# Green hay



## Farmer680 (Dec 8, 2013)

Hi I was wondering how do people get there small squares of hay so green, I have seen bales of hay and they are so green in colour stacked in the shed.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Farmer680 said:


> Hi I was wondering how do people get there small squares of hay so green, I have seen bales of hay and they are so green in colour stacked in the shed.


It requires low humidity and quick dry downs. Also depends on the time of year. Our 2nd and 3rd cuttings are very green. Something to do with the angle of the sun. Alfalfa and grass are similar with regard to color for me also. This is my experience.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Dry as quick as possible and prevent sun bleaching to the extent possible...

Mow, allow to dry to about 50% moisture (wilted flat), rake into windrows, allow to finish drying to safe baling moisture, bale ASAP.

Later! OL JR


----------



## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

This happens about once a year for me. Weather conditions must be absolutely perfect. The stars and planets must be in perfect alignment. Most importantly, you must be livin' right.


----------



## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

For me it is the use of a tedder. Fluff the hay up off the ground and allow the air to help dry.

I remember when we first began using a tedder. The old timers thought we baled the hay too green and it would mold.

With alfalfa it could also be adding a perservative. Unfamiliar with the use and will defer to others. I know the alfalfa that is shipped here has a beautiful green tent.


----------



## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

..and some spray on the color dye when baling

73, Mark


----------



## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Here it happens when we get the rare combination of wind and sun together for first cut in June so it can come in after 2 days. Or you can use acid.


----------



## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

One set of initials and two words....GFC air barn ha-ha.


----------



## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Its very weathet dependent. Some years I can have some of the most beautiful green hay you will ever see. Other years I will have lots of the beautiful yellow/brown hay around. I have been lucky because I have never made black hay..


----------



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

Mother Nature always bats last.

Using naturals, open air, direct sunshine we are stuck with what we get.

We need the leaves to be dry before Sunset when the holes in the leaves close and shut off the easy moisture loss.

Good direct sunlight on all parts of the hay. This way the sap is heated, increasing the vapor pressure of the moisture and forcing the moisture out the nearest and best openings. High Pan Evaporation. A good yield is nice but some what counter productive.
Probably Night Time baling will increase the Mystical Green Coloration.

The feed value of ghe wonderful Green Color is close to zero. Many years ago the presence of a Beautiful Green Color was removed from the hay contest Scoring.
Probably the ideal color for animal acceptance and feed value is a nice tobacco color. Some times a ugly black color was found the most attractive by livestock.

My dear old grandfather informed me the livestock were color blind to green but the man with the purse had excellent green vision. He died at 94 a good 30 years ago.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Weather has to be just right, a breeze helps as well. Light or very little dew at night is a huge plus as well


----------



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

Light over night dew does help.

We need a dew to rihydrate the leaves but not so much to soak the stems.

Dew moisture ( 90% Humidity) being a surface moisture source softens the leaves enough to be limber enough to not be knocked off by raking or running a tedder.

If we want to have an Irish Paddock Green color we can cut the hay and place it on a long moving mat that exposes the damp hay to a hot flame. Time it so the product is DRY. Then rehydrate the leaves's Surface to prevent shattering when baled.
Feed the hay directly into a center feed baler. Feed the bales into a Bale Bandit type machine to limit handlng leaf shattering.

Alfalfa from Idaho and shipped to Boston would probably be considerably less costly Than this process.


----------



## Trillium Farm (Dec 18, 2014)

Cattle and horses rate the hay with their noses owners on the other hand only with their eyes


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

The less the hay is exposed to the sunlight and dew moisture the greener it will be when dried. In the east where the humidity is usually high it can be a challenge to get the hay dry and still have nice color.....if the weather is somewhat cooperative it can be done though. This year we had a lot of unusually low humidity days with not much dew and I was able to get the hay dry without having to Ted it which left less of the hay exposed to the sun and it dried a beautiful green color.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Trillium Farm said:


> Cattle and horses rate the hay with their noses owners on the other hand only with their eyes


Actually, I do use my nose when I am making determinations about hay quality......(whinny).

Regards, Mike


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Trillium Farm said:


> Cattle and horses rate the hay with their noses owners on the other hand only with their eyes


Exactly...

When I was still doing custom work years ago, some folks turned up their nose at my older round baler, because it doesn't make bales as tight and "pretty" as a new baler... course I was baling cheaper too and really busted hump to make sure that their hay was cut, raked, and baled in a TIMELY manner to roll up the very best hay I could for them (unlike most all the custom guys around here who'll run over and cut the place when they get time (sometimes 2-3 weeks or more after you call them to come cut it), then leave it lay flat on the ground for a week to ten days, then come rake it right ahead of the baler, and end up making sun-bleached "cardboard" bales with about the same value as wheat bedding straw...)

Whenever I'd get snide comments, I'd always say, "WHY do you think I charge $5 less per bale than the other guys?? I'm not paying for a $30,000 new baler and new diesel pickup... plus, MY cows have never turned up their noses at the hay because the bale wasn't as 'pretty' as some of the others..."

Whatever floats yer boat I guess... where I get fed up is with people who want it all "dirt cheap" and then GRIPE, WHINE, and COMPLAIN when it's not "just perfect" as well... idiots! I got the point of telling that type to take a long walk off a short pier...

Later! OL JR


----------



## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Green hay and it's value IMHO - all depends.....

If you're feeding you're own livestock, yellow/green hay, loose/tight/banana bales doesn't really matter - to a point.

