Conditioning - Is It All About The Stems?????

I gather that leaves, be it on legumes or grass hay - don't necessarily benefit from conditioning? I've read many posts online that suggest for grass hay, since it's all leaf - no need to condition on 2nd, 3rd cuts. Legumes need conditioning for every cut just because a stem comes along for the ride?

Sooooo - is the goal to condition the stem, regardless of legume or grass such that the stem dries at a rate where it and the leaf wind up at similar moisture content prior to baling? The leaf/grass blade dries OK regardless?

When I set the rubber on steel rollers on my Hesston mower conditioner, there is a lot of room between the lobes as they intermesh - lobe side to lobe side. Peak to valley, they are very close, 1/16 to 1/18 inch from making contact. I ran the Hesston through some orchard grass while setting the roller gap and timing - and when finished, these rollers did a terrific job IMHO at crimping the stem every few inches. It is impressive - almost like picking up a limp piece of string.

However, aside from some bruising, which I attribute to a blade of grass being smashed as the shear volume of hay goes through the rollers, as pretty much unharmed - unconditioned.

If the goal is to only condition the stem - these Hesston rollers strike me as a pretty good design. I'm 99.9% sure the New Holland rubber on rubber rollers are as good or better, but never used one.

So the goal of conditioning - all about the stem?

Thanks!
Bill

Conditioning - Is It All About The Stems?????