dairy it better to play it safe and have a happy customer.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Teslan said:


> I don't think you needed to use the acid. That moisture was most likely from the leaves which is good and not the stems. Stem moisture in alfalfa is bad to bale with. Some leaf moisture is the way to bale. The ideal time to make sure the alfalfa is indeed cured is right before the sun goes down in my area. If you feel in the middle of the afternoon it might feel a bit more dry then it really is.


Thats exactly what I do, matter of fact right before the dew sets I have some to check yet tonight so I know my plan of attack in the AM whether it be ted it again (shouldn't have to) or start raking with a little dew still left in the morning or a lot of dew if it got completely dry today.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

If hay is dryed completely out day before I bale with dew moisture and it reads 30+ on monitor.Perfect haying for me.No spoilage .


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

swmnhay said:


> If hay is dryed completely out day before I bale with dew moisture and it reads 30+ on monitor.Perfect haying for me.No spoilage .


That high? I guess your right I've had it go into the 20s and never had any issues. Normally I don't take to much stock in moisture testers when baling alfalfa. On my 3x3 baler I more consider then tension that shows up on my baler control screen. If the tension is below 600psi it is to wet.


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## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

*18% alfalfa is where I like to get my bales at in 4x4x8's, If your hay is cured /dry watch for humidty to get around 70% then go for it but watch that it dont get to damp from humidity . A hygrometer is handy to have so you KNOW exactly what it is in the hay patch. I will bale up to 20% prefer 15% to 19% , then I can make some heavy bales and all the leaves will be retained. Here nobody uses acid , due to at times it is tough to even get enough humidity to bale on. This morning we went to the field at 4 am and it was just right.*


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## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

hog987 said:


> This is where the trouble comes between stem moisture and surface moisture. The moisture meter can not tell the difference between them. But if your growing high quality hay for a dairy it better to play it safe and have a happy customer.





hog987 said:


> This is where the trouble comes between stem moisture and surface moisture. The moisture meter can not tell the difference between them. But if your growing high quality hay for a dairy it better to play it safe and have a happy customer.


You can check stem moisture with a thumbnail , a hygrometer is for humidity in atmosphere, I do use a moisture probe to check bale moisture so I do not get it too wet. Both of those tools are a must in putting up good hay. You can buy a hygrometer pretty cheap that fits in your front pocket.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

I read an article a couple of years ago about some sort of microwave moisture tester being tested for grain bins. Send a pulse through the bin and tell you the real moisture of the grain. I thought if they could get this going and adapt it to a baler than we would be able to tell stem moisture from surface moisture. But ya a person has to get off the tractor and check even if they have all the nice toys.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Here, if we can get hay bone dry in the day and bale in the evening/night as the humidity comes up, our harvestec star wheel moisture tester on the 3x3 baler is spot on. If it says 15% it is 15% and you had better park it before it hits 20%. In normal conditions, when stems stay green and the humidity stays above 50% all day long, we can run up to 30% all afternoon especially if the humidity is really high. This hay will hit the lab at 15 to 17%. All this is done with 3 to 4 lbs of silo king per ton. The only way we know how to bale alfalfa is with green stems and we can make good hay doing it.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

hog987 said:


> I read an article a couple of years ago about some sort of microwave moisture tester being tested for grain bins. Send a pulse through the bin and tell you the real moisture of the grain. I thought if they could get this going and adapt it to a baler than we would be able to tell stem moisture from surface moisture. But ya a person has to get off the tractor and check even if they have all the nice toys.


I believe the Gazeeka uses microwaves to test hay moisture. http://www.gazeeka.com.au/products/model-870.php


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

mlappin said:


> I believe the Gazeeka uses microwaves to test hay moisture. http://www.gazeeka.com.au/products/model-870.php


So we have the technology now just need to adapt for a round baler.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I am sooooo jealous of these low humidity problems.

After reading this thread, I checked my weather history--local humidity got below 60% only twice in the last 30 days.

But, then again, I never have a problem with dry skin.

