Wheat hay

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tdc_cattle

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I've cut wheat and baled it the next day and wrapped it with good results but it's pretty expensive to get it wrapped. Forecast is for rain the next two days but then for some good drying days. Will it still make good hay if I mow it and let it dry before I bake it? I've never heard of anyone doing it before.
 
Thanks. They never do it here but I assumed it was just because it hard to get many drying days this time of year.
 
I will say this though. Wheat does seem to be more difficult to get dry than hay. If you have a good baler that makes a good tight roll and has netwrap, it may tend to silage in the middle of it, which is ok. But if you string tie it, it may not be as tight and may let more air inside the bale which could let it mold a little. And that's not a biggie if your feeding cows, if its white mold. maybe Bigfoot can chime in with his thoughts as well as others.
 
tdc_cattle":125v8lvy said:
I've cut wheat and baled it the next day and wrapped it with good results but it's pretty expensive to get it wrapped. Forecast is for rain the next two days but then for some good drying days. Will it still make good hay if I mow it and let it dry before I bake it? I've never heard of anyone doing it before.

Here in SE Missouri the wheat is getting over mature.

We just wrapped some wheat. We wrapped it because of the waste if we dry baled it. I would assume the digestability would be a lot better as well.

Don't get me wrong it does add up as another expense to wrap it. :bang:
 
I baled some two years ago and it seemed very dry when I raked it. After it was stored for a week it smelled like wine. I put it out and let them eat it. Cows loved it but I didn't think it would be worth anything by fall. Extension agent said that he had worked with another farmer and had a hard time getting it dry and said wrapping was the best method he had found. I only had 18 bales so it wasn't worth the trouble for me.
 
Clod Hopper":xrsr94tz said:
I baled some two years ago and it seemed very dry when I raked it. After it was stored for a week it smelled like wine. I put it out and let them eat it. Cows loved it but I didn't think it would be worth anything by fall. Extension agent said that he had worked with another farmer and had a hard time getting it dry and said wrapping was the best method he had found. I only had 18 bales so it wasn't worth the trouble for me.

Wheat hay is a high percentage of barn fires as well.
 
RiverHills":gbn0gyrt said:
tdc_cattle":gbn0gyrt said:
I've cut wheat and baled it the next day and wrapped it with good results but it's pretty expensive to get it wrapped. Forecast is for rain the next two days but then for some good drying days. Will it still make good hay if I mow it and let it dry before I bake it? I've never heard of anyone doing it before.

Here in SE Missouri the wheat is getting over mature.

We just wrapped some wheat. We wrapped it because of the waste if we dry baled it. I would assume the digestability would be a lot better as well.

Don't get me wrong it does add up as another expense to wrap it. :bang:
Making baleage of it makes it a bit more palatable but doesn't affect digestibility. You've got what you've got whether wet or dry. Better to have wheat on the ground a bit high moisture than standing and turning into wheat straw which is worthless.
 
It was planted as a cover crop so even if we just roundup it and notill beans into it it's not worthless. We got another couple of inches of rain so I'm not sure I'll be able to get on the ground before it is to far along now or not.
 
tdc_cattle":i5yx998r said:
It was planted as a cover crop so even if we just roundup it and notill beans into it it's not worthless. We got another couple of inches of rain so I'm not sure I'll be able to get on the ground before it is to far along now or not.
Roundup it? Lost me there. Maybe I should have said it won't have any real real nutritional value . ;-)
 
I agree on the barn fire comment I was a nervous wreck. As soon as I realized it was heating up I got it out of the barn and several yards away. If I had more I would have done the wrapper. It was hard me to bale. The rolls were loose as soon as I dumped them. Was an experience for sure.
 
As long as you can squeeze the seed and milk still comes out it should be ok. We will be putting 30 acres today bale. Bale and wrap Wednesday. Our cows love it
 
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