Physiology of Hay Drying

- Dan Undersander, Forage Specialist, Wisconsin

(http://www.uwex.edu/ces/forage/)
Presented at the Manitoba Forage Symposium April 2003, Winnipeg Manitoba

Introduction:
For each ton of hay that needs to be dried down to 12% moisture, an estimated 1.7 tons of water must be
removed. Reducing the drying time is very critical as there are losses due to respiration.

At cutting, the enzymes in the plant continue to function by breaking down the plant sugars and
producing carbon dioxide. This results in losses such as:
a) 4-10% of the total dry matter
b) Feed value in terms of TDN can be lost in the range of 2-6 units
c) Relative Feed Quality (RFQ) up to 27 units

The objective of good haymaking is to have a very fast dry down of the forage so as to reduce the
potential damage from rain and to remove the hay from the field as quickly as possible for maximum
quality. Also, the longer the forage stays in the field after cutting the yield reduction due to wheel traffic
can be quite high.

Physiology of Hay Drying

Relative Drying Rate of Leaves and Stems
There are a number of factors, which affect the
drying rate of forage and must be considered
when developing a haymaking plan.

1: The physical nature of the forage has a

major influence on how quickly it will dry
down. For example, from this chart, it is
apparent that the leaves dry much faster than the
stems. This can result in excessive dry matter
loss if we wait for the stems to dry down to the same moisture as the leaves.
In most hay making systems, the forage is conditioned, or the stems are crushed so as to try to get the
stems to dry more like the leaves,

2: Temperature : does have an

influence on the drying rate however, Effect of Temperature
this chart indicates that the relative
1.2
impact of temperature on the drying rate 1.1
is
marginal at best 1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Temperature (C)

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Dan Undersander-
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Agronomy © 2003

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3: Sunshine & Wind

Effect of Sunshine Effect of Wind

1.1
5.0
1.0
4.0
0.9
3.0
0.8
2.0
0.7
1.0
0.6
0.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Amount of Sunshine
Wind speed (km/hr)
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Sunshine makes some difference to the rate of UWEX
drying, however, wind speed makes a lot of difference.

4: Humidity:
When hay is drying, as the water evapourates out of the leaves and the stems, the area close to the leaf
surface very quickly rises to 100% humidity. This boundry layer which is right at the surface of any wet
material is always at 100% humidity. If
there is air movement, the moisture will be
drawn off and dry moisture will be brought
in which will allow the plant to dry. Unless
that very wet air is taken away, the plant
will quit drying.

Humidity is the second important factor in

drying. From this chart, if the RH is at 60%,
the driest this hay can be harvested at is
about 16% regardless of how hot, or how
much wind or how much sinshine. Until the
humidity levels are below 40%, there
will be minimal drying of the crop if the
target is 10%-12% dry. Effect of 20% weather change on
If the crop has been swathed and it drying rate
appears that the RH is not going to drop,
the use of preservatives such as 1.48
proprionic acid or some high moisture 1.46
Standard is:
harvesting system should be 25C
1.44 temperature,
considered.
1.42 4 km/hr wind,
40% sunshine,
In this chart the effect of a 20% change 1.4
40% relative
in the drying rate on the crop indicates 1.38 humidity
that: 1.36
• Increasing the temperature by 20% 1.34
had some effect
• An increased wind speed of 20%
1.32

had a major effect. 1.3

standard + 20% + 20% + 20% sun - 20%
• 20% more sun did increase drying UWEX
temp wind humidity

but not to a great degree Dan Undersander

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• Decreasing the humidity had the major effect on the drying rate almost doubling the drying rate of the
alfalfa

Effect of normal ranges of weather

What can we do about this? on drying conditions
Perhaps the answer is to do a
better job evaluating weather 3
reports.
min
Ranges: 2.5
max
This chart indicates some Temp - 20 C to
normal temperature ranges. 30 C 2

• Wind – 0 to 12

Effect
Temperature does not make a
Km/hr 1.5
great difference
Sun – 0.2 to 1.0
• Wind speed makes a great %
1
difference – more than a 50%
RH – 80 to 20 % 0.5
difference.
• Sunshine by itself does not 0
make that much difference but STD Temp Wind Sun RH
it is usually in combination with
the effect of temperature and humidity.
• Relative humidity is the second biggest factor.

5: Type of Hay Package:

The type of hay package also can be changed to accommodate different drying conditions. Generally, the
larger and more dense the package, the lower the moisture level required for safe storage. The large
square bales should be in the 14% range, the medium and round bales at 16% moisture and the smaller
square bales can be harvested at 18-20% moisture as there is more surface areas for drying on the outside
of the package.
The Relative Humidity at the time of harvest will limit the type of bale package you can use.

6: Options to Promote Drying:

i) Drying Agents
Use of drying agents is another technique
used in some areas, to hasten the moisture
loss from the plant. Potassium or sodium
carbonate is sprayed onto the plant at cutting
and affects the waxy cutin or outer layer of
the plant stems allowing the movement of
water through the stems or leaves. The
carbonate essentially breaks up the waxy
surface allowing the moisture out.