If you're selling to the horse folks, right, wrong or indifferent, they have been trained to look upon green hay as good - very good. IMHO - they are also the ones that pay top dollar, so at least in my mickey mouse operation, the better shaped the bale and the greener - without dust and mold the easier it is to justify the higher price per bale and we want the highest price - for profit motives, but as I remind my kids as we roll through this haying odyssey - it takes just as much back to lift a crap bale as it does a premium bale into the barn, sooooo - why not shoot for the highest dollar if you're going to put in the effort in the first place.

My 2 cents - FWIW..... 

Bill


----------



## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

leeave96 said:


> Green hay and it's value IMHO - all depends.....
> 
> If you're feeding you're own livestock, yellow/green hay, loose/tight/banana bales doesn't really matter - to a point.
> 
> ...


I have to concur. This is the first year that I have attempted to sell hay. Therefore, I looked at my hay with a much more critical eye. Stuff that I would have been pleased-as-punch to bale last year, I'm ashamed if someone sees it this year. MOST of my buyers have been horse people with decent sense. Had a guy come and get some tonight. I started to roll back the top bales to show him a bale that had not been sun bleached inside of my hoop barn. He said his horses can't see color anyway and he felt that it was good hay.... There is still a bale- here and there- that I must have like when going into the barn, but I ain't happy with to send back out of the barn. Selling or feeding, I strive to make the best hay that I can from the hand I've been dealt.

...except round bales...and old IH241...gave up trying to make "good bales" with it...I'm with Luke on the big bales thing and still get more "custom" business than I want with that ole dilapidated POS.

73, Mark


----------



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

and old IH241...gave up trying to make "good bales" with it...I'm with Luke on the big bales thing and still get more "custom" business than I want with that ole dilapidated POS

We mentionealked about this earlier today at a local dealer's.

The consences was it cost more to bale with string than with net wrap, for one. Roughly 20 bales an hour with string and roughly 40 bales per hour.
Idea is the cost to bale string is a lose - lose situation, Plus.
If it cost $150/hour to bale and it requires longer to bale the same number of bales you are losing money..
Walk behind a string RB and look at the leaf shatter will show fewer tons of hay wrapped. With lthe leaf loss there will be higher quality hay, so better weight gain to boot.

BUT there was not a Custom operator in the crowd. I only bale small squares. There was a good representation of RB operators.

BUT #2. Here we have only 2 hours of good baling humidity. In that time I get 600 to 800 bales on the ground while the RB will have 80 RBs on the ground. 80 RBs = 1600 small squares, HERE.
I hate to admit there is some plus for rebaling round bales into small squares. This usually goes to the horse owners as they do not understand hay. HERE


----------



## Trillium Farm (Dec 18, 2014)

I'm not a fan of RB as IMO you can have better hay with small sq. Admittedly I have only seen the hay of RB when they first entered the market and maybe today things have changed. In the same verse I can't see either how those huge big sq can make good hay as tight as they are. I was taught that a bale has to breath, so maybe I'm wrong here too. You guys who use those big balers what do you think 3x3 better than 3x4 and 4x4 or am I on the wrong train to Kansas. I know that small sq give you probably the best hay, but the reality is that help is very hard to come by so everything must be mechanised to bring the hay in. Is the trade from small sq to big sq worth the cost in equipment?

Looking forward to hearing from your experiences.

P.S. Not trying to hijack the thread, it just came to mind


----------



## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Vol said:


> Actually, I do use my nose when I am making determinations about hay quality......(whinny).
> 
> Regards, Mike


That was the first thing I learned about. First hay I bought was some cheap square bales @ auction. They had clover in them. Went cheap. Well I loaded my truck and had about 5 left. Not really worth a secons trip. I found someone who beat me up and gave me about half what I paid.

I probably paid 2 bucks a bale. Live and learn. Them things are too much work for my operation. One size does not fit all.


----------



## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I have quite a time with horse folks who have been burned with bad round bales. One can make excellent large bales if they care to. In our local humid climate small squares are much more forgiving to moisture levels but put an acid applicator on the round baler and you take away the advantage. Getting it off the field before getting rained on counts for something in terms of tons of high quality hay brought in.



Trillium Farm said:


> I'm not a fan of RB as IMO you can have better hay with small sq. Admittedly I have only seen the hay of RB when they first entered the market and maybe today things have changed. In the same verse I can't see either how those huge big sq can make good hay as tight as they are. I was taught that a bale has to breath, so maybe I'm wrong here too. You guys who use those big balers what do you think 3x3 better than 3x4 and 4x4 or am I on the wrong train to Kansas. I know that small sq give you probably the best hay, but the reality is that help is very hard to come by so everything must be mechanised to bring the hay in. Is the trade from small sq to big sq worth the cost in equipment?
> 
> Looking forward to hearing from your experiences.
> 
> P.S. Not trying to hijack the thread, it just came to mind


----------



## Trillium Farm (Dec 18, 2014)

slowzuki said:


> I have quite a time with horse folks who have been burned with bad round bales. One can make excellent large bales if they care to. In our local humid climate small squares are much more forgiving to moisture levels but put an acid applicator on the round baler and you take away the advantage. Getting it off the field before getting rained on counts for something in terms of tons of high quality hay brought in.


Thanks for replying Slowzuki, I agree that one can make excellent hay if one cares, but I've always though that it was more difficult with big bales.I could see it when they had soft core round bales than they came out with bales so tight that air couldn't get in and I began to wonder. Same thing with big sq, they are so tight that I don't know see how any air can get in, of course all this without using any acid. What are your thoughts on those


----------

