# Chemical drying



## stan223 (Feb 16, 2011)

Ok first i want to say if this is posted some wear else please advise.

2010 crop year was a disaster for me. I make around 200 Acers of alfalfa and alfalfa grass hay in small squares. Last year the weather was by no means in my favor and most of my first cut was a month late and total sh*t. Then to make things worse good labor was not available and what was was overpriced. I spent almost $0.65/bale to get hay into the barn. So in hopes of this never happening again I built a new barn bought a stack wagon and traded my kicker baler and bought a new hay liner baler with a quarter turn drop chute, and a harvest tech chemical applicator. I don't know much about the chemical use though. Ive heard almost all good things, but one buyer told me it doesn't work. I guess what I want to know is how well it works I love the idea of baling hay at night and or at 20% moister. But if hay is at 20% and dew is on the hay either early morning or night time how wise is it to bale? How smart is it to pick the bales with heavy dew on it? Ive read to put x amount of chemical/x amount of moister. I know when hay is ready to bale the old fashioned way when it's to dry and when it needs another hour to dry. But for the chemical side of things do I trust my hay tester? Is it better to test a few bales then start the chemical or test they hay in a windrow with a bucket probe tester? Im in northern Indiana and ive never made a bale of hay after 8:00 pm so as of now I am kind of jumping into this blind folded. Any response is very much appreciated.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

If you're using acid it works _if_ enough acid is applied. If the hay was dry then started picking dew up towards evening not as much acid will be needed compared to if you're baling early in the morning after the dew has had a chance to get the stems wet again. If the hay was never dry to start with it will also require more product than if it was dry then started to pick up moisture from dew.

I'm using the Harvest Tec automatic applicator atm and while setting the time per bale is easy enough, even after using it for years, guessing the correct weight of a round bale is a crap shoot at best. I plan on installing a scale kit much like a grain cart would use.

I'm also going to try Hayguard this year as well. Several of the guys at teh hay auctions that consistently haul in good to excellent large square bales swear by it and say they'll never use propionic acid again.

The product doesn't really dry the hay, it just retards mold growth long enough for the bale to dry on its own.

Where are you located at? I have a horse customer that buys roughly three hundred round bales a year from me and he still feeds small squares to the boarded horses. He switched suppliers of his small squares either last year or the year before, if he mentions he's looking again maybe I could send him your way depending on distance. This guy isn't overly picky and doesn't think his hayburners need the best hay at a insultingly low price, it jsut sounded to me like the previous supplier was trying to pull a fast one on em.


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## stan223 (Feb 16, 2011)

just east of fort wayne


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Ah, distance would be a major problem, my buyer isn't that much farther west than me, you just can't get their from here.


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

Buried in the site is the information you are looking for. That said do not ask where to look as I get confused by the format.

To save time I will start from the top on How to Cure Hay.

You are interested in rapid dry down to avoid the rain. You want to use a mower conditioner. That is covered. 
You NEED to lay the hay out in a full width swath. Best to have 100% of the ground covered by down hay. For sure you want 70% or more of the ground to be covered with hay. (There are exceptions for a thin crop)

If you have a tedder use it. Conditioned hay that is stirred up with a tedder dries the fastest. 
*You need sunshine(!). *The day of cutting as long as the hay is in direct sunshine the stomata in the leaves remain open and water escapes through this route. Remove the sunshine and the stomata close and they will now stay closed. 
Direct sunshine heats the moisture in the stems, creating a vapor pressure. This pressure pushes moisture out the nearest opening.

Using a tedder do it right behind the mower, or in the morning when the air next to the hay is in the 90% humidity range.

When you rake the hay, rake when the air is above 90% relative humidity, down next to the hay.

You can rake the hay the morning of the day before you expect to bale.

You want to bale when the hay (the leaves will shatter, the skin on the stems will not peal with your thumb nail.) around supper time. Then you can bale the next day.

Then you can start baling when the air has gone below 70% humidity, down next to the hay. Then you should stop baling when the leaves are uncomfortably shattering.

Now using a preservative helps you start baling when the humidity is still too high to bale. 
Now some use a preservative as soon as the hay test at 22% moisture. This is full of traps. You can have leaves that are 12% moisture and stems that are 32% moisture. You shatter off half the leaves and end up with hay that is really mostly stem averaging 28% moisture. 
HarvestTec is aware of this and places the on the go moisture tester on the cut side of the bale chamber. So it is reading stem moisture and increases the amount of acid to pickle the damper stems. Preventing these damp stems from molding or heating excessively.

