Wrapping rained on hay

Just got done raking yesterday and had some rain come thru, hazy and overcast today, high only in the low to mid 80’s but a heat index in the mid to upper 90’s, its humid, looks like another day or two of rain before having a few clear days. 7 acres at home, another 18 a few miles away, raked at home first, ended up at the 18, considering drive and raking time the 7 at home would have been mostly dry and the same with the 18 by time I got to it, a few spots might have needed some hayguard.

Father wants to just bale it now and wrap it and see what happens, I’m pretty sure since it was close to being dry it’s not gonna ferment very well if at all, also pretty sure need to get the excess moisture out of it before baling or most likely it will mold instead.

Bought some wrapped hay from the auction once that I’m pretty sure was almost dry, got a rain, then they baled and wrapped, cows ate it, but weren’t very happy about it.

I’m of the opinion get it as dry as possible, bale it, shove it in a row somewhere and unroll this winter and let the cows pick thru what they will and lay on the rest. We routinely unroll some every winter anyway so the cows aren’t laying on frozen ground or in the mud if its one of those winters.

To those that wrap hay all the time, what say you?

 

Wrapping rained on hay