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Little River, TX | For one to accumulate NSC (sugars) you need sunshine to get your crop building sugars to replace the sugars burnt up over night.
Here, in Central Texas 31°N 97°W, I can accumulate roughly 8% NSCs by the time I cut, about 7 hours before sunset. Then the down hay will burn up about half of the accumulated NSCs before dark. In a my primary haying season ,my leaves will be dried down below 48% moisture effectively stopping respiration.
Your 45°F over night will also effectively stop respiration, over night. That much is good. Cutting early in the morning there will be no photosynthesis to build up your NSCs (sugars).
Reason one that dates before the AM PM cutting schedules is the moisture in the dew will allow any diseases present to be spread by your mower.
Reason two, has been mentioned, dew moisture in a windrow or swath dries slower than dew on a standing crop.
A methodology that works in the Humid East is to cut close to local solar noon, and follow the mower with a tedder to achieve 100% ground coverage with your swath. Plus it fluffs up the hay for better exposure to direct rays of the sun. The direct rays of the sun are responsible for 75% of hay curing. On a cloudy day hay dries slower.
I am assuming you are in the Humid East, and that you do not lay 280 acres of hay on the ground every day for two weeks running
The growers in the Arid West have a surplus of low humidity, dry ground, and stiff breezes so they do not NEED the 75% drying by the sun. Their challenge is to find enough humidity to be able to bale the hay with out shattering off 75% of the leaves.
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Can I cut alfalfa in am with dew on it?