One thing about high moisture/preserved hay is it does not slide well on the surfaces of a Bale Wagon. You can wax the first and second table, that helps.

*Ive heard almost all good things, but one buyer told me it doesn't work. I guess what I want to know is how well it works I love the idea of baling hay at night and or at 20% moister. But if hay is at 20% and dew is on the hay either early morning or night time how wise is it to bale?*

Baling at night works, you simply start baling when the humidity is above 55% and keep going until the hay is too tough to bale. You will know by the way too heavy a bale and the slip clutch will be complaining.

You want to keep a eye on the bale moisture, using the on the go moisture tester. Also keep an eye on the bale length. You can judge bale length by when the bale rolls off the bale turner.

You need to learn how to count strokes if using a bale wagon or an accumulator. Too few strokes make for irregular length bales, too many strokes makes for poor productivity. Ideal is in the 15 strokes per bale range. 
Put too long a bale on the bale wagon is a minor problem, if the operator is alive and well. Put 3 bales on the first table that are each 3 inches too long and you may have some real problems.

*But for the chemical side of things do I trust my hay tester? *
You better learn to trust the moisture tester. You will find hay varies widely going down the windrow. The only thing the moisture tester will not do is increase the dose for a wet slug. By the time the moisture tester feels the moisture the hay is past the spray nozzles. I usually just dropped back a gear coming up on a wet slug.

*Hayguard -*

Hayguard does work but on a different principle. It occupies each site that will support mold on the hay. This requires good coverage of all the hay. 
The acid puts acid fumes (it stinks) through out the bale to prevent mold. 
Hayguard cost less but really is only good up to 22% moisture. Buffered Acid is best at 22% moisture but will work up to 30% moisture with reasonable economy. If you do not spending money it will work even higher. The the amount of acid goes up at a nonlinear rate as the moisture goes up.

Hay Guard, when used here, is to be able to start baling when the humidity is as high as 75%. I would suspect you would find it useful on those days the air never get as low as 65% humidity. 
I believe the advantage for the big square bales is being able to bale at 18% moisture and avoid molding.

Enough already.


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## stan223 (Feb 16, 2011)

so with the baler mounted tester ive had one once and acid but i was using grunts on the wagon they couldn't lift the heavier bales so i shut it off and never used it again. i did notice the moister from the preservitive was being read from the tester and soon as it would start the application it got heavier and heavier till the alarm sounded so i kind of wanted to stay away from the baler mounted tester


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

Until AFGC drifted into having their annual conferences in June, I would attend. listen and ask really ignorant questions. It was at a time that hay preservatives and chemical hay drying was the HOT topic.

So I learned a lot. I would also order 10 years worth of archived annual proceedings from AFGC. Gave me something to read during the off season.

Anyway I decided I could build my own preservative applicator to the baler. I ordered from Hay Moisture Meters and Testers from Delmhorst Instrument Co. a moisture meter and accessories to read the moisture in the bale chamber. 
They recomended mounting the pickup on the left side of the bale chamber. 
Mine is a constant pressure system. The flow was for 22% moisture at 18 strokes per bale and a 60 pound bale. If the hay was damper I would drop down a gear. if the hay was drier I could go up a gear. 
The harvest tec system changes application pressure based on the moisture reading. 
There is a learning curve. 
In any case I learned to appreciate the on the go moisture testing. That was and is a real eye opener on how hay really bales.

The harvest tec system is really designed to work with stem moisture so they put their pickup on the cut edge side of the bale chamber. I am on the folded side. 
I probably went 15 years taking stem moisture, with a knowing smile and complete ignorance. 
Stem moisture really makes it's self known the next day in the stack when there is some wormth in the stack. 
Think of it this way. Average 18% moisture, stems are 10% and the leaves are 26% moisture, and everyone is happy. 
Reverse that with 23% stem moisture and 10% leaf moisture and you shatter off most of the leaves and end up with some hot moldy stems.

By the way I have a bone to pick with Indiana. June is a horrible month to expect a hay grower to attend a conference. Every Hay Grower in the nation is putting up hay in June. There is not a really good month for every farmer but in June every Hay grower is busy. 
Still if June 12-15, is open and the French Lick Springs Hotel then consider attending the 2011 AFGC Annual Conference. Forages, American Forage and Grassland Council AFGC Conference

January is a lousy mont for traveling, not convient to the academic crowd but I hope to be at the 2012 January AFGC conference in Louisville, KY.


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