importance of wide swaths in drying hay and haylage dr. dan undersander university of wisconsin
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Importance of Wide Swaths in Drying Hay and Haylage
Dr. Dan Undersander
University of Wisconsin
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Standing alfalfa loses quality if not harvested
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5/3 5/13 5/23 6/2 6/12 6/22
Date
RF
V
2003
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1999
Average rate of change is 5 points RFV or RFQ per day
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Days without rain at La CrosseDays rain fell from May 20-August 31 / 2003 to 2006
At La Crosse Weather Station2003 2004 2005 2006 2003 2004 2005 2006 2003 2004 2005 2006 2003 2004 2005 2006May May May May June June June June July July July July Aug Aug Aug Aug
1 1 x 1 x 1 x x2 2 x x 2 2 x x3 3 x 3 x x x 3 x x4 4 x x 4 x x 45 5 x x x x 5 x x 5 x x6 6 x x 6 x x 6 x x7 7 x x 7 x x 7 x8 8 x x x 8 x x x 8 x9 9 x x x x 9 x x 9 x x x
10 10 x x x x 10 x 10 x11 11 x x x x 11 x x x 11 x x x12 12 x 12 1213 13 x x 13 x 13 x14 14 x 14 x x 1415 15 x x 15 1516 16 x 16 x 16 x17 17 x 17 x x 17 x x18 18 x x 18 x 18 x x x x19 19 19 x x 19 x x20 x 20 x x 20 x x x 20 x x21 x x 21 21 x x 2122 x x 22 22 2223 x 23 x 23 x x 23 x24 x 24 x x x x 24 x 24 x25 x x x 25 x x x 25 x x x 25 x x26 x 26 x x x 26 x 26 x x27 x x x 27 x x x 27 2728 x x 28 x 28 x 28 x x x29 x x x 29 x 29 29 x30 x x x 30 x 30 x x x x 30 x31 x x 31 31 x x 31 x x
More chance to get hay or haylage harvested without rain if shorten drying time
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Wide swath benefits
Faster drying Higher forage quality
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Phase I moisture moves along stem Primary moisture loss is through stomata
Phase II Primary moisture loss from the stem surface
Phase III Removes tightly held water below 45%
Sequence of Drying Forages
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
20%
Stomatal openings
Conditioning
Osmotic & Cell forces
Time
Moi
stu
re 70%
Weather regulated
Sequence of Drying Forages
80%
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Legumes 10X more stomata than Grass
Initial 15 to 20% water loss is through stomates in leaves
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Stomata Openings
Open in sunlight Shading closes Stomata 20 – 30% of water removed before stomata close Removes up to 30% of the water from the stem
(grass)
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Breakdown of starch and sugars
Respiration continues after cutting until lose some water
2 – 8% of Dry Matter lossEach 1% DM loss is 1% less TDN!
Carbon dioxide
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Relative humidity inside windrow
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Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Wide swath
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
0.56
0.5
0.650.6
0.670.63
0
0.1
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0.7N
el
Alfalfa, 1 cut Alfalfa, cut 2 Grass, cut 2
Energy Content at Feed Bunk
Wide
Narrow
Kilcer, 2003
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Milk per acre increase with Wide Swath
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3156 3125
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ilk, l
bs
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Alfalfa, 1 cut Alfalfa, cut 2 Grass, cut 2
Wide
Narrow
Kilcer, 2003
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Figure 2. Effect of swath width on drying alfalfa, UW-Arlington 2005
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Hours after cutting
Mo
istu
re c
on
ten
t (%
)wide
narrow
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
11:00 AM 12:00 PM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:00 PM 5:00 PM
Mo
istu
re ... %
w.b
.
Cond. - Tedded Uncond. - Tedded Cond. - Wind.
Cond. - Swath Uncond. - Swath Uncond. - Wind.
Mower-conditioner Swath Width Study(Windrow 33% and Swath 65% of Cutting Width)
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Wisconsin Study Results (Herzmann, 2004)
Moisture Content after six hours
Width (percent of cutting width)
Conditioning 100 65 33
No 63.5 64.5 69.5
Yes 57.0 63.0 66.5
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Wisconsin Study Results (Herzmann, 2004)
Moisture Content after six hours
Width (percent of cutting width)
Conditioning 100 65 33
No 63.5 64.5 69.5
Yes 57.0 63.0 66.5
Therefore conditioning not necessary for drying alfalfa to 65% moisture for haylage if using wide (>70% cut width).
Conditioning necessary for narrow swath/windrow haylage and for hay.
Dan Undersander-Agronomy © 2007
Wisconsin Study Results (Herzmann, 2004)
Moisture Content after six hours
Width (percent of cutting width)
Conditioning 100 65 33
No 63.5 64.5 69.5
Yes 57.0 63.0 66.5