Good hay will look like dried hay and not-so-good rained upopn hay will look and feel more like little sticks. Matching your hay harvest with your plan of use can pay handsome dividends in lower costs and less supplementing. Most growers compromise the two and cut in the flower or bloom stage. Bruce … Compare the normally cured hay with cured, rained on hay and you will see the difference in the hay's quality. The cutting decision for 'all grass' and grass-dominant mixed hay should be based on the feed quality needs. An issue with cut hay being rained upon is that a part of the nutritional value of the hay is 'washed' out of the hay. I have cut in the rain when working for industry and time was scheduled. Horsemen often have to decide if they should purchase the first or second cutting of timothy hay for their horses.

Pigs may also be fed hay, but they do not digest it as efficiently as herbivores. Timothy hay is an excellent source of roughage for equine diets. Prairie hay cut in late June or early July might have over 10 percent protein and 65 percent TDN. Good luck Cutting early will give you the highest feed value of the hay or silage, while late cutting results in the best overall yield. An acre of hay will lose 6 tons of water when drying down before baling. Weather depending, an afternoon in mid-June is the ideal time to have the hay cut, according to the BGS. If the hay will go to mature, dry cows instead, let the grass produce a bit more growth and cut it after it is well headed out, but before seeds develop. Many believe that the nutritional quality of first-cutting timothy hay is inferior to the second cutting.

How to Cut Grass Hay. Grass is considered higher in fiber than alfalfa, so, alfalfa and alfalfa-dominant hay mixtures of less than 20 percent of the stand or hay composition … Yes there are a lot of mitigating factors i.e. If you wait until August to cut, protein might drop down as low as 5 percent and TDN as low as 45 percent. Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep.However, it is also fed to smaller domesticated animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. I sprigged Bermuda grass with a 10% forecast chance of rain, it rained 1 1/2 inches; steering clutches required before abandoning the field for the day. As grass increases in maturity, grasses develop seedheads and stems, and forage quality will decline. Drought conditions have made many homeowners consider the value of using their lawn as a source for homegrown hay.