# new to cutting hay



## texascowboy

i would like to know what time most people start to cut hay. i have heard ya have to wait til the dew is dry but that could be 10 to noon befor ya can start. also can ya cut at night


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## dubltrubl

I've cut at various times of the day. For me, it mostly is dependent on my work schedule. Just gotta do what ya gotta do. That said, if I'm looking for the most nutritional value, and I have the weather window for it, I try to cut as late as possible. That usually adds a day to the drying time though. If I want it as dry as possible, as quick as possible, I start cutting at first light or shortly after, dew be damned. I also ted right behind the mower when I do this. I might be wrong, but I think the tedder shakes most of the dew off, and with it layed out, the sun and wind can go to work on it. Last year with such dry conditions, we even had a few times when we cut and tedded in the morning, raked the following morning, then baled the same afternoon as raking. It was that dry! By the way, 9 out of 10 times, we end up cutting in the morning. Also, we only do bermuda. Just my $.02
Steve


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## HWooldridge

I also usually bale coastal but this may apply to other grasses. Thick grass can be damp all day long so I cut whenever possible with little regard for time of day. I let the grass dry as it falls, flip once, then bale - if conditions allow it. I can tell you from experience that damp coastal hay won't bale very well; I was out once when a shower popped up and that little bit of moisture stopped everything - plus the bales will obviously mildew.


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## Nitram

After spending time reading this site it is trade off the earlier will get more resperation while the sun is hitting the leaves vs later in the day when the protein/sugars contents are rising. In the past it has been cut when time is available. Cear as mud? Hope I have it right if not someone will surely straighten me out...lol Martin


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## Chessiedog

Most of the folks around here waited for the dew to get off because, if you were mowing with a haybine it would tend to plug up . I have mowed at night with a heavy dew and had the belt start slipping . Now with a discbine I mow when ever . Though I have had a little problem if it's very wet on a hill side with the mower wanting to slide around .


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## Tim/South

I do not pay any attention to dew if the ground is dry. I am like most others and cut when I have time and a weather window.


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## texascowboy

you guys have been a great help.im gonna start cutting at day break unless some of you more experianced hay folks tell me theres a better reason to wait till later in the day. i guess im gonna have to invest in a tedder. ill be chimming in from time to time with more question so thx


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## shortrow

I mow hay when I have time with a good weather forecast for drying. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. My work schedule dictates my farming schedule.


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## MikeM

I have recently purchased 30 acres and I am also new to haying, my question is what length should you go ahead and cut your first time?


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## Colby

I start around 9am. But I've cut till 3 in the morning trying to get it done


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## mlappin

I mow whenever but prefer mornings. Usually when the weather is favorable I mow right after I ted what was cut the previous day.


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## Texasmark

MikeM said:


> I have recently purchased 30 acres and I am also new to haying, my question is what length should you go ahead and cut your first time?


About 3" has worked for me. It leaves some stem (stubble) with some sugars in it to get the next round going; didn't seem to matter on type of grass with 3" working. I have cut sorghumxsudan at about an inch in places due to uneven terrain and it took forever to restock, primarily because there wasn't any nutrients in the plant stem to feed it.

Currently I have some Pearl Millet planted and have seen pictures of this plant, native to Africa as I recall, to require 6" or more of stubble to restock. Well my cutter cuts at 3 and if it dies it dies. Buttt I am curious as others have told me, including university reports and I am interested in what happens at my cutting height.

Like others have said, usually work schedule dictates when you cut. Weather is also a key player. I have baled too soon on numerous occasions to beat the weather and wound up with less than stellar hay. Moisture has to be at or below a certain level for different grasses/bale/storage types and if you violate that you are going to loose.....damned if you do, damned if you don't. You just do the best you can.

I like a windrow as it gives you a clear shot at new hay to be cut but it leaves hay piled up. Additionally, if you have an irregular field especially as I have with some corners 120 degrees, you leave a clump of cuttings at the corner which are very hard to dry and can ruin a bale if left uncured.

Years ago I invested in a tedder, a scattering contraption, that scatters the hay out all over the place which solves the clumping and windrow pile problems. It lets the grass scatter, thus you have the best drying conditions and when ready, rake it back into a ww of your choice and bale.

