baling grass hay

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dun

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I can;t find any real difinitive answer to what the moisture should be for baling grass hay. Truck loads of data on alfalfa but nothing on grass.
Even the sources for alfalfa don;t agree. The moisture range is anything from 14% to 22%. I got a hay probe and I'm going to try to do it right instead of just the old "it feels dry and it's not tough" method.

Thanks
 
We always tried to shoot for 18% or lower. The only thing about the tester IMOP is not to forget the "it feels dry and it's not tough" method. Where you stick the bale, how you stick the bale, and how tight the bale is you stuck is will all get the a wide range of readings.
 
dun":iky7sins said:
I can;t find any real difinitive answer to what the moisture should be for baling grass hay. Truck loads of data on alfalfa but nothing on grass.
Even the sources for alfalfa don;t agree. The moisture range is anything from 14% to 22%. I got a hay probe and I'm going to try to do it right instead of just the old "it feels dry and it's not tough" method.

Thanks


I've always wondered the same thing. I've baled some grass hay that I thought was too tough, but it never heated or molded. I've also baled alfalfa that I thought was too dry and it heated up. Sometimes we just miss. We have a hay probe, and it seems if we bale alfalfa about 16%, it will have some degree of spoilage. We were always told 18%, but that is just too wet.

Grass hay seems to get real dry, sometimes 12%. Once we start in though, we really don't check the moisture. It was mowed two days ago, go bale it. It was mowed yesterday morning, go bale it this evening, etc.
 
Friend of mine has a monitor on his baler and a hand-held job, worries himself sick trying to get the moisture content perfect. I don't have either, if it feels good - I bale it.
 
Equally important is where the moisture is located in the plant. The leaves may be flash cured and burnt up while the stems are still full of moisture. When it's hot and dry and the hay is thin on the ground, rake it and let it cure in the windrow. That gives the stems more time to dry out without burning up the fines.
 
dyates":19tdk5v6 said:
Equally important is where the moisture is located in the plant. The leaves may be flash cured and burnt up while the stems are still full of moisture. When it's hot and dry and the hay is thin on the ground, rake it and let it cure in the windrow. That gives the stems more time to dry out without burning up the fines.

I agree here, this also keeps it a lot softer when raked a little green, versus stiff and dry!
Also the moisture is not near as critical on second cutting as it is on first cutting, IMHO. I do not know however what the moisture should be, I also just go by feel.
 
grass hay is best baled at 10% to 15% moisture.they let sitt out in the field a day or 2 in case it goes through the heat stage.
 
bigbull338":1vbu59ii said:
grass hay is best baled at 10% to 15% moisture.they let sitt out in the field a day or 2 in case it goes through the heat stage.

I shoot for 14 or less but will keep baling at 15 but will stop and wait if its 16 or better. That is of course if I have the option.
 
I know that 5% is way tooooooooo low, baler jsut makes chaf out of it
 
Angus/Brangus":3ec3elvw said:
Jogeephus":3ec3elvw said:
bigbull338":3ec3elvw said:
grass hay is best baled at 10% to 15% moisture.they let sitt out in the field a day or 2 in case it goes through the heat stage.

I shoot for 14 or less but will keep baling at 15 but will stop and wait if its 16 or better. That is of course if I have the option.

How do you know it's 14 or 15 Jogee?

I start out by feeling it. When it feels ready I will bale a roll. Once its compressed in a bale I stick the moisture meter in it. Some people will stick loose hay in a bucket and test it there. I don't like doing this cause I found the moisture in the bucket is lower than when its actually compressed.
 
Jogeephus":34dj9rfc said:
I start out by feeling it. When it feels ready I will bale a roll. Once its compressed in a bale I stick the moisture meter in it. Some people will stick loose hay in a bucket and test it there. I don't like doing this cause I found the moisture in the bucket is lower than when its actually compressed.

i baled some of i late today. From the moisture gauge it was aorund 14-16% but felt almost oo dry. I have to get the stuff off the field so I started baling. After baling the tester was showing 24% at the core and 21 closure to the outside. Obviously I can;t squeeze the stuff anywhere nearly as tight as the baler can.
 
