# Baling dew into hay



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I struggle to make dry hay that's still green. I'd say it's "semi-green". Lol
Yesterday I was looking at some small bales grown about 100 miles from here. Couldn't believe it. Greener than green. Limp, soft and what blew me away is they were almost "moist" inside. Yet my friend who bought them said they were baled weeks ago and stored indoors. How is this art mastered? 
Is this what I'm seein dew baled into the hay? 
Obviously a skill I haven't obtained or even tried! Moisture in a bale seems like a recipe for disaster!


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## lidaacres (Oct 11, 2014)

We make all baleage, but a good friend of mine tries to make hay that way. He waits till it's "bone dry" (impossible this year), and then goes out to bale when the dew starts coming on. He does this with big squares and puts (I think) 4lbs/ton of acid on. He said that the stem moisture is what is going to make the hay spoil not the dew moisture. I've never tried it, but it works for him when the weather cooperates.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

It is a recipe for disaster, perhaps the "wet feeling" was preservative? its a struggle I deal with all the time......trying to maintain color. Our Bermuda grasses differ from one type to another in the ways they dry down. Tift 85 is a much thicker bladed grass and during dry down it loses color fast and turns almost a blueish tint before going tan colored. Tift 44 however is a very fine bladed grass and it dries down beautiful with a rich green color. The "trick" for me is to get it cut and fluffed quickly and leave it be until it's very close, depending on the time and weather, I try not to fluff/Ted/flip hay more than needed as I don't want to expose as much surface area to the big ball o fire, but I needed to Ted/fluff/flip/turn the hay for even better dry down......the air circulation thru the tedded hay vs the sunlight exposure for the surface area is the hard part for me. I want to bale at 16% but always wait until no bale tests higher than 14.....anything higher, in my experience with my meter, is asking for trouble. The next variable is the storage method and it's air circulation......with good circulation in storage, comes good quality hay, it's often overlooked. 
One of my first years making squares, I stored some beautiful Alicia Bermuda hay on four 48' flatbeds parked under cover but no sides, stacked two bundles high on the flatbeds. Without a doubt the best kept hay I've ever put up, broke into it in February and couldn't believe how it looked, neither could my customers, every one if them commented on that hay, it was abnormally good, but it had 4' of circulation below it and plenty of air flow no matter the direction of air flow......that learnt me a lesson 
In the end I thnk it has a lot to do with the type (especially in BG) and climate. Last week I coulda cut and baled hay, no rain for 6 days but highs n the high 90's and high 80's in humidity, sunshine was in short supply, probably only about 60% of available sunshine per day maybe less, pan evaporation was poor. Waited until this week and what a contrast.....highs in the low 90's humidity at 60 and not a cloud in the sky, absolutely couldn't get any better for August in South Georgia. So not pulling the string last week paid off in spades for me if we get it in the barn. I can't make good quality hay in the aforementioned conditions, I'd rather round roll it and take my losses......all this of course is Bermuda grass, I'm bettn the same total plant exposure to sunlight vs. airflow applies no matter the grass.....


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

For alfalfa yes you do need to bale with a little dew/humidity moisture otherwise you will end up with a bale of stems with some crumbled leaves. When I first started baling alfalfa I was scared to death it was too wet to keep in a bale because it felt damp but since the stems are fully dry when I bale I guess they take care of the extra moisture.

There does seem to be a point to when grass hay can get too dry and be very brittle which makes it harder to make a good heavy bale. That doesn't happen often here though and when it does unless the weather is really pushing me to get it up I will wait until a little later in the evening when the humidity rises to finish baling. I would never bale grass hay with a little dew moisture unless it was previously fully cured with no stem moisture.....otherwise you are asking for trouble. I think the hay getting too dry to bale and having to wait and bale with some dew moisture/humidity is typically a out west deal that doesn't happen often here in the east except for alfalfa. This year has been the exception here though.....we had a lot of unusually low humidity weather around first cutting and I actually baled a lot of hay from 9-11pm which is almost unheard of here......taught me a lot about how humidity affects hay.

As for the hay bleaching out that is due to the hay being exposed to the sun and dew. The more you Ted the hay to expose it the more it is going to be bleached.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I wonder if the hay was Macerated,or run thre Crusher or Circle C rolls?Crushed them stems it would feel softer.Dry quicker and less chance to bleach out.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Thought I should add that baling hay with dew moisture and the green color of the baled hay are unrelated.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

We always seems to end up baling some after dew has set if its cured enough it'll be okay maybe alittle dust. If the stems still are high in moisture it'll heat and make lots of dust and smell musty maybe discolored as well.

Also how I learned the baling moisture difference between small squares and round bales.


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## Jay in WA (Mar 21, 2015)

Its standard practice in the west to bale alfalfa with dew. Just get the hay completely dry and catch it with the dew coming in to bale.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Funny because I was out west (UTAH, Wyoming, Montana) for 10 days in early August and nobody was baling in the late day early evening. 
Saw lots being baled in the afternoon. 
Maybe they were baling at night?


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

These conversations are interesting. Where I live, and this may be true for most of us east of the Miss, every day is a different set of circumstances. If I only had to make 1 ton per day I think I could get pretty close to the best possible product but it would be different management each day. Now if you are going to do this one a commercially viable scale, well good luck to ya. Lots of compromise some days.

If this guy has thousands of these bales we need to study and learn from him(her?). However this may be the best and the thousands are more common product. As dad says, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I've never had any luck trying to bale a lot of hay when the dew starts to set at night, just sets so fast it'll go from pretty good to material sticking to the belts on the round baler in a hurry. I do however bale early mornings sometimes while the hay is a little tough, but for that to work and avoid heating or getting dusty the hay had to be very dry the day before, like 12% or under.

There is a big difference between dry hay and cured hay before baling.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> Funny because I was out west (UTAH, Wyoming, Montana) for 10 days in early August and nobody was baling in the late day early evening.
> Saw lots being baled in the afternoon.
> Maybe they were baling at night?


That time of year we bale at night, anywhere from 10 PM to 1AM as the dew sets, and when the dew gets to heavy we quit. In the mornings after a heavy dew, it is not uncommon to have to wait until noon or 1 PM to get it dry enough to bale again. It just depends on how heavy the windrow is and how much dew set the night before.


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## Bishop (Apr 6, 2015)

Some preservatives have green dye in them.


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## Jay in WA (Mar 21, 2015)

Leaf retention depends upon the market. Export wants leaf retention. Dairys don't care because the TMR is going to chew it up anyhow. Plus they don't want to buy any water. Cowboys just want cheap feed. I bale both ways, depending upon the conditions and targeted market.


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## Nate926 (Apr 6, 2014)

This is 4th cutting that was baled with the dew. It was bone dry at sunset. Did get some bleaching from heavy dew the night before.


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