Baling alfalfa in a humid climate

Alright fellas I seriously need some help on harvesting/baling alfalfa in a humid climate like the eastern half of the country. There is nearly no alfalfa grown here in the southeast and I think I'm starting to see why. With that being said I know in other parts of the eastern half of the country there is quite a bit of alfalfa grown......in my travels I have personally seen a lot of alfalfa in Pennsylvania and even more in Wisconsin......I know we have some fellas on here from these states and other similar areas that grow alfalfa. Now these areas might not be quite as hot or humid as we are here in the southeast but it is still in the humid region of the country with regular rainfall so I don't imagine the haying conditions and techniques would be that vastly different from here.

My question is what is your method of getting the hay dried out to bale and baled in a presentable package that still has green color, leaves, and won't spoil?

My method is to cut on day one, ted in the morning of day two, rake in the evening of day three with some dew moisture to save leaves, and bale in the morning or evening of day four with dew moisture to save leaves. This works pretty well if the weather cooperates but my window of baling is so small I can't get much baled. Even as humid as it is here the leaves get dry enough that they shatter and crumble if you don't handle the hay with some dew moisture but the dews get heavy enough that the hay gets too wet really fast. Seems that it is the worst of both worlds here.....too humid and it is hard to dry down but the leaves still get too dry to bale. You wouldn't think that the leaves would get too dry as high as the humidity is here but as soon as the sun burns the dew off in the morning they get crisp. How does everyone else manage this or is leaf shatter not an issue and you can bale pretty much all day?

I'm have just about had my fill of alfalfa and just about ready to quit growing it if I can't figure out a better method to handle this stuff that will allow me to have a longer and more productive baling window. I need all the help and advice I can get.

Hayden

Baling alfalfa in a humid climate