Cutting Sudex without a conditioner

[DCB4]

I plan on planting a 5 acre test plot next year to do some experimenting myself but was wondering what kind of luck people were having with getting sudex to dry down cutting with a disc mower. I talked to someone recently who said he was cutting it with a disc mower but was having to Tedder it 2-3 times. I’ve also talked to people who cut it with a moco and moan and groan about trying to get it dried down.

 

[Richnm]

Flip it if you have a rake every couple days , do not let it get to tall, waist height is good enough . I grow 100 acres a year of it. Do not double rake it (combine rows). Plant heavy 100-150 pounds per acre the stems will be finer

 

[Texasmark]

Not familiar with Sudex. If it's a sorghum-sudan hybrid hay grazer crop then yes they can be hard to get the stems dry. I run a drum cutter for my hay with no conditioner. I use a tedder instead to keep the crop flipped over so that all of it gets dry evenly, not dry on top and wet on the bottom. The tedding process is very fast and requires little HP so it's easier for me than fooling with a crimper, either stand alone or in a MOCO configuration. The tedder tines whack the stems as you scatter them and cause several cracks per stem which helps in the drying process besides the scattering effect.

 

[jltrent]

Another ideal as I have done before on tall Timothy grass and Johnson grass is to Bush hog it high and then come back and disc mow it low. Let it dry on top good and tedder and it dries good.

 

[Bigfoot]

I have raised quit a bit of sudex, and have never had a conditioner.