In Search of Green Hay

[Tim Harrigan]

Does’ Leap;20654 wrote:

A question about your attachment: all the folks I’ve talked to locally always tedd only when the dew is off. Your powerpoint suggests the opposite. Can you expand on that?
George

I think the key point is as Theloggerswife said “We have found what works for us best is to run the tedder right after mowing the hay. It causes less leaf damage and the hay is spread out, right from the beginning to expedite drying. We rake it over once, let it dry and then bale it up.”

Rotary tedders are useful tools for speeding drying but they do damage the hay by causing leaf shatter and dry matter loss. The drier the hay is, the greater the loss. When the hay is first cut, it is tough and most resistant to these losses. Similarly, when it is cut in the afternoon and tedded the next morning under dew it is still tough from absorbing water. So tedding under dew is a chance to minimize shatter loss yet fluff and aerate the swath for sun penetration and air movement. My rule-of-thumb is if it is dusty when you are tedding it is too dry.

I will attach a summary of typical hay dry matter losses for harvest, storage and feeding. You will see that typical tedding losses range up to 8% of the crop per operation. If the hay is quite dry, that number can be quite a bit higher. The numbers point out that there is a cost for handling hay. Of course, you have to do it so the challenge is to create the fastest drying with the least possible handling. Typical losses from cutting through feeding are about 20%. Add in a little rain and round bales stored outside and those losses can be in the 40% to 50% range. It seems unbelievable because other than rain damage loss they occur as not overly noticeable losses with every step. But these leaks add up.

George, you probably know that side delivery rakes can be adjusted by tilting the rake. If you tilt it down it will rope the windrow. If you tilt it back it kicks the hay up a bit and makes a more open windrow. Of course, if you rake multiple times even with it tilted back you will have a tight windrow resistant to air movement and sun penetration. I think you have a fluffer-type tedder. I have not used one over a side-delivery windrow, but it seems to me that you could open up a windrow with that tedder more effectively than a second raking. I would be much less reluctant to use that type of tedder more than one time or later in the drying cycle than I would a rotary tedder. Losses are lower with the fluffer tedders.

If you look at the progression of losses in hay harvesting I think it shows a good justification for managed grazing. Certainly there are losses from selective grazing and manure deposition with grazing, but it is not like it is compared to zero losses with hay harvest.

[Does’ Leap]

@Tim Harrigan 20685 wrote:

George, you probably know that side delivery rakes can be adjusted by tilting the rake. If you tilt it down it will rope the windrow. If you tilt it back it kicks the hay up a bit and makes a more open windrow.

Tim:

My rake throws the hay to the right. When you mention tilting it back, I assume you mean up off the ground? I also assume that the right side should be tilted up (not the left), otherwise you wouldn’t be picking up all your hay. Correct? Thanks again for sharing your research and insights.

George

[Tim Harrigan]

I am referring to the tooth pitch. A forward pitch gives more lift and makes a loose, fluffy windrow. A backward pitch makes a tighter windrow that dries slower. Picture a 3-pt mounted rake. If you extend the top link you will increase forward pitch. If you shorten it you will increase backward pitch. Some bar rakes have caster wheels that adjust pitch. I have one with three hand cranks, two adjust and level height, one adjusts pitch. The teeth should be level side to side, usually just below the top of the stubble, one or two inches above the ground.

[near horse]

I still have to ask about what you’re cutting that “leaf shatter” is a concern? You all are making alfalfa hay? (I did notice that Donn mentioned clover).

If I remember right, there’s an article in “Hay and Forage Grower” this month that swears that 1/2″ of rain won’t hurt your down hay at all and really swear that the curse is letting your hay get even a little over-ripe. But again, these are guys doing research not making a “real living”. Sorry for any toes I stepped on but some of the research info is just not as practical as the investigators try and make it.

[mitchmaine]

case or new idea made a three bar iron wheeled rake that doubled as a tedder. you had to change the hub to get it revolving backwards like a grimm or a nicholson reel tedder. is that what you are describing, tim? all the late roll bar rakes i can think of and pinwheels have fixed plumb teeth without an adjustment. but i can’t remember a rake that rakes to the right either so shows you what i know about rakes. george, what kind of rake do you have, please. seems if you have to rake to the right, you have to go against the direction of the baler. seems odd to me, thats all.

