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Kittitas Co. Wa. State | Hay Wilson's got the right idea! Cut the alfalfa now, and tedd the hay. Best situation would be 1 person cutting another following right behind the swather spreading that windrow as w i d e as possible with a tedder. Sunny days aren't going to last so every second the alfalfa has the maximum exposure to sun (and wind) the faster it wil cure out.
2 weeks waiting for hay to dry/cure in a windrow can be and will seem like forever this time of year.
Relative just baled his alfalfa,, finally cured out enough to bale after laying in a swather windrow for over 3 weeks.. Alfalfa looks like complete KRAP !! 1/2 spoiled black looking on the bottom,,, BLEACHED to absolute death on top,, tiny bit of green right in the middle.. KRAP HAY,, not worth the expense of the twine........
Unfortunately,, I'm old enough to remember cutting hay with a JD model A and a #5 mower.. No conditioner,, but NO windrows either.. hay was cut and fell where it was standing.. Alfalfa always dried-cured down in about 4 days even this time of year. The hassle back then was no Double rakes,, etc... so it took a long time to make roll the hay into windrows. But the drydown-cure time was great even without a conditioner. Swathers are fast an make a nice windrow,, but really add on the cure time.
Cut now and spread those windows wide as possible, then rake back into a windrow just before baling. | |
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When to cut last cutting alfalfa ?
