# When to bale wheat for hay?



## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

I checked a field of wheat today that has a lot of cheat in it and I think would
make a better hay crop then seed crop. Its jut starting to head out in places, it's not real even. When is the ideal time to bale it and when is to late? It's not a bearded wheat.


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

Never have baled small grains for hay, myself, but it's a grass and the best protein is when it's coming out of the boot, I would think. But then I've also read that the best time is when the grain is in a milk stage. Maybe you get a higher TDN that way? Hope someone more knowledgeable comes along with the real answer for you.


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## chronic66 (Feb 19, 2005)

I was going to say, before the beard develops, but I think you should do it today.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

chronic66 said:


> I was going to say, before the beard develops, but I think you should do it today.


I'm thinking soon. I had talked to a guy about doing it but when I called
Him this morning he is on his way out west doing some OTR trucking. I can mow it myself. We've got rain in the forecast for Thursday through Monday. So that's complicating my decision.


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

You will need longer for it to cure before baling it. The thick stems hold a lot of moisture. cutting with a haybine will help.

Then you want to feed it quickly (this year) because as it gets older it loses it's appeal to the cattle and they don't like it as well.

It's chewy, too. Young ones and old ones don't do very well on it.

I just baled winter rye. Similar problems.

There's a reason you don't see the grains used for hay as much.


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## ramiller5675 (Mar 31, 2009)

I baled some wheat hay a few years ago and I waited until it had headed out. I used a mower-conditioner that crimped the stems but it still took longer than normal to dry (it didn't help that it isn't as hot and dry this time of year).

The cows loved that hay and would practically lick the ground clean to get every last bit whenever I fed it.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

any grain hay will have higher protein levels just before boot. Wheat will run 10% in boot and it will drop from there to around 6% in soft dough TDN will take a small hit if you wait for soft dough but your tons per acre will rise.
Grains are tough to dry for hay and haven't had much luck with it up here.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

I got ahold of another custom bailer in the area. He hasn't been by to look at it yet but thought we still had about ten days to get it while its good. He said he could mow it saturday, let it sit Sunday, then rake bale and wrap it Monday morning.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Balage?


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Last year, I rototilled 10 acres of pasture and reseeded it. I had a bunch of good plump oats, so I drilled the oats and the various grass varieties. But as summer progressed, the guy that offered to combine it needed to work on his combine. I was afraid he leave me stranded, so I cut the oats and made hay out of it. It was just going into the dough stage. Made nice hay and the horses liked it. Sure looks different from hay I'm used to seeing.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

That's what he wanted to do. Thought it make a lot better hay


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## kycrawler (Sep 18, 2011)

If he can wrap it with plastic it makes good feed as baleage just be careful how big he makes the bales a tight wrapped 5x6 at 60% moisture could weigh 3000 lbs and be really tough to move and feed 4x4 or 4x5 are about as big as you would want for high moisture bales


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

I think they'll be 4x5.5. Fortunately my loader tractor is 220hp so even 3000 isn't a problem.


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

Your hay spear could be a problem with such heavy bales.

I had to buy a new spear tough enough to pick up 1900# haylage bales. They bent my old one.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We had forks on the dairy farm. Took a bit to learn the tricks but they worked well for dry hay and our individual balage bales.


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## rosefield (Mar 20, 2015)

Here is a ling to an article on cutting wheat for hay.

http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_wheat_hay_cattle

In the article is says:

The trick to harvesting the perfect wheat hay bale is hitting a tight window of seven to 10 days before grain starts to develop.

âFor optimum wheat hay, you have to wait until it heads out of the boot stage,â says Gard, whose father, Gene, helps with hay harvest during crunch time. âBut it must be cut before the dough stage. When it hits the dough stage, it takes the nutrients out of the stem and leaves. They go directly to grain fill. The nutritional value goes downhill in a hurry.â


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Never done wheat, have done lots of oats, and rye. Always shot for the end of the flower stage, preferring the milk stage, but still good in the dough. Getting the weather right was the thing. Did about 1500 square bales of rye, once. Cows would turn over trucks for it, tear down barns, it was awful. Saved a little bit for bait and it worked great for years. You will need more than a three day window unless you are in a desert. Grain is painfully hard to get dry.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

rosefield said:


> Here is a ling to an article on cutting wheat for hay.
> 
> http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_wheat_hay_cattle
> 
> ...



Wheat hay where ideals and reality hit head on. 

The reality for me right now is I have about 200 acres to put down rain or no rain now. Ideal blew out the window with about 2 weeks of rain.


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## Tad (Apr 2, 2003)

We have made balage with oats, made good feed, we made sudex balage once too, worked better than I thought it might!


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

We got rain over the weekend and didn't get it mowed till today. Appeared to be in the milk stage so should have got it in a good stage. It had a lot of ladino clover coming up, I think it'll make some good feed. Should bale it tomorrow and wrap it. More rain is in the forcast for Wednesday so its a pretty narrow window.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Two of us just pulled in 400 round bales this past week, rye, barley, and alfalfa/orchard baleage. Had some issues w/ a different brand of wrap, ended up calling the distributor to come get the remaining pallets and went back to the sunfilm.. If someone offers you Tytan wrap... run away !!


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