Table of Contents
What happens if hay gets too dry?
When hay doesn’t have enough moisture When hay is too dry before baling, the leaves of the forage become stiff and brittle, making them much more likely to fall off. In many cases, a significant portion of hay’s nutritive value lies in the leafy portions of the herbs used to make the hay.
Can hay be too dry for horses?
Hay that is baled with too much moisture will heat up, become moldy and/or dusty, and has a foul smell. However, if hay is baled too dry, it can get very brittle and dusty. Hay at the peak of maturity is ideal hay for horses. As hay becomes overly mature, it loses nutritional value.
Can hay get to dry to bale?
Wrapped balage should be dried to 40 to 55\% dry matter (45 to 60\% moisture). Compare that to dry hay that should be baled at 80 to 85\% dry matter (15 to 20\% moisture), depending on the size of the bale package (see table below)….Haylage vs. Hay.
| Method | Moisture range |
|---|---|
| Large rectangular dry hay | 13 – 15\% |
How many days does hay need to dry?
It basically takes about three days of good weather to cure hay, which can be a challenge in late May or early June. A good strategy is to mow a day before or immeditately after it rains, because of the likelihood of good weather for the next few days.
How do I know if my hay is too wet to bale?
Breaking stems in half or twisting them in a circular motion to see if the stems break cleanly will give farmers the go-ahead to bale. “If all the stems break and crack that’s an indication that the hay is cured and then you can rely on the moisture test that you’re getting from the probe,” Yaremcio said.
Will wet hay hurt horses?
Wet hay typically goes through a fermentative state, of sorts, and it would not be good for the horse to eat it while this was happening,” she continued. Caution should be used in purchasing hay that was wet when baled. Too much moisture affects the quality of baled hay.
How Long Will hay keep dry?
If the hay was of good-quality when harvested and stored in a dry place with sufficient airflow, hay is likely suitable for consumption for two to three years. Keep in mind that hay, even premium forage, loses much of its vitamin content in the first few months of storage.
Can hay be dry daily?
For the best timing, rake at 40 to 60 percent moisture rates with alfalfa and 25 percent for grasses. These percentages can be reached in as little as 24 hours.
How do you know when Hay is ready to bale?
Now that you’ve cut the hay you need to know when it’s dry. The way I learned to see if it is dry is to reach under the windrow and feel the bottom of the hay. If the hay feels moist, then it’s not ready to bale. An easy test to do to see if hay is ready and bend it in half. If the hay is still wet, it won’t make any crunching sounds.
What happens if Hay gets too wet?
Too wet, and the hay may develop mold or even combust in the silo. Too dry, and the hay loses much of its nutritive value as feed for farm animals. For this reason, it is important to be able to accurately assess the amount of moisture in a hay bale when getting ready to store it.
How long does it take to dry hay?
The physical part of the job involves someone to rake the hay in the field, someone to load it with the pickup wagon and someone to run the crane. As the Steunebrinks are only a team of two, it takes Lars and Ingrid two to four days to dry hay to the quality they are looking for using with the new system.
What to do with hay that is still moist?
If the hay it still moist, you have two options: You can use a tedder to turn over hay and to help it dry faster. You can wait a bit longer to let it dry.