July 2014 Articles

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Making Hay in the Springtime

Making Hay in the Springtime Ed Twidwell, LSU AgCenter
From late March to early May is a frustrating time to try and make hay in Louisiana. Frequent rains and poor hay drying weather are common at that time. In spite of the difficulties associated with springtime haymaking, there is a strong reason to attempt it. The best quality forage for making hay is available at that time on most Louisiana farms and ranches. Ryegrass, which most cattlemen and dairymen grow, and small grain crops are most suitable for harvesting during this time. Also, many clovers and alfalfa reach the proper cutting stage for the first harvest then. These crops offer the best quality of all the hay crops grown in Louisiana if they can be harvested and stored at the proper time. You never know what Mother Nature has in mind for summer conditions. It could be too wet or too dry for optimum production of high quality hay from the summer forage grasses. By making a springtime harvest of ryegrass or small grains, it provides some insurance against having to rely on poor to mediocre production from your summer grass hay fields.
The growth stage for harvesting these crops that offers good yields of high quality forage is the boot stage to early heading for ryegrass or small grains, bud to early flowering for alfalfa, and a similar growth stage for clovers. For white clover-ryegrass mixtures, cutting should be timed by the ryegrass maturity. For other mixtures, both the grass and clover should be considered. From a weather standpoint, the best time to cut hay during spring months is usually immediately after the passage of a front. Often 3, 4 or more days of clear weather with lots of sunshine will follow a cool front. Producers who follow long range forecasts and take advantage of such periods have a better chance of making good quality hay.
One tool that can be used to reduce field drying time during springtime is a conditioner or mower-conditioner. Conditioners speed up the drying of stems of clover, alfalfa, and cool-season grasses. A reduction of a few hours in drying time could determine whether a crop is ready to bale before the next rain comes or must be left in the field for one to several more days. Hay should be allowed to dry in the swath as much as possible before raking. It dries faster and more uniformly in the swath. If rain catches it still in the swath and causes it to matt down against the ground, raking it may help. Use of a fluffer or tedder may be even more helpful.
When raking alfalfa or clover, care must be taken to minimize leaf shattering. The leaves are the best quality portion of the hay and any loss of leaves will reduce the overall hay quality. Once hay dries in the swath, raking will likely be less damaging if done at night or during early morning hours when there is some dew on the hay. It must then be allowed to dry some in the windrow to remove the dew before baling to permit safe storage. The use of chemical drying agents may be helpful for quick drying of legume hay but has not proven very effective on grasses. Preservatives can be helpful in storing hay with slightly excessive moisture but have their limits. Once hay is baled, it should be stored in a protected place as quickly as is convenient. Bales should be checked frequently during the first few days of storage for signs of heating. Heating, caused by storing hay that is too moist, can cause loss of quality or when more severe may even cause fire. Hay that begins extreme heating should be removed from storage and spread out to allow further drying.