Rain! Is my hay ruined?

[Limbo1]

It has just started raining. My hay was cut sat and us still on the ground feeling a bit sick. Have no idea why not baled yesterday and did not see farmer when it was turned.

If it rains this am but the drys this afternoon is it save able? Can't really afford to buy in.

 

[blitznbobs]

It has just started raining. My hay was cut sat and us still on the ground feeling a bit sick. Have no idea why not baled yesterday and did not see farmer when it was turned.

If it rains this am but the drys this afternoon is it save able? Can't really afford to buy in.

If it has only been rained on once it will be ok but only if it dries thoroughly, it will loose some of its colour and quality but as long as it dries thoroughly it will be useable.

This is the main reason we switched to haylage - loads less stressful

 

[JillA]

If it hasn't been turned or rowed up it will be fine - I had some like that rained on every day for a week years ago and it acted like a thatch, shed the rain off. If it has been turned your contractor will need to turn it a few more times to dry it out before it is baled.

 

[Limbo1]

If it hasn't been turned or rowed up it will be fine - I had some like that rained on every day for a week years ago and it acted like a thatch, shed the rain off. If it has been turned your contractor will need to turn it a few more times to dry it out before it is baled.

Been turned everyday so presumably will need to be turned a few times. God hay is stressful.

 

[Tiddlypom]

We're in the same boat, ours was cut on Saturday too. Was nearly-but-not-quite ready to be baled on Mon after being turned twice. Tuesday was cool and drizzly.

As long as it's turned regularly, and that you get a good warm sunny breezy day for baling, then all is not lost. Ours was once down for 10 days with intermittent rain, but it was decent quality in the end. The weekend is looking promising...

It's been a nightmare season for hay round here, we've been aiming to cut it since the end of June! It'll lose nutritional quality by being out for so long, but as long as it's clean and not mouldy, that's no bad thing if you've got fatties.

 

[Fruitcake]

Ours was rained on with torrential rain numerous times last year! It'd been turned too. I had a real panic but the farmer told me not to stress: it'd be fine- and it was!

This year, however, I cannot think about hay without breaking out in a cold sweat as ours is still currently standing still to be cut!!

 

[Dubsie]

Our bailer has broken. We're also down to 1 tractor = swapping tedder, bailer, trailers etc is a pain. Think a broken bailer is worse than being rained on, especially an old one where parts might be an issue....

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

It has just started raining. My hay was cut sat and us still on the ground feeling a bit sick. Have no idea why not baled yesterday and did not see farmer when it was turned.

If it rains this am but the drys this afternoon is it save able? Can't really afford to buy in.

As long as you keep turning it ,it should be ok. Our first hay crop got wet then a day of dry then wet then dry then wet, farmer managed to keep turning it and yes it did end up a bit brown - BUT! the horses loved it even if some of the goodness went out. We managed to feed every bale to them and then ate it. You don't want to leave it on the ground for more than a day though or it will spoil.

The horse will let you know if they wont eat it - they are the judges in this.

 

[Tiddlypom]

This is ours today. We just need one good day and it'll be good to bale. Current 17c, overcast and drizzling...

Dubsie, last year it took 3 broken balers before our small acreage was finished. This year, the tractor that did the mowing had an electrical fire hours hours after leaving here, it's now sidelined awaiting the insurance assessor.

TP *twitches gently*

 

[poiuytrewq]

So happy we managed to do ours during the really hot spell ages ago.
As above hay making is incredibly stressful! I think rain once shouldn't be too disasterous.
Fingers x'd for all of you with hay down!

 

[rabatsa]

On a six mile trip yesterday I counted 15 fields of hay down and it was raining for about 3 hours. A lot of people are in the same boat.

 

[tristar]

why has it been left so late, or is it a second cut? sorry not wanting to add to the stress!!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Can't speak for the OP, but it's been raining constantly here since the middle of June!! First cut.

 

[Clodagh]

why has it been left so late, or is it a second cut? sorry not wanting to add to the stress!!

Ours was baled yesterday. Thankfully not my problem any more but a contractor still buys the grass. It is late in our case because it rained all of August, and he had too much to do elsewhere in June and early July.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

why has it been left so late, or is it a second cut? sorry not wanting to add to the stress!!

In some areas there was a complete lack of rain through March to July, meaning growth was thin and sparse when we got to the hot July spell.
Hence some getting 1st cut done when others are 2nd cutting.

 

[Dubsie]

This is ours today. We just need one good day and it'll be good to bale. Current 17c, overcast and drizzling...

Dubsie, last year it took 3 broken balers before our small acreage was finished. This year, the tractor that did the mowing had an electrical fire hours hours after leaving here, it's now sidelined awaiting the insurance assessor.

