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Little River, TX | I appreciate what you say. All this works differently around Sacramento than it does near Fresno, and for sure differently from near Yuma.
A 100% swath = close to a 9 ft wide swath, thanks to using a tedder.
A 66% swath = close to a 6 ft wide swath, with the doors wide open and one tire running on down hay.
A 50% swath = a slight constriction of the doors and both tires are off the hay.
A 25% swath = a 2 to 3 ft wide windrow.
.9T/A using the 50% swath can bale after .41" of pan evaporation (PE) or .62" for a windrow.
1.1T/A using the 50% swath can bale after .47" of pan evaporation (PE) or .71" for a windrow.
1.25T/A using the 66% swath at .43" PE, 50% swath .55" PE or .79" for a windrow.
1.5T/A using the 66% swath at .47" PE, 50% swath .59" PE or .98" for a windrow.
1.7T/A using the 100% swath at .42" PE, 66% swath .63" PE or 1.07 for a windrow.
2.1T/A using the 100% swath at .51" PE, 66% swath .59" PE or .98 for a windrow.
2.7T/A using the 100% swath at .59" PE, or 1.38" with a windrow.
Right now I am running about .25" PE/day while in June it will be about .35"/day. It is higher in July and August but there is little or no hay to cut then, unless there is irrigation. Which there isn't.
Cutting at local noon I use half the first days PE and all the following days forecast PE. I figure I can bale the first day that the total PE is above the magic number.
We are not talking about an exact number like something from rocket science.
In the good old says, when I was 20 years younger and still baling at night, and my yields were not as high, if I cut right after the dew burned off (8 am) I could bale that night when the humidity was high enough. Anywhere from 10 pm to 2 am, I would start. Then the hay was dropped into a windrow and soon after raked into a windrow large enough to bale.
Stubble height is a big depends. Some clovers Require a 6" stubble if you expect a second cutting, For Eastern Gamma Grass you need to 12 inch stubble, but for bermudagrass less than one inch will work.
They tell me that cutting above the height where there is some regrowth from the old stems uses up too much energy. We want to cut low enough so all the regrowth is from the regrowth buds at the crown. What ever stubble height my old NH 411 diskbine likes is what my stubble ends up being.
Here bermudagrass cures faster than alfalfa, but it also shatters more leaves than alfalfa. | |
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Can I cut alfalfa in am with dew on it?
