# Does it matter what time of day to start cutting hay?



## kbhblazer

Do you need to wait till the dew is off to start cutting hay? or does it matter?


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## Vol

It is typically best to wait. Grass/legumes can really get plastered to the ground tightly when dew wet.

Regards, Mike


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## Grateful11

Late FIL always said wait for the dew to get off when using a sickle or haybine but a disc mower or discbine isn't affected by dew. Like Mike said though grass and legume will have a tendency to go to the ground instead of sitting up on the stubble.


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## urednecku

To answer the first post, I also start soon as dew dries, for same reason as stated above.

To answer the title question, start as early in the mornin as you can.

I started cutting a small field a little after lunch one day, (grass hay), and started the field across the fence the next morning. The morning cut dried about a day sooner than the afternoon cut. Same conditions, both my fields, nothing but a fence between the fields.


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## rjmoses

See my thoughts about plant respiration in the "Orchardgrass conditioning question" thread.

Ralph


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## SwingOak

My Haybine does oK with wet grass, but just OK, and I have to go slow. It works better when the grass is dry. For me I cut when I can, if during the week I usually can only cut in the evening so I add an extra day to my schedule just in case. And if there's no dew on the grass when the sun goes down it can mean rain is coming...


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## somedevildawg

After the dew is off, usually around 10:30-11:00 here.....


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## Bgriffin856

Usually wait till dew is off. But will mow well after dew has set after dark.....doesn't make much sense. But its about like mowing the next morning after the dew is off. Only do it when there is a large enough window and have alot of ground to cover.


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## Tx Jim

I think moisture of any type accelerates the wear on the knives on my disc cutter especially when cutting in sandy soil.


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## astropilot

Another thought is Hay cut in the afternoon has a higher sugar content than in the morning.


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## urednecku

astropilot said:


> Another thought is Hay cut in the afternoon has a higher sugar content than in the morning.


I've heard that too. Hard to find that "happy medium", best sugar and fastest dry-down!

Around* here*, I've not heard of many people worried too much about sugar content, most just want "good hay", something to keep the cattle from starving for a couple months till the grass starts growing again.


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## 8350HiTech

urednecku said:


> I've heard that too. Hard to find that "happy medium", best sugar and fastest dry-down!
> Around* here*, I've not heard of many people worried too much about sugar content, most just want "good hay", something to keep the cattle from starving for a couple months till the grass starts growing again.


People don't know they care about sugar content but they do. When someone says "my horse just devoured your hay even though it looked and smelled exactly the same as my other supplier's" there is a real possibility it's because of sugar content. If they buy more hay, even if they don't know why their horse liked it, it's still beneficial to the grower.


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## Supa Dexta

Yeah it becomes a toss up, to cut morning or evening. And depends on the area and expected weather.

Most people can't afford to lose a day of hot sunny weather, so they want to cut in the morning and get that day in. If it had been raining the day before you can't really cut that night before the sunny day anyways without some standing dry time.. So unless you have days of sun ahead, most can't chance it.

The sun provides the plants energy to produce sugars, and then it goes into repair mode at night - using up these sugars for growth and cell repair. So yes, it is lower in sugars in the morning, but its healthy, you have a sunny day ahead and you have to work with conditions.. There are studies out there that will give you hard numbers. I've looked them over, and still cut in the morning because it provides the time I need to get the job done.

Hay with a lower initial sugar content is still miles ahead of rained on hay. Ideally if you had morning rain, with sun in the forecast for the next couple of days - I would cut that evening and then ted the next morning.

Getting hay dried quickly is just as important. As the plant doesnt know its been cut, its still trying to grow, repair and respire - using up even more sugars as long as it can, until its dried down sufficiently to stop that process.


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## Teslan

I don't worry about it to much. Cut when the weather is right and when you have time. I've been known to cut at night


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## Lewis Ranch

Here when it gets real hot and dry I try to cut at night or early in the morning, the moisture in the plant helps it cut easier.


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## ARD Farm

I'm really ther odd man out. I pay no attention to dew when cutting, in fact, I like to see a dew mist hanging on the backend discbine. I've cut at night, early in the morning and even after a rainstorm though after a good rain takes an extra day for drydown.

My forage don't get 'plastered' to the ground. I run a NH discbine with serrated knives and I hold it at 540 rpm but the icing on the cake for me is the NH Wide/Thin kit on the swathboard and the attack angle...raised all the way up with the back shields removed. I lay a 9 foot wide windrow. On heavy first cut, I add in the side deflector on the off side because heavy crop can fill in the between row bare spot and then it hangs under the mower on the next go around.

I keep the offside deflector attached with wing nuts and flip it up and reattach it for lighter crop subsequent cuts. It wasn't really designed for the 9 foot machine I have (I had to modify the template when I drilled the swathboard) , but, NH now predrills all the swathboards for the Wide-Thin Kits. Best 200 bucks I ever spent on hay related stuff.

Never watched it (I'm up front in the tractor, but I've been told it looks like a green waterfall from the back. I can look back and see the forage arching up but I can't see the rest and the serrated knives work really well on my sandy loam. I'm on my 3rd season and I haven't switched them around yet.

What works for me, may not work for you but time of day or dew or even rainfall don't have much of an impact for me.

The only issue is cleaning the machine afterwards.