The product is applied as the plant is cut by

the use of a deflector bar mounted in front
of the header about 8-10 inches off the
ground. This bends the plant over so that an
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effective coverage of the plant is possible. UWEX
Dan Undersander
Undersander-Agronomy © 2003
2003
The effectiveness is only as good as the
coverage you get.

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The potassium carbonate solution (usually a mix of the two carbonates) is applied at a rate of 30 gallons
per acre.
This process does work but the application of the high water rates discourages the general use of the
product. There has been some work on lower water rates, but they have not been as successful. Another
factor is the drying agents work better as the weather improves.
In this graph, essentially the drying agent will reduce the drying by one day.
.
ii) Conditioning of Hay
Use of conditioners is an accepted practice to break the waxy surface of the stem to allow the moisture to
escape. There is minimal difference between the use of steel or rubber rollers.
There are two essential adjustments required for conditioners; one is tension, which needs to be adjusted
according to the tonnage of the forage, the other adjustment is the spacing. Spacing should be the
diameter of a quarter to allow enough breaks in the stem for fast drying.
Another benefit of the roller conditioner is that they tend to keep the stems in line, will lie up on top of the
stubble and will result in faster drying compared to flail conditioners.

Fla il conditioners tend to lay the stems in different directions and the swath has a greater tendency to
settle into the ground. Flail conditioners are not recommended for alfalfa but are commonly used for grass
forages. Studies also indicate a 1%-3% dry loss compared to roller conditioners in alfalfa crops. They are
also less expensive and as the swath is less uniform, difficult to obtain an even feed for silage choppers.

Super conditioners are now being used and involve smooth or grid rollers, which crush the stems. This
chart indicates Tom Burlingham Alfalfa Dry Down Study 2001
some of the Comparison with Circle C Super Conditioner
different systems
that are used to 90
Mower Only
promote rapid dry 80
down. This chart 70
indicates, that the 60
Mower +
% Moisture

more the stems can 50 Conditioner

May 31-
be cracked, the 40
faster the forage 30
will dry. Mower + Super
20 Conditioner
1.5 inch rain throughout
10
Macerators are
0
becoming more Mower +
common and Macerating Hay Conditioner +
Super
involve two sets of Conditioner
Dates & Times
rollers with the two
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steel rollers moving Dan Undersander-
Undersander- Agronomy © 2003
a different speeds
which has the effect of tearing the stems apart and the
result is a much faster drying rate than the traditional
conditioning system.
As the stems now will dry similar to the leaves, there is less leaf loss, therefore higher quality product.
One of the disadvantages of this equipment is the additional power required and the capital cost of the
equipment.
This is of particular use for alfalfa and does not necessarily apply to grasses.
The appearance of this hay is different than the traditional conditioned forage.

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iii) Windrow Management:
Windrow size is also a major factor in fast drying. The wider the windrow, the more solar drying effect
plus wind action on the forage. Total Pan Evaporation required to dry hay from 80%
to 20% moisture with varying swath width
In this chart, a windrow width of 1.0 is 60
where the forage was laid down full

Total Pan Evaporation (mm)

50 Windrow
width. 0.5 means that the windrow is width
covering 50% of the cut area and 0.25 is 40
1
25%, which is quite common for many 30
0.5
hay bines. 20
0.25
0.1 is where the swath covers only 10% of
10 0.1
the cut area.
0
0.8 1.5 2.2
At the 1.5 ton/acre yield the evaporation
Yield (tons/acre)
required to dry the swath is very low but UWEX
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Dan Undersander-
Undersander-Agronomy
Agronomy © 2003
2003
as the swath becomes larger and higher, more evaporation will be required to dry it down. This is because
there is less surface area and the wind cannot penetrate the swath as easily as a full width or wider swath.
Yes, there will be more bleaching; however there will be trade offs that need to be considered.

iv) Soil Moisture:

Soil moisture is another factor in drying of the crop that is too often not recognized as being a major
factor. When soil conditions are wet, there is a capillary action that moves the moisture up into the hay as
it is drying. The result is that the top and
middle of the swath may be dry but the
bottom is still wet due to wet soil Effect of Soil Moisture on Drying Rate
conditions.
In this chart, for example, at the 26.6 C Number of hours to dry from 80% to 20% moisture
temperature, it will take an additional; 6 Cloud Soil Air Temperature (C)
hours to dry from 80% to 20% if the soil Cover Moisture 10.0 15.5 21.0 26.6 32.0
is wet. On sunny days the differences Cloudy Wet 44 41 38 35 33
are a bit less because the surface will be Cloudy Dry 36 34 31 29 27
drier. Sunny Wet 16 16 15 15 15
Sunny Dry 14 13 13 12 12
The major management practice when
soils are wet would be to keep the swath up off the ground by cutting higher. This will avoid the capillary
action or sucking the moisture up into the hay from the soil as well as to allow for better circulation of air
around the swath. Crops with a higher stand density will also help to keep the swath up off the ground.

