I have some hay and rain questions.

[ram]

I cut hay last week and didn't get finished baling before it rained, about a 1/4". So we've been teddering it twice a day and planned on baling the rest today. But it rained again this morning, just a little but still a rain. My questions are, how long can I keep teddering it before the hay is not worth baling? And how much is the quality going to suffer? This would of been our best hay of the year. Oh well, sometimes you eat bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.

 

[dun]

A couple of years ago we had to ted one field 4 times. Cows ate it just fine but since it was winter when we fed it they were dry and didn;t have much need for really good stuff.

 

[Bigfoot]

I think your still good.

 

[Rafter S]

The hay should be fine. Rained on hay will turn dark and not look as pretty, but the cows don't care what it looks like. Years ago in a wet summer my father had some that got rained on and lay on the ground for over 2 weeks before it dried up enough to bale. He rolled it without string and dumped it in a gully. With all the rain we'd had the grass in the pasture was knee deep, but the cows left the grass and ate almost all the hay.

 

[jltrent]

Anything beats a snowball. If you can get it dry it probably isn't hurt to bad.

 

[TexasBred]

The hay should be fine. Rained on hay will turn dark and not look as pretty, but the cows don't care what it looks like. Years ago in a wet summer my father had some that got rained on and lay on the ground for over 2 weeks before it dried up enough to bale. He rolled it without string and dumped it in a gully. With all the rain we'd had the grass in the pasture was knee deep, but the cows left the grass and ate almost all the hay.

They'll do it everytime.

Rained on, dark hay is still better than letting it grow long past maturity and lose it's nutrients while still standing.