Dun, the same thing happened to me with the bucket testing method. I know some folks that still do this but I'm kinda scared of it myself. Thats why I'll test the first bale. But sometimes it really doesn't matter and you got to get it off the field before a rain or something. I'd rather put it up where you did than to let it get rained on. On a side note, I put some up that tested 21% and the centers caramalized. It looked and smelled like chewing tobacco. Grass guru at experiment station said it cooked the goody out of the hay but the cows LOVED IT.
 
Jogeephus":3avrg9yb said:
I'd rather put it up where you did than to let it get rained on.
It already has been rained on and should have been baled last monday, but the old new used baler kept screwing up. The new new used baler sucks the stuff up a vacuum cleaner.
 
dun":26rg678k said:
It already has been rained on and should have been baled last monday, but the old new used baler kept screwing up. The new new used baler sucks the stuff up a vacuum cleaner.
I have found that if it is to green it bales bad and if it is to dry it bales bad. If it is to dry you will leave a pile of leaf shatter while stringing the bale. To green usually causes problems starting the core.
 
1982vett":25h4nbyb said:
dun":25h4nbyb said:
It already has been rained on and should have been baled last monday, but the old new used baler kept screwing up. The new new used baler sucks the stuff up a vacuum cleaner.
I have found that if it is to green it bales bad and if it is to dry it bales bad. If it is to dry you will leave a pile of leaf shatter while stringing the bale. To green usually causes problems starting the core.

Yeah, the core is where all the chewing tobacco was.

dun":25h4nbyb said:
It already has been rained on and should have been baled last monday, but the old new used baler kept screwing up. The new new used baler sucks the stuff up a vacuum cleaner.

That seems to be the way of things. 20% chance of rain for three days straight means if you cut it its going to rain on the third day. No ifs and or buts.
 
It's baled now. Net wrap, very tight 4x5s, just over 9 acres, 46 bales.
 
Dun here is a short summury for baling hay from the Arkansas Extension Services.
http://www.aragriculture.org/forage_pas ... Guide7.htm


Baling Hay

Baling should also be done in the same direction as mowing and raking. Baling should progress at a slow enough speed that the hay will be cleanly and evenly fed into the baler. It is important to keep the density, size and shape of bales relatively constant as this aids in storage and handling.

Leaf losses can also be high during baling operations, ranging from 1 to 15 percent. One way to reduce leaf loss at baling is to spray an organic acid (propionic acid is most commonly used) on the hay which then allows baling at moisture levels up to 30 percent rather than the 15 to 20 percent range normally required for safe storage without mold damage.

Baling losses with conventional balers (producing small rectangular bales) are typically 3 to 8 percent, while baling losses with large round balers can vary from 5 to 15 percent. Thus, the potential baling loss is greater with large round balers, but a skillful operator may keep such losses as low or lower than would be obtained with a conventional baler.

It should be emphasized that these figures do not account for storage or feeding losses. Round bales stored outside may have a high spoilage loss, while hay stored inside should have virtually no storage loss. Feeding losses also tend to be much higher with round bales than with conventional bales.
 
Jogeephus":3slzp8ev said:
dun":3slzp8ev said:
It's baled now. Net wrap, very tight 4x5s, just over 9 acres, 46 bales.

Good yield. Now the fun starts! Moving it. :roll:

The good part is it's in the field right next to the hay barns. The bad part is that the hay barns are already full. Now I have to figure out where to put it that's out of the way but still handy and close enough that it won;t take much hauling.
 
dun":1b523ull said:
Jogeephus":1b523ull said:
dun":1b523ull said:
It's baled now. Net wrap, very tight 4x5s, just over 9 acres, 46 bales.

Good yield. Now the fun starts! Moving it. :roll:

The good part is it's in the field right next to the hay barns. The bad part is that the hay barns are already full. Now I have to figure out where to put it that's out of the way but still handy and close enough that it won;t take much hauling.

Electric fence by the hay feeding area works good for me.
 

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