# Rain versus Over-ripeness upon Grass Hay



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I received my test results this week for my 2010 hay crop. What was confirmed to me was the effect of rain upon ready to bale hay. I have been told and have confirmed in the past that rain upon hay ready for baling will leach approximately 50%or more of the protein and minerals out of a hay crop. This year I said I would try and avoid rain at all costs even if it means letting the hay over-ripe and so I did just that. I baled half of my crop in May before the rains really became a hardship. I was unable to bale the other half of the haycrop until nearly a month later. Orchard Grass and Timothy both were well past prime stages. What I discovered from test results was that , Yes the later baled hay was lower in protein (about 25%), but was still much better off(by approx. 25%) than a rain damaged crop. Also, my over-ripe hay does not carry the stigma of "rained on" hay. I hope this will be useful for some. Regards, Mike


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

Thank you, It is good to hear another voice saying cut and let it get wet is a bum idea.

Another strike against rained on hay is the rain inoculates the hay with mold spores. Even in a dry barn if we have a damp spell that mold wakes up.


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## maknhay (Jan 6, 2010)

I would have to disagree with this. If I had waited till forecasted perfect weather to put down hay........I would only be halfway through my first crop. This train of thought may well work for those with only a couple little meadows to work through. Any commercial grower with a considerable amount of acres will tell you to keep on schedule no matter what the forcast is.......well, obviously if there is rain in the next county over, wait till it passes. Sure, we had alot of first crop get rained on to the point of grinder value, but we also put up some of the best testing first I've ever seen. Wait too long and you will beat yourself out of later cuttings. Sure, I have some third in the shed now that has a smell to it. If it ain't gone down the road by the time I need shed space for good stuff........it's getting diplaced and tarped. Our second crop here grew so fast with no want for rain that if we cut three days too late we lost protien and if it did get washed we lost on RFV also. I've seen alot of windows of opportunity this year that I'm glad we did cut because that big weather system they where harping about luckily went around us. Rolled the dice and lost quite a bit too........I tell ya, I'll be the last on on here to want to go to Vegas and try what little luck I have left. LOL


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## Customfarming (Oct 8, 2009)

I would have to disagree with this also. Some of our rained on hay has tested better or good as our non rained on hay. Now the color is not there with rained on hay. This is usually if it gets rained on and makes us wait 1-2 days longer before we can bale. Now I can see it losing value if it lays out there for 5 days before baled and is black when you bale it but cows will still eat it. If we wait until the rains have past all of our grasses are all laid down and hard to cut. Tedding the hay out the day after the rain and again if needed before baling will help a lot with it not molding. I have finished cutting in the rain and it has rained few hours after I have finished cutting and in our experience the hay tested just as same as not getting rained on and it still had great color. Now this is in T-85 and coastal bermudagrass. I'm not saying its good to get hay rained on but it isn't worthless if it does.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

maknhay said:


> I would have to disagree with this. If I had waited till forecasted perfect weather to put down hay........I would only be halfway through my first crop. This train of thought may well work for those with only a couple little meadows to work through. Any commercial grower with a considerable amount of acres will tell you to keep on schedule no matter what the forcast is.......well, obviously if there is rain in the next county over, wait till it passes. Sure, we had alot of first crop get rained on to the point of grinder value, but we also put up some of the best testing first I've ever seen. Wait too long and you will beat yourself out of later cuttings. Sure, I have some third in the shed now that has a smell to it. If it ain't gone down the road by the time I need shed space for good stuff........it's getting diplaced and tarped. Our second crop here grew so fast with no want for rain that if we cut three days too late we lost protien and if it did get washed we lost on RFV also. I've seen alot of windows of opportunity this year that I'm glad we did cut because that big weather system they where harping about luckily went around us. Rolled the dice and lost quite a bit too........I tell ya, I'll be the last on on here to want to go to Vegas and try what little luck I have left. LOL


Maknhay, as stated in my thread I was referencing "grass hay" not "legume hay". I am only facing typically two cuttings with grass hay, whereas you are typically facing four or more cuttings. Therefore, I do not have the get done at all costs pressure on me with grass that you have with legumes. I also do not have near the rapid decreases in protein that one has with legumes. Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Customfarming said:


> I would have to disagree with this also. Some of our rained on hay has tested better or good as our non rained on hay. Now the color is not there with rained on hay. This is usually if it gets rained on and makes us wait 1-2 days longer before we can bale. Now I can see it losing value if it lays out there for 5 days before baled and is black when you bale it but cows will still eat it. If we wait until the rains have past all of our grasses are all laid down and hard to cut. Tedding the hay out the day after the rain and again if needed before baling will help a lot with it not molding. I have finished cutting in the rain and it has rained few hours after I have finished cutting and in our experience the hay tested just as same as not getting rained on and it still had great color. Now this is in T-85 and coastal bermudagrass. I'm not saying its good to get hay rained on but it isn't worthless if it does.


Customfarming, I agree with you about rain on "fresh mowed" hay and that the effects can be minimal, but that is not what I stated in my thread. My second sentence in my thread said the "effect of rain on READY TO BALE HAY", which is a huge difference from rain on freshly mowed hay. Regards, Mike


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

My strategy is that if it looks like I am going to have 3-5 days of good drying weather and a 30% or less chance of rain tonight, I will mow. If it gets rained that night, I consider it "fair" quality instead of "good" or "premium". If it gets rained on the second or third day, I consider it fair-utility-poor-ditch hay. My experieince is that ready-to-bale hay that gets rained is usually trashed pretty bad, most of the nutrients gone. Rained on right after mowing will loose some, but usually has enough moisture content to prevent leaching.

Ralph


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I used to mow when there was only a slight chance of rain that afternoon or night, however about the last three years I've tried to avoid it as anymore instead of one afternoon or night of rain, the forecast changes, then it ends up getting washed for 3-5 days and is complete junk by time it's baled. Not to mention with the moisture and heat we've had this year, by time it's baled we are running on regrowth to get it baled and off the field.

This spring we'd mow, if it did get wet, it'd get wrapped for silage. While we were waiting for excess moisture to leave the down hay so we could bale silage bales, we'd be mowing more and hoping we could get that dry enough to bale.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Vol, On my grass hay, I will wait until I have a pretty good window in which to bale. I dont think it hurts the quality that much. I keep all of my alfalfa on a schedule which is a 30 day rotation. If I get backed up on my alfalfa, then I end up losing a cutting. If it happens to get rained on, out comes the tedder. If it gets washed too much, it becomes cattle feed to a local producer at a greatly reduced price. Mike


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

With grass hay, color is everything. The premium for export or racetrack hay in our area is so great that you would be crazy to try to beat a storm just to stay on schedule. A couple times the orchardgrass has became rank but we still get more money for it than feeding it to our cows as rained on hay.


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