Ralph


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

haybaler101 said:


> Here, if we can get hay bone dry in the day and bale in the evening/night as the humidity comes up, our harvestec star wheel moisture tester on the 3x3 baler is spot on. If it says 15% it is 15% and you had better park it before it hits 20%. In normal conditions, when stems stay green and the humidity stays above 50% all day long, we can run up to 30% all afternoon especially if the humidity is really high. This hay will hit the lab at 15 to 17%. All this is done with 3 to 4 lbs of silo king per ton. The only way we know how to bale alfalfa is with green stems and we can make good hay doing it.


Dang Joe, I would be real interested in a step by step procedure that YOU use to bale hay with green stems including day 1, day 2, etc. of cutting, tedding?, raking, baling and what tips that you look for along the way.

I know you can bale green stem hay as I did it one time when I was disgusted and rain was coming and it went up perfect....but not really sure just how I got there.

Regards, Mike


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## [email protected] (Jun 5, 2013)

The Gazeeka does use microwave technology and measures both stem and surface moisture. It is mounted just after the baling chamber and must have a clear path through the bale without any interference. Unfirtunalely that eliminates round balers from being able to use the technology. Although there has been some work done with 3-tie small square balers it is currently only available for big square balers. If anyone wants more info drop me a message.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

$7200 for the Gazeeka for my baler? Wow!. I can get out and stick a probe in the bale many times for that and go by my haying experience. Though it does look like a great device. I guess this would pay for big operations where the baler operator doesn't know to much about hay. I do think it's nice that they post prices right on their website. I wish more companies would do that.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Teslan said:


> That high? I guess your right I've had it go into the 20s and never had any issues. Normally I don't take to much stock in moisture testers when baling alfalfa. On my 3x3 baler I more consider then tension that shows up on my baler control screen. If the tension is below 600psi it is to wet.


Over 30% the monitor just reads wet.I was surprised that it read that high after first getting a baler with a moisture monitor.I'd say the hay was at 10-12% the day before so the moisture is dew moisture and stems are dry.I should do a microwave test sometime to compare and get a exact moisture %.I'd baled 10's of thousands of bales this way before I got the monitor so I wasn't afraid of baleing it when it said WET.


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## [email protected] (Jun 5, 2013)

There are several Gazeeka's running in PA and OH, mostly custom guys that want to be sure they don't burn down a customer's barn. By far the majority are out west where they have to know total moisture content for export hay.


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

GREAT opinions on stem moisture & Etc.

Yes there is a difference in the art & practice of baling hay in the Humid East and the Arid West. Then we have the climate HERE where we are completely confused. We can go from too tough to bale to two dry to bale.

For the humid east, W V tells us, with a 90% Relative humidity the hay moisture will be no lower than 40% moisture.
Think about it a little, with 10% Stem Moisture, with 90% RH the leaves will be at least 80 or 90% moisture.
The magic hay moisture for raking is 40% moisture. As long as the hay's stems are +/- 10% add the leaf moisture for 70% moisture you have an average 40% moisture.

For thirty or more years average hay moisture was preached for raking & baling.

Now if you jump the gun and bale hay at 16% moisture but the hay is still curing down and the stems are maybe 30% moisture, mold is the best option. We will have a bale of moldy stems and the ground will be carpeted with dry leaves.

W V's Forage Management http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/pubnwsltr/TRIM/5811.pdf is as close to a Universal Truth for my conditions.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Vol said:


> Dang Joe, I would be real interested in a step by step procedure that YOU use to bale hay with green stems including day 1, day 2, etc. of cutting, tedding?, raking, baling and what tips that you look for along the way.
> 
> I know you can bale green stem hay as I did it one time when I was disgusted and rain was coming and it went up perfect....but not really sure just how I got there.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Well, try not to mow with any dew moisture, crimp as hard it will. Ted the next morning and stop before leaves get too dry. Rake the next day after dew is off and stop before leaf shatter starts. Bale as fast we can in the evening once humidity starts to climb bad hope to be done before dew comes in. Apply silo king generously and tithe a little extra on Sunday morning. We did this again on third cutting yesterday, even though the weatherman said only 20% chance of rain today. Guess what, in the middle of a drought, we are getting rain on a 20% chance! Hay is in the barn and better go a little deeper yet in the pockets tomorrow morning!


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