Predicting the natural drying of hay

✍ Scribed by Jerry D. Hill

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1976
• Weight: 474 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0002-1571
• DOI: 10.1016/0002-1571(76)90055-8

✦ Synopsis

The drying time required for hay to reach a safe moisture content for baling may often exceed the persistence of fair weather and rain may develop before a particular cutting can be put into storage. The decision as to whether the drying quality of the air over a given rain-free period is sufficient to remove the necessary amount of water has always been confounded by other factors such as the plant species being harvested, stage of plant growth, and the method of harvesting. Recent work in the hay drying area has shown that useful methods are available to predict hay drying time. The exponential drying rate exhibited by most hay material can be approximated by an exponential function of saturation vapor pressure deficit or accumulated latent evaporation. Comparisons of the various techniques of forecasting drying time were made with data gathered from fields of alfalfa--fescue, timothy--alfalfa, orchardgrass, bromegrass, and fescue. The tests showed the method of accumulated latent evaporation using appropriate crop constants provided the most accurate method of predicting drying time.