University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

June 22, 2007

Making Hay When The Sun Shines

Some years it’s difficult to find decent hay making weather. Sunny, hot, dry, and breezy – that’s the prescription for good hay making, along with using practices that can help the process.

Immediately after cutting hay, plant cells continue to respire, converting valuable carbohydrates into carbon dioxide gas. Under the best conditions, around five percent of the potential weight of the hay will be lost as a gas. It’s unavoidable. When hay dries slowly, though, as much as 10% or even 15% of your hay can simply disappear into thin air as carbon dioxide.

Getting hay off the field quickly also helps regrowth by allowing new growth to begin without cut hay lying on top of it or machinery driving over it as it starts to regrow.

To help hay dry faster, cut during good weather and follow these practices.

  1. Mechanically condition and then spread recently cut hay out in as wide a swath as possible. The more hay exposed to direct sunlight, the faster it dries.
  2. Don’t drive on it because wheels compress the hay and reduce drying rates.
  3. Turn hay gently after the top gets dry by adjusting angles, speed, or position on the rake to expose moister hay under the swath and fluff the swath for better air movement inside.

Fast hay dry down is a goal of all haymakers. Good timing and proper equipment operations go a long way toward achieving this goal.

Bruce Anderson
Extension Forage Specialist

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© 2007 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.
Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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