# RAINED ON - Leave in field or bale



## bhamrick (Jan 4, 2013)

Cut alfalfa Tuesday a.m. with no more than a 10% chance of rain until Friday. Tedded behind mower Tuesday then again early Wednesday morning with plans of baling Thursday. Woke up Thursday to the biggest front of rain since springtime. Rained all day Thursday and still raining today with rain forecasted for next few days. Temps in the 60's today which is unheard of in our humid hot summers. I don't see that fields would be ok to put equipment on until next week. I am out of my element with alfalfa as orchard/fescue is all I know. My fear is harming the crowns by trying to get back on saturated field to early but I'm also fearful of the cut alfalfa smothering the new growth. The hay is going to be a loss just not sure what is the lesser of 2 evils. What do you experienced guys do in this situation? Is there ever a time you just leave it laying and don't bale it ?


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Can't help with your problem as I'm new to alfalfa as well but that sounds like the exact weather we had this week.....it's actually a bit chilly now with the rain.....that's global warming for you. Thankfully I managed to get my 2nd cut grass baled Wednesday except for the windrow next to the woods......my alfalfa will probably be another week or so before it's ready. Where are you located?


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

It won't kill the hay. I've had alfalfa lay 2 weeks in a windrow and the hay underneath was fine. And yours is not in a windrow by the sound of it.


----------



## bhamrick (Jan 4, 2013)

We are in the piedmont of NC. Went from several weeks with no rain to now rain every other day. And yes it is spread out over the field. Wasnt very tall due to the lack of rain that's why I'm not as worried with the loss of the hay as much as I'm worried about harming the regrowth or the plants themselves. Sad thing is my wife and I both had a feeling about 3:30 Wednesday afternoon that we shld just go on and bale. Looked at rain forecast on 3 diff weather apps with all 10% chance for Thursday. Figured be safer to rake with dew Thursday a.m. And bale sometime after. Then woke up to heck of a lot more than a dew!! If this was orchard/fescue hay I would know what to do but this alfalfa I'm learning is a whole diff animal in my part of the country.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Get it off when you can or it will be mixed in with the next cutting. Hamrick, it would be beneficial to all if you would edit your profile and put in your location.....Piedmont of NC. Many thanks.

Regards, Mike


----------



## Fossil02818 (May 31, 2010)

Been there and know your situation all too well. Ted, rake and bale as soon as the hay is dry enough. Sell at a discount and disclose the conditions. It still makes decent feed for cattle and other livestock depending on the condition. Just take the loss and clear the field for the next cutting. The alfalfa will be fine as it is not as delicate as you fear it is.


----------



## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Agree with the above posts. The other thing to mention is, until it's done raining, you don't really know how bad it's going to look. Bale it. Find an appropriate home for it.


----------



## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

Worse case, if it stays wet and re-growth takes over just swath it when new growth is ready and then you will get what is left . Are you running a sickle head or a disc head ? That dont happen here very often but it has on some cuttings .


----------



## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

My 1st cutting stayed on the ground in the rain for 3 weeks before being baled up. It still made decent cow hay.


----------



## bhamrick (Jan 4, 2013)

Thanks for everyone's wisdom. When the weather breaks hopefully we can get it dried and baled and hope for better luck with next cutting. Probably end up feeding to our cattle as they don't seem to mind rained on hay. Panhandle, we use a disk conditioner. And Mike I will deff checkout the profile location. Thought I had it listed but apparently not.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Depending on your soil type if the ground is wet enough you definitely can harm or even kill the plants from wheel traffic.

I have the same thing in two fields on the lightest soil we have, where we took the truck and trailer out of the field which is the only place to get it out of the field btw there is no alfalfa in the wheel tracks now, the OG is a good 6 inches shorter than the rest of the field in those tracks as well.


----------



## siscofarms (Nov 23, 2010)

Basically its up to you . Is this hay you sell or you keep and use ???? Being that you tedded it and its spread out good it will not kill anything . What kind of rake do you use ??? If a wheel rake , it will rip the new crown off the plant , so you'll be affecting your next cutting . other rakes can be set to not do this but your gonna leave hay anyway . Personally ,I'd leave it . Organic matter .


----------



## Tjim (Feb 23, 2014)

I tend to agree with sisco. I don't know if I read how established your crop is. Might have missed it. An established stand will be ok. Also how heavy is the cutting? You definitely have an advantage having it spread out. A few times in the last 40 years we have had a similar situation, only with windrows. A couple of times I can remember we had to go so long that we just pulled the old hay into the new as we cut. It was hard to cut and ruined both cuttings but at least the hay got off. You're probably in a better position.

Our cows ate ours just fine, I'm sure your cows will eat yours.


----------



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

What is the definition of "rank" hay?
Is it ROH that's been left in windrow too long?


----------



## bhamrick (Jan 4, 2013)

We have clay soil around here that I would consider heavy but as far as soil samples go it falls into the category of mineral. Running on it when wet turns it to concrete. We use a disk conditioner not a sickle so I'm guessing the disk would prob shred alot of what is laying if we leave til next cut. And it is only thick in spots. Bad thing is we only own a wheel rake. Not exactly the best for alfalfa in my opinion. Actually it's a pain at times. This particular hay was for our personal use for our horses and cattle and only sell our excess hay at the end of the season. Would love to find more ground in order to sell more hay but good land around here is a fight with farmers growing row crops. That's part of the reason in trying to grow alfalfa here was being able to cut multiple times. We only get 2 cuttings from our fescue/orchard hay. So far with the alfalfa we have cut 4 times.


----------



## Tjim (Feb 23, 2014)

JD3430 said:


> What is the definition of "rank" hay?


What we feed our cows and horses  

Could be lot's of things. Full of dirt and mold, burned spots, lot's of weeds, bad smell, bug damage...or anything else the customer finds wrong


----------



## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Growing up it was what dad's cows wouldn't eat


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> What is the definition of "rank" hay?
> Is it ROH that's been left in windrow too long?


 I have always thought that rank hay is hay that stood in the field and got very mature before it was cut and baled.


----------



## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

FarmerCline said:


> I have always thought that rank hay is hay that stood in the field and got very mature before it was cut and baled.


That was my understanding too.


----------



## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

I agree with orchard and Farmer Cline. That has always been my understanding .


----------



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

The question of the hay itself has been pretty much answered, but I do have one other thing that came to mind. I also have land that is mostly clay (I feel your pain) and I would be worried about rutting up the field by trying to get back on it too soon. You will have to live with those ruts for a while unless you rework those parts of the field (which can cause its own problems).


----------

