Article: Delays in harvest due to broken parts or inadequate equipment can result in a late harvest or improperly dried hay. If there are legumes, such as alfalfa and clover, in your hay field, you may need to harvest slightly earlier, when they are at 10 to 20 percent of full flower. This is the point when the hay will offer the best nutrition for your animals. Cutting the hay too early will result in lower yields. Cutting the hay too late will result in lower nutritive content, because the plant has begun focusing on seed production. It takes this amount of time to cure dry hay for baling and rain interrupts this process. There is usually a two-week window in which hay is in the perfect stage for cutting. Generally the size of your land determines which of these pieces of equipment you will need, in order of smallest to largest machinery and investment.

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Check your machinery approximately one month before you plan to start haying. Cut your hay when the leaves have developed fully and the seed heads have not fully developed. Wait until you have at least three days of dry weather to cut your hay. Cut your pasture with a sickle mower, sickle haybine or rotary disk mower.