A Few Hay Quality - Technique Questions

Timing the cut. I've got a few customers that have horses which are insulin resistant. They want good hay, but something that won't aggrivate the situation. I've read that hay cut in the late afternoon/early evening is when the hay's sugar content is highest; lowest in the morning. Is the difference between the two insignificant or can one measurably lower the overall sugar content in grass hay by cutting it first thing in the morning and still get decent forage analysis results?

Weather and timing: You've got 4 days to get your grass hay up. Day 1 is on/off rain. Day 2 clears and day 3 and 4 are good baling days. With your disk mower conditioner, are you mowing on day 1 ? What price does one pay in dry down (not nutrient quality) by cutting after a rain or early morning with ultra heavy dew? Are still you looking at 3 day hay or 4 day hay? Right, wrong or indifferent, my horse customers seem to like "green" hay. Longer wait = less "green"...

Alfalfa and rain: I read so much about leaf loss when raking or baling alfalfa. Some need to rake or bale after dark or with the dew to retain the leaves. What about leaf loss when cutting and conditioning? Are you cutting with the dew? Is it better to cut with the rain? Any advantage to cutting damp or wet alfalfa from a leaf loss standpoint?

Flails/impellers, grass hay, rain and dew. You've got your flail/impeller mower conditioner set, it's doing it's job scuffing and rubbing the wax off the stems vs a crimp every few inches with a roller. You've probably walked the machine up to the line where anymore conditioning and you're macerating the hay. Then it rains that evening. How does flail/impeller conditioned hay, early in the cut, retain nutrients? I use the tea bag anology. When the hay is still green and it gets rain, not much is lost, but when it's dry, you've got tea leaves and the nutrients easily wash out - just like tea in a bag washed in water. Maybe green hay is just that regardless of the conditioner. Flails/impellers, first day rain and stem wax removal do they mix? If cutting after a rain or in heavy dew, does the slickeryness of the rain reduce the flail/impeller effect and require more time to dry down?

A Few Hay Quality - Technique Questions