Hay Production

1
Hay Production

• Forage Crops 4310

2
Why hay?

• Dried forages and grass store well
• Harvest when growing forage is abundant to feed
  when growing forage is limited
• Mechanized to an ever-increasing degree

3
Factors affecting hay quality

• Plant species
• Stage of maturity
• Curing and handling conditions
• Soil fertility
• Seed quality

4
Typical Yields in Tons/Acre

• Alfalfa 3-6
• Orchardgrass 2-5
• Tall fescue 2-4
• Bermudagrass 5-8
• Pearl millet 2-6

5
Hay Crop Selection

• Local Adaptation
• Nutritional quality legumes improve quality
• Match with animals
• Economy perennials often more economical
• It costs a considerable amount to make hay so
  should be the best hay possible

6
Recommended Stage of Maturity to Harvest Hay

• Alfalfa Bud stage at 1st cutting 1/10 bloom
  thereafter
• Fescue,OG,Timothy Boot to Early head
• Red clover, Crimson clover early to ½ bloom
• Small grains boot to early head
• Summer annuals 40 or early boot
• Bermuda 15 to 18 then every 4 weeks

7
Order of maturity

• Tall fescue
• Orchardgrass
• Timothy

8
Tall fescue protein content
May
July
June
Bates. 2000. Unpublished data. Plateau Experiment
Station.
9
Effect of maturity on protein content
Hoveland and co-workers. 1986. AL Exp. Stat. Bul.
577.
10
Rain hurts hay

• Good hay curing depends on stopping plant
  respiration
• Rain slows drying which allows the plant to
  continue to respire.
• Repeated rain will leach nutrients and damage
  the hay

11
Rainfall effect on alfalfa hay loss
Collins. 1983. Agronomy J. 75523.
12
Dry matter loss of orchardgrass hay due to rain
Dry hay (15)
Wet hay (67)
Scarbrough and co-workers. 2005. Agronomy J.
97604
13
Effect of rain on bermudagrass hay
Dry hay (13)
Wet hay(76)
Scarbrough and co-workers. 2005. Agronomy J.
97604
14
Minimizing rain problems

• Be ready when weather breaks
• Choose later maturing species and varieties
• Use conditioners
• Balage or haylage

15
Hay making

• Cut with or without conditioning (crushing
  stems)
• Ted
• Rake
• Bale
• Store

16
Historical

• Early hay production depended on strong backs and
  long hours

17
Early 1900s System was to take hay to the baler
18
Cutting

• Scythe
• Sickle Bar
• Disc Mower

19
Conditioning

• Flails beat up hay, removing surface wax and
  speeding drying
• Roller conditioners consist of two opposing rolls
  that have a raised, interlocking chevron pattern
  to crush stems

20
Mower Conditioner

• Haybine combination of mower and conditioner
• Discbine combination of disc mower and
  conditioner

21
Tedding

• Turns and stirs hay to hasten drying
• May allow baling 1 day earlier
• Decreases chance of losing quality due to rain
• Increases leaf loss, especially with legumes

22
When to Bale?

• Moisture needs to be below 20
• Above 22 - increased chance of excessive
  heating Barn fires!
• Especially risky with tight bales (drying is
  difficult in center of tightly formed bale)
• Allowing to dry too much (below 15 - 16)
  increases leaf shatter

23
How to tell if it is ready

• Shake it if it rattles, it is probably ready
• Twist it works good with wheat hay if it
  breaks fairly easily, it is probably ready
• Use microwave method

24
Microwave method for calculating moisture

• Weigh wet sample (subtract bag wt)
• Zap in microwave for 5 minutes (put cup of water
  in)
• Reweigh
• Repeat until sample weight stabilizes probably
  3 times replace water each time
• Calculate moisture percentage

25

• Moisture Wet wt - Dry wt x 100
• Wet wt
• Moisture 50 g 41 g x100
• 50 g
• x100
• 50
• 18

26
Raking

• Create windrow to allow baling

27
Wheel Rake

• Faster
• Less skill needed

28
Balers

• Small package
• Large Round Balers
• Large square bales

29
Baling
30
(No Transcript)
31
Large Round Bales

• Pros
• Less labor

• Cons
• More leaf loss
• Difficult to market due to transport
• Quality often lower
• More loss during feeding
• Often, more expensive baler

32
Baling

• Pick-up lifts hay
• Directs it into chamber
• When it gets to desired size, it is wrapped with
  string or mesh wrap

33
Two kinds of large round balers

• Variable chamber size of hay-making chamber
  changes as bale forms tends to make a more
  uniform, tighter bale
• Fixed chamber fewer moving parts (less to
  break) and makes a bale that is less dense in
  center (may allow better curing after baling)

34
Large Package Balers Variable Chamber
35
Large Package Balers Fixed Chamber Round Bale
36
Baling may need to weave across windrow while
driving

• Driving side to side allowing the windrow to
  enter pick-up at different places makes a more
  uniform bale

37
Chemical Conditioning

• Not widely used, but worth mentioning
• 1. Anhydrous Ammonia
• 2. Drying agents
• 3. Preservatives

38
Anhydrous Ammonia

• Preserves as fumigant
• Improves crude protein
• Nasty to work with

39
Drying agents

• Potassium Carbonate
• Sodium carbonate
• Others and combinations

40
Preservatives

• Acetic acid
• Propionic acid (most common, esp now that
  buffered forms available)
• Lactobacillus enzyme

41
Safety
42
Keep away from rear during unloading

• Rear is dangerous
• So is pick-up

43
Big Bales are heavy

• Raising the bale also raises the center of
  gravity
• Makes tractor more likely to turn over
• Particularly on hillside or in rocky terrain

44
Hauling two bales

• Rear bale improves stability
• Front bale decreases stability
• When carrying one bale and distance, put on rear
  spear

45
Transport

• Make sure tractor is big enough to handle load
• Tires should not be worn and should be properly
  inflated
• Use drawbar or hitch
• Preferable for trailer to have brakes

46
Transporting in Field

• Safety just as important in field