# How To Know When It's Dry Enough?



## MorningstarAcres (Jul 13, 2009)

Hey all, first post here









Our fields are a mix of OrchardGrass/Timothy/Alfalfa. Need to be turned and re-seeded since the Alf. grows in large patches, but didn't get to it this year. We're baling small squares (around 50-60lbs) and trying to get it horse-quality for ourselves and customers.

Last year's crop was _dusty_. Didn't sell to others last year, and only fed outside to our own, well-skaken out, but we do NOT want to repeat that this year. Stored inside pole barn on pallets, salted while stacking, not rained on after cutting or baling.

We don't have any moisture testers, so we have to use old-farmer techniques for judging "readiness". What are some tips you can offer to help us bale dust-free squares this year?

Thanks!


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

take few of the alfalfa stems and bend them, if they bend right over and don't break, it could be a little tough yet. If they snap, its dry and could be one its way to too dry


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## stevemsinger (Jul 8, 2009)

We grab a bunch in our hand and give it a good solid twist. If it stays twisted or is slow to come back it is too wet. If it springs back and doesn't break it is in good shape. If it breaks it is too dry. Just our quick test.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

We can almost always make dry hay in 3 days, sometimes 2, if the ground is dry, the wx is good, and the grass hay is mature. If we have any question, I'll go looking for wet areas, or I'll look at stems (or joints), or if the balers are in the field, I'll see if the bales are the right length, and the strings are tight, and if they're not heavy, then I figure they must be dry. And I'll look at how well the kinfe cuts the hay in the bale - a lot of bent over (and nut cut) stems indicate that they are wet. Scraggly looking bales indicate wet hay. The advice given above is good and it does get used.

Rodney


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## Hayguy (Jun 4, 2008)

When baling alfalfa, if I can peel the skin on the stems with my thumbnail, it's probably too tough to bale.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I tried to find it on Purdues site but it's not coming up. They have a procedure that you can use your microwave to test hay moisture. I've never tried it, but a cousin of mine swears it works. Requires a little patience and a very accurate scale if I recall correctly.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

The microwave method invloves weighing your hay before and after microwave treatment and then from those weight differences calculating your moisture percentage. Trust me, if you are selling hay the best method is too buy a moisture tester.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

hayray said:


> The microwave method invloves weighing your hay before and after microwave treatment and then from those weight differences calculating your moisture percentage. Trust me, if you are selling hay the best method is too buy a moisture tester.


I agree, testing it in field is much faster than the microwave route, I just suggested it as a temporary thing if a tester wasn't available.


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## bunchgrass1 (Jul 4, 2009)

Microwave dry matter doesn't take that long. You could probably barely finish a cup of coffee before you'd be done. We used to use a pyrex pie dish w/ a fistfull of hay - weigh dish w/ hay before starting then microwave on hi for 2-3 minutes. Weigh again. Microwave again 1-2 minutes (depending on how dry you think your hay is. Weigh again. Another 1 minute microwave. Weigh again. You are looking for no change (or almost no change) in the weight between 2 microwavings. That is your "completely dry" weight.

NOTE - to keep from damaging your microwave, put a cup of water in the microwave along with the hay sample (not on it). Also, if you go too far the hay will begin to char.

To figure the moisture content:

Original wgt "minus" the completely dry wgt divided by the original weight times then multiply by one hundred to get moisture content as a percentage.

Most large feeding operations, usually feeding wetter forages like silage, do dry matter calcs everyday to adjust the ration. There is a commercial unit from Koster that is sort of like a big hair dryer.

If I remember right, the moisture meters are really checking conductivity - more moisture = more conductive.

So what level of moisture do you all consider to be safe enough to put in the barn?


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