[dominiquer60]

It has been so dry here that we have been able to cut and bale on the same day, basically we were mowing grass that was dry enough to bale and very easy to shatter with a rake. We can usually do hay in 24 hours when it is 90 or above daytime temps because we use a macerater which make a big difference when we are dodging summer storms with only small windows to make hay in. But the last few times we cut we didn’t need to use this step because it was too dry already. We do not use animal power to hay, but I would like to use my cattle on the rake when we finally do the second cut on the flat, most fields are too hilly for my young team to handle.

Erika

[Tim Harrigan]

near horse;20692 wrote:

I still have to ask about what you’re cutting that “leaf shatter” is a concern? You all are making alfalfa hay? (I did notice that Donn mentioned clover).

If I remember right, there’s an article in “Hay and Forage Grower” this month that swears that 1/2″ of rain won’t hurt your down hay at all and really swear that the curse is letting your hay get even a little over-ripe.

Leaf shatter is more of a concern with alfalfa than with grass hay, but it is still a concern, particularly with hay that is down below 40% moisture. The other important consideration when haying with drafts is how you use your time and energy.

One thing you have to ask yourself about different operations or new information is does it make sense? Does it make sense that 1/2 inch of rain will not hurt your hay? Maybe if it rains almost immediately after it is cut, but generally it does not make practical sense based on my experience. Usually it rains later in the drying cycle because not many folks start cutting when there is rain on the horizon. If you are feeding high producing dairy cattle hay maturity at harvest is very important because of hay quality and feeding issues. But for feeding horses, oxen, beef cattle etc. there are good reasons to have other things higher on your priority list.

I have not seen the articles you are referring to. I do know, though, that many times journalists are more interested in telling a good story than getting the story straight. It is not uncommon for them to overemphasize a small part of the farming system to create a good story, even if it does not make practical sense in the big picture. They have a magazine to sell and not all of them seek approval from the researcher regarding the specific presentation of the content before they print it.

[Does’ Leap]

Mitch:

My mistake: my rake throws to the left. We have been switching up our horses (side to side) and I was thinking in terms of horses, not directions. Tim, there is no adjustment on my John Deere rake (that I can see, at least), that governs pitch.

George

[Donn Hewes]

I have an Allis Chalmers side delivery rake. Not the best, and not the worst, but it does adjust for pitch. I didn’t know that until this year as it had never been adjusted. It was already pitched all the way forward, but hay still does not dry much in that windrow. I will be interested to do some experiments with a rotary rake. It is hard to imagine buying a rake as I already have two that work well.

There are days when I definitely dry to start tedding before all the dew is gone. A faster tedding process, like my new cart with a 14′ tedder will help a lot in this regard. Start at 10 am. and be done by 11:30 instead of 1pm. I am a little more cautious of rake with any dew on, but there are those super hot dry days were raking early with a little dew will help save the shatter, also spreads out the day and helps the work animals.

Hay making! Every field, every day is just a little bit different. You get to keep thinking up new ways to deal with it.

[Tim Harrigan]

Does’ Leap;20702 wrote:

Tim, there is no adjustment on my John Deere rake (that I can see, at least), that governs pitch.
George

OK, the rakes I have used have had pitch adjustments. Not all do. That ties your hands a bit. Donn, it probably does not make a real fluffy windrow, but tilt it back and you will see it make a much tighter windrow. There are times when you actually want to slow it down a bit.

[mitchmaine]

donn, every field every day is a little bit different. couldn’t have said it better. my hayfield can’t be too much different from yours, in that it probably has two or three different soiul types not including the swales, waterbars and scantic soil. and hundreds of different forages and grasses. all ripening at different stages any particular day. and drying at different rates up and down the feild as you go onto high ground or into the swales. couple that with stretching the time over two or three weeks and it becomes a real head scratcher.
the science is your tool (knowledge) just like your rake and tedder. how you use them is the art of haymaking. like letting dry hay in your bale cure the small bits of green that end up in there cause you just can’t seem to cure the whole field at the same rate at any one time. we just have to do the best we can. carry on.

mitch

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