v) Effect of Cutting height

However, with alfalfa, the general Total Forage Yield (3 cuts)
management practice is to cut short at
about 2-inch height. Losses can be quite
high if the stubble height is above this 6
Yield (tons DM/ac)

level. This is for alfalfa or y = 5.9 - 0.5x

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alfalfa/orchard grass. If there is timothy 2
R = 0.65
in the mixture, the cutting level must be 4
above 2 inches
3

Wisconsin studies have indicated that 2

the higher the cut, the less yield for an 2 3 4 5 6 7
alfalfa stand. C u t H e i g h t (inches above soil)

Clark and Wood County, WI 1999-2000

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There will be a loss of ½ ton for each additional inch of cutting height. Therefore cutting at 4 inches will
result in a loss of an additional ton per acre. The reason is that the plant grows back from the crown. As
long as the crown is not damaged, cutting low is preferred.

Some indicate that they will also

obtain more bottom leaves by cutting
Relative Feed Value by Cut
low. However, the higher the cut the
higher the feed quality. There is about Cut 1

Relative Feed Value

five points of RFV per inch of cut, as 160
Cut 2
indicated in this chart. Cut 3
Cut 4
In dollar value this amounts to about 140
$4.50/inch (US).
However, it still is better to cut a bit Avg slope = 4
earlier, get that extra ton of hay and 120
still have the higher quality. 2 3 4 5 6 7
C u t H e i g h t (inches above soil)

Clark and Wood County, WI 1999-2000

vi) Effect of Wheel Traffic on Crop UWEX
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Yield
Another reason why we want to get the crop off as quickly as possible is the potential damage that is
caused to the next cut by wheel traffic. This is not necessarily by driving on wet soils this is also due to
driving on dry soils and is primarily due to
stem breakage. In some tests they have Percent Yield Reduction Due to Wheel Traffic,
measured 30% yield reduction five days Madison, WI, 2000-2002
after cutting the alfalfa. In some instances
20
Percent Yield Reduction

the reduction was as high as 70%.

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A three-year study was done in Wisconsin, 10

which compared the relative damage to
5
different alfalfa varieties. There was some
major difference between varieties in their 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
ability to withstand wheel damage. This Variety
indicates a major loss potential as in most
fields; about 50% of the total plants will be
affected by wheel traffic. That is at cutting, raking, baling and hauling of the crop and most of the damage
was due to stem breakage.

Another study involved a survey of a number % REDUCTION IN 2002 DUE TO TRAFFIC

of States where a comparison was made of VARIETY VARIETY RANGE of %
wheel traffic damage, 2 days and 5 days after AVG. AVG. AMONG VARIETIES
cutting. STATE SEED YEAR 2 DAY 5 DAY 2 DAY 5 DAY

IA 2000 30 18 to 41
Averaging the damage for the 5 days after 2001 22 14 to 34
harvest, there was approximately 20% yield
WI 2000 9 0 to 19
reduction. However the yield reduction after 2001 2 9 0 to 15 2 to 22
2 days was only 5%. Considering this data,
you likely will lose 7% per day in terms of MN 2001 11 29 0 to 21 12 to 52
future yield for each day you wait after
NY 2001 3 25 0 to 7 14 to 41
cutting.
NE 2001 0 0 0 to 13 0 to 14

OK 2002 9 4 to 12

Dan Undersander -Agronomy

Agronomy

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To reduce these losses, there are some management practices such as:
1) Use the smallest tractor (no dual wheels, take the loader off)
2) Merge windrows where possible (less travel with the baler)
3) Go to larger equipment (22 ft mower less compaction than a 9ft)
4) Take most direct route to the edge of the field (don’t drive all over)
5) Make a field road to drive on

Summary for Quality Hay Production

a) Rapid Drying
i. Reduces respiratory losses, improved yield and quality
ii. Reduces chance of rain damage
iii. Increases yield of next cutting
b) Management to increase drying rate
i. Cut to keep windrow off the ground
ii. Use drying agents (?)
iii. Condition/macerate
iv. Make wide windrow and rake at 40% moisture

Answers to some questions at seminar:

• Effect of stubble density: Stubble density will help to keep swath off the ground. However, high
stand density is primarily for increasing yield than for additional quality. Require approximately 55
stems per square ft to give maximum yield.
• Swath Turners: Wisconsin has minimal information on swath turners
• Removal of old stubble (last year’s 3 rd growth): Not economic to try to remove old stubble –
usually not a major amount to be concerned about
• Drying rates of Grasses compared to Alfalfa: Drying characteristics of grasses are quite different
than for alfalfa
• How high in terms of RFV is necessary: May have gone too far in regards to quality by sacrificing
yield. Above 150 RFV may be questionable