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## eastsidehayguy

Might be a south east Michigan thing as I dont wait for dew either, just dont have the window of time to wait for the dew to leave living so close to the water. I also have run my disckbine like ARD has said,althought I havent put on the wide thin kit and still does a nice job of spreading out the hay to dry. I havent tried the serated knives didnt know they offered them will have to look into them


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## CaseIH84

I have also heard that cutting between noon and five in the evening the sugar content is the highest.

When we were mowing with the NH haybine we had to wait till after the dew was off. It was an older haybing 489 that had seen many acres. Pretty worn out. The darn thing would plug on me constantly even with new cutter bar.

All that being said we went to discbine and cut when we had available weather as it seems to be hard to find in these parts the last few years. First cutting last year we had a lot of mud. Fields were terrible wet.


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## JeffMNY

I like to cut in the morning, but can't always do that because of my job. So cut whenever I get a chance to. If things work out the way I want, I can get it mowed and then let the ground dry a little and then ted the hay out. All depends if it has rained the day before or not. If it has I have to wait for the ground to dry some. Heavy clay soil here and sometimes it can be a challenge. Last year was one of those years. I have also cut later in the evening as well. Just have to go when the weather and my schedule will allow.


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## Chessiedog

I suppose it depends on how much ground you have to cover to how choosy you can be .


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## deadmoose

Chessiedog said:


> I suppose it depends on how much ground you have to cover to how choosy you can be .


As well as equipment and climate.


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## cornshucker

CaseIH84 said:


> I have also heard that cutting between noon and five in the evening the sugar content is the highest.
> 
> When we were mowing with the NH haybine we had to wait till after the dew was off. It was an older haybing 489 that had seen many acres. Pretty worn out. The darn thing would plug on me constantly even with new cutter bar.
> 
> All that being said we went to discbine and cut when we had available weather as it seems to be hard to find in these parts the last few years. First cutting last year we had a lot of mud. Fields were terrible wet.


I read an article from one of the land grant universities research department that said the hay would be of better quality cut in the afternoon due to the sugar content. Really try to do this but as we all know it can't always happen due to weather and time constraints. Do like to at least wait for dew to dry off and for land to dry off after a big rain but then again that can't always happen.


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## CaseIH84

I agree cornshucker. That is always my plan also. Last year though was so bad here. We had tiny windows to get hay made. Had to jump on it when possible. I found myself mowing in the dark at times. We didn't get any decent stretches of weather till Sept.. That was reason I started making sweet hay. Bought us just a little less drying time. Man I hope this year is better.


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## lcjaynes

Watch for Progressive Forage Grower's May issue. It will have an article in it from some Canadian researchers who tested grass and legumes and different cuttings throughout the day.


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## PaCustomBaler

lcjaynes said:


> Watch for Progressive Forage Grower's May issue. It will have an article in it from some Canadian researchers who tested grass and legumes and different cuttings throughout the day.


I'd be interested to see that.

Most of you guys mow whenever you can get on the ground, I'm in the same boat as you. However, we have some custom farms that want low sugar hay so we'll get on that hay at the last bit of dark (start mowing around 4am) since plants are consuming sugar overnight (respiration) and not building sugar because it's dark (photosynthesis). Sugar fluctuation between day and night doesn't occur as in the east as much as it does in the west, but there's still a bit of fluctuation. A prior cloudy day also helps to getting lower sugars, but that's getting pretty picky! Heck, we even had some who want the hay to get rained on to "wash" out water-soluble sugars.

But when it comes down to it, just mowing whenever you have the window is name of the game around here...


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## hog987

PaCustomBaler said:


> I'd be interested to see that.
> 
> Most of you guys mow whenever you can get on the ground, I'm in the same boat as you. However, we have some custom farms that want low sugar hay so we'll get on that hay at the last bit of dark (start mowing around 4am) since plants are consuming sugar overnight (respiration) and not building sugar because it's dark (photosynthesis). Sugar fluctuation between day and night doesn't occur as in the east as much as it does in the west, but there's still a bit of fluctuation. A prior cloudy day also helps to getting lower sugars, but that's getting pretty picky! Heck, we even had some who want the hay to get rained on to "wash" out water-soluble sugars.
> 
> But when it comes down to it, just mowing whenever you have the window is name of the game around here...


Another way to get low sugar hay is to cut it mature. Had a lady once that drove 800 miles to look at my hay cause it had low sugar. Wet summer that year. So it was cut a month plus late. The only reason she didnt buy it was cause it was not stored in a shed.


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## Supa Dexta

What in the heck do they want that for? let me guess - some horse fool thinks their horse needs to be on a low sugar diet for their dental health or something nutty.


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## hog987

Supa Dexta said:


> What in the heck do they want that for? let me guess - some horse fool thinks their horse needs to be on a low sugar diet for their dental health or something nutty.


Geesh its for diabetic horses. Everyone should know that.


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## panhandle9400

If we have a dew we will wait till it comes off and in alfalfa we never cut it after dark. All other hay is cut until it is finished .


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## mlappin

I try to wait till the dews off schedule allowing of course. Always figured some of that water gets trapped under the row if it's too wet when mowing.


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## Tx Jim

IMHO mowing grass with a dew(moisture) on it speeds up the wear on disc mower cutting parts such as discs & blades.


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## Bishop

I start cutting when there is dew on my work boots while walking in the shade, but not in the sun. Sometimes the tractor tires are a bit damp, but not slick with dew. With our high humidity, anytime it looks like a 3-4 day window to make hay I try and take it, and I need the full day of sun on the day I cut. I also drop as wide as I can, and ted it late afternoon the same day.


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