A second cutting is usually several weeks after the first, third cutting several weeks after that, and so on. The stems don't have as much protein as the leafy tops that were cut off first, which may be why they were left in the field rather than being baled with the hay. Stems lower the overall quality of the hay, and if they're selling it, stemmy hay would bring less money per bale. I've never seen a hay field cut twice like that, but if the owners are feeding it to horses or have limited storage space, maybe they only wanted the very best part in the first bales. Unless they used it as bedding material, I can't imagine what they did with the stems... they're not worth much.

I've never seen it either. Maybe they use it like straw in the garden for mulch or something. Maybe they sell it to contruction companies who use it like straw.

The first pass got the seed heads which could be wheat, oats, barley.....and what is left is known as straw, you could have wheat straw oat straw......so on and so on....

Oh, Forest, you must be right. I had thought that it was wheat in the fields, but when I saw the bales I just thought "oh, it's hay". But I bet it was wheat, and now they're baling straw.

Thanks!

Johanna

Our old hay man used to run the conditioner right behind the mower. Conditioner ran all the cut material thru itself, left cut material in rows behind. A conditioner will crimp (bend) or cut the stems of grass or plants like Alfalfa, to allow cut material to dry quicker. He found the conditioner to reduce his drying time by a great deal. He also raked hay quickly after cutting, using one of those fluffer machines, to have very airy, tall windrows.
He would turn the windrows the next morning after cutting, when the dew was off. They would usually finish drying that day, so he could bale by late in the 2nd day.

We were quite amazed at how much time he saved in drying hay, using the conditioner and that fluffer machine. Hay was loose, very open to drying breezes, in those airy windrows. He usually had the dairy quality Alfalfa, leafy, very thick, really beautiful hay, I could have eaten it myself!! Still dried very quickly in the tall windrows, after being conditioned.

We would buy his first cutting, had mixed grass in that early part of the season. The later cutting hay was way too rich for the horses. He was very professional about it, cut when hay was ready, took good care of his fields with fertilizers, used good seeds.
I really was a believer in his methods, from cutting to bales in the barn, was the shortest time I have ever seen. No leaf loss on plants, good color, good weight in bales. Bales were REALLY dry inside, never any mold problems in bales we purchased.

He did look rather odd with those machines hooked together, dragging along behind tractor as he cut the stuff he was going to bale. Other folks copied his methods, as time proved how well they worked. I never knew him to lose any hay to rain. His speed at baling it, prevented his crop losses. I know he always sold out all the hay he put up.

I have heard about the conditioners, and I have bought conditioned hay before. But I thought I heard thereafter that the conditioning process caused some loss of nutrition. Don't know if it is true or not, but I'm sure it is a must have item to people growing hay in quantity. Heck, if I ws still baling on my property, I would have one.