On baling, I wait till the dew is off, usually not earlier than 10 am and quit before the sun starts falling in the West and the humidity starts coming back up. For me that's 3-4 pm. I'm usually tired by then anyway and unless I am running from rain, that's what I do.

Like others have said, cutting at night or early morning with dew makes it hard for a sickle to function properly. Drum/discs can whiz right through it which is why the new cutter I just bought is a drum....no more gummed up cutter bars, no more blown sections to replace, no more 9' sickle bars to have to dislodge and pull out from under your moco (mower conditioner....conditioner is a dual roller crimper that smashes the stems to shorten drying time).

Other thing on time to cut is sugars in the plant. As others have said, later in the day these sugars rise and apparently give the hay a better taste. I know my cows can tell the difference between sweet hay and hay that isn't so sweet. On the flip side, and this is just my opinion, if the plant only has so much sugar and it moves up and down the stem as a function of the time of day, if you cut in the morning and the sugars are still in the lower part of the stem, then they will be there to kick off the regrowth for the next cutting......so that isn't all that bad as I see it.

HTH,

Mark


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## swmnhay

I prefer cutting in the morning because that tractor doesn't have A/C in it.

Have no set time to cut actually,just cut when I can.


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## somedevildawg

Usually after the am dew for me. 3-4 inches of stubble


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## hay wilson in TX

[sub][sub]Some points to consider. [/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]
[sub][sub]Hay cut with dew on the plants can transfer diseases. That is can not will. [/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]
[sub][sub]There is an AM - PM effect for harvesting hay. The object is to increase the Nonstructural Carbohydrates percentage in the crop. These continue to increase through out the day, As a matter of fact the plants continue to manufacture Nonstructural Carbohydrates, aka sugar, till about 2 hours after sunset, in Idaho. [/sub][/sub]
[sub][sub]As soon as the plant is cut all new carbs are done and the plant continues to breath and burn energy. Depending on who did the measuring the respiration stops at 48% moisture, or 42% moisture, or 20% moisture. Actually there continues to be dry matter lost even in the barn. In Idaho they have little or no night time respiration as the temperature quickly goes too low for the plants to burn energy. [/sub][/sub]
[sub][sub]Here with our sun I need 5 hours of sunshine on full width swath to get the hay into the 40% moisture range. Really it is the leaves that are down enough to terminate respiration in the leaves. [/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]
[sub][sub]In theory I gain +/- 4% "sugar" and lose 2% to respiration for a net 2% gain, over cutting starting at 8 am.[/sub][/sub]
[sub][sub]I only cut at one time the amount of hay that I can bale between 70% humidity and 55% humidity. For square bales I like to cut 5 acres, & for alfafl I like to cut 8 acres. Do that until all the fields have been baled. [/sub][/sub]
[sub][sub]Now I do all the harvesting, and putting the hay into the barn with no help. My wife used to do the raking and picking up half the hay , until her allergies got really bad. [/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]
[sub][sub]Now for round baling I can cut bale 32 acres between 65% humidity and too much leaf shatter, i.e. below 50 - 55 percent moisture.[/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]
[sub][sub]I have observed that at the 65% humidity the round bales will test 1% lower in protein, At the lower humidity the round bales will test 2% less protein. [/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]
[sub][sub]In theory at the 50 to 55% humidity range the square baler will shatter off 5% dry matter while the Round baler will shatter off 30% dry matter. For this I am dependent on our academic friends to measure. [/sub][/sub]
[sub] [/sub]


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## ETXhayman

We cut whenever. Theres been times we started at 6 a.m. and finished at 1 or 2 a.m. but we do run mower conditioner type cutters so I reckon those throw off a lot of the dew.


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## Nitram

This year I used the humidity ranges to bale (rounds) not at the windrows as I should have but after the grass had cured and in the mornings as the humidity dropped and the moisture came into acceptable levels I found a LOT less leaf shattering so A BIG THANK YOU to Hay Wilson in Texas. Next year I will have a portable humidity tester. Learning from others methods is very rewarding. Martin


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