TP *twitches gently*

Yup drizzle today... ours looks similar but thicker growth so still a bit wetter, over the road looks even drier as a drier field. We can turn the hay and dry it, that's not the problem but I suspect we'll be hand feeding the bailer (Massey Harris from the 1960s if anyone has one for parts?) as the pickup is the broken bit - he fixed it and did a few bales then it broke again, can't think of anyone with a small bailer we can borrow round here, and we're off the beaten track, not worth it for 2 acres for us and 2 for the neighbour.

It's a first cut as hubby was busy with work in June and didn't cut as knew wouldn't have time to repair the bailer, thinking it'd be dry in July for long enough...haha!

 

[Mike007]

In catchy weather ,there are a number of tricks . Watch the weather like a hawk. If there is a pattern ,eg 2 dry days and then rain , repeated . Cut in the rain and leave it alone. AS soon as it is dry ,wuffle it up . Then late evening row it up (helps to dry the ground ,very important) move the row onto the dry ground , mid morning ,then late on or before rain, row 4 rows into 1 ,really tight. Rain for a day or two wont matter now. You are ahead of the game as it will take a lot less time in the next dry spell ,to dry it out to bale.Always row up at night . the damp comes out of the ground so the less area of contact the better. In a difficult season never cut more than you can bale and clear in a day. ...........I have made a hell of a lot of hay over far too many years.Oh yes ,reliable well maintained machinery is a must.

 

[ameeyal]

We have just made 1600 small bales { on about 25 acres} cut last wed and baled Monday, never thought we would make hay at all, we were at it all through the night untill 5 in the morning, then gave up, leaving 200 still in the field as it started then to rain. what a mither. we always have contractors in, but thought we would do it ourselves, after my husband bought all the gear for small bales.

 

[windand rain]

We dont cut it but use it as standing foggage. Best way no stress but only useful if they live out 24/7 I suppose. I have never seen as much grass as there has been this year so much hot dry and wet weather interspersed we have tons of the stuff hopefully will last until April or may next year I reckon we have at least twice as much as usual

 

[tristar]

sorry about the weather, best of luck with the hay

 

[tristar]

how do you go on with er.... fogage, all winter,? i have used standing hay but not all winter mainly in late summer.

 

[dominobrown]

We are struggling to get hay or gaylage this uear. Most people are just making silage. Where I am, no joke, it has rained EVERYDAY in August. Even last night... some sort of shower etc.

 

[windand rain]

We strip graaze into it so far for the last 4 years we have used fewer than 10 bales of hay for 4 ponies. They are always a bit fat coming out of winter for my liking but we usually have to get the hay for April as it is the end of the fogage and the new grass is only just coming through this is when we set up the tack again so need a few days of hay in the transition. Our soil is very sandy and we get very little mud although we occassionally have standing water at the bottom of the hill

 

[Millie-Rose]

It will be fine as long as you keep turning it at least once a day so it doesn't sit in the wet and it is 100% dry when it goes in bale. We make approx 3000 small bales every year so can't always wait for perfect conditions often some can get rained on several times and its fine. May discolour to yellow or very light brown but then I don't like to put ours in the shed too green anyway. The only time we've lost any is when we've panicked about rain coming and baled when nearly but not quite dry- the slightest bit of damp in a bale and it will all mould. I suspect that's why you're farmer didn't bale before the rain we learn't that lesson the hard way!

 

[Orangehorse]

We did our hay during the really hot weather, haven't had an easier haymaking time for years. Then we took on a field someone hadn't been able to get to, as a favour really.

It was a couple of weeks before we could get round to cutting it as it rained most days. Then it must have rained at least a bit nearly every day for the next 2 weeks, as we were also trying to combine but managed to bale up the straw in the dry, so it was finally baled up last weekend in good conditions as it happened. It is well washed and will have little feed value but at least it is done.

You are so right about haymaking. We have all the big kit, but it is the most stressful thing of the whole year, once I have my haybales in the barn for winter I can relax over everything else. Combining is never so stressful.

 

[Limbo1]

Thanks all feeling reassured. Drying well now so keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Limbo1]

It is in!!! Yesterday pm lovely farmers baled it and in the barn safely. So relieved.

 

[tristar]

great!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Great stuff. Ours in in, too. Baled today, and it's decent quality.

You couldn't make up the nail biting hitches and delays we've had en route, though. After 30 years of getting our own hay made, that's it. I'm getting a ride on mower and am going to keep the field-that-used-to-be-a-hay field topped and tidy, and will buy in all hay supplies in future.