Hay season in Central Missouri is short, weather-dependent, and unforgiving. A good year is the result of preparation that starts in winter, not the week before first cutting. A bad year is usually the result of something that could have been prevented. This guide covers everything from pre-season equipment prep to cutting windows to bale storage — built for Missouri conditions, from farmers who have been putting up hay here since 1974.
Understanding Central Missouri Hay Windows
Missouri hay season doesn’t follow a single schedule — it follows the weather, the stand, and what you’re cutting. Understanding how the season typically stacks up in Central Missouri helps you plan equipment readiness, labor, and custom farming needs well in advance.
| First cutting Late April – mid-May The highest-volume cutting of the year. Typically the tallest and heaviest stand. Dry-down can be slower with cool May temps — allow adequate time before baling. | Second cutting Late June – mid-July Often higher quality than first cutting — more leaf, less stem. Hot weather speeds dry-down but also bleaches color fast. Watch the forecast window carefully. | Third cutting Late August – September Variable depending on moisture and stand. Shorter window before frost risk. Often the hardest cutting on equipment. Quality can be exceptional if timed right. |
The weather window reality
In Central Missouri, the useful cutting windows — three or more consecutive days without rain, warm enough to dry — are shorter than most people plan for. The farmers who consistently put up good hay are the ones who are ready the day the window opens, not the ones who start checking equipment when it does.
That means pre-season prep isn’t optional. It’s the difference between cutting on day one of a window and cutting on day three after you’ve fixed something that should have been fixed in March.
Pre-Season Equipment Inspection — The Full Checklist
Walk every piece of hay equipment before the first cutting window opens. Not during it. Before. This inspection takes a half day and can save you a week of downtime at the worst possible moment.
Disc mowers and mower-conditioners
The mower is the first thing that runs and the first thing that can end your season. These are the points that fail most often:
- Cutting blades and blade bolts — check every blade for chipping, cracking, or heavy wear. Replace blade bolts at the same time; stretched bolts are a hidden failure point.
- Conditioner rolls — inspect for cracking, flat spots, missing ribbing, and bearing play. Grab each roll and try to move it sideways. Any play means the bearing is on its way out.
- Skid shoes — uneven wear between left and right shoes means the mower ran tilted. Worn shoes affect cut height consistency.
- Gearbox oil level — check and top off. Look for oil residue around seals that indicates a weep.
- Cutterbar guards — count them. All guards should be present and tight. Missing guards allow blade contact with the bar.
- PTO shaft and u-joints — spin the shaft and feel for rough spots. Inspect the guard for damage and confirm it’s secured. A bare PTO shaft is a safety issue.
- Drive belts and hydraulic hoses — look for glazing on belts and cracking on hose exteriors. These are easy to replace now and impossible to find locally at 7 a.m. on the first cutting day.
Rakes
Rakes don’t get the attention they deserve in pre-season prep. A rake that’s not working right wastes the dry-down you already put into the hay.
- Tine condition — walk the rake and touch every tine. Bent, cracked, or missing tines leave hay on the ground. Replace them before the season; they’re inexpensive.
- Wheel rake hub bearings — grab each basket and shake it laterally. Any movement is a bearing that will fail during the season.
- V-rake pivot bearings — same test. Pivots that are stiff or rough make the rake pull unevenly.
- Hydraulic fold and angle cylinders — cycle them fully. Slow or uneven response under no load means the cylinder needs attention before it carries weight.
- Tire pressure and condition — flat or low tires on any wheel change raking height and windrow consistency.
Tedders
Tedders are often the most neglected piece of hay equipment. If you’re not running one, you’re leaving dry-down time on the table in Missouri’s humid spring weather.
- Tine condition — bent or missing tines leave unfluffed hay at the bottom of the windrow. Count them.
- Rotor bearing condition — spin each rotor by hand and feel for roughness or binding.
- Gearbox oil — check level and look for leak signs.
- PTO and driveline — same inspection as the mower.
Round balers
The baler inspection is the most critical and the most skipped. A baler problem during the season costs you weather windows, not just hours.
- Belts or chains and slats — open the bale chamber and look. Cracked belts, stretched chains, or worn slats affect bale shape and density.
- Pickup tines — count and inspect every tine on the full rotation. Bent tines leave hay on the ground. Missing tines can jam the pickup.
- Pickup cam and fingers — look for wear on the cam profile. A worn cam means tines don’t clear the bale chamber floor properly.
- Net wrap or twine system — run the system through a full cycle before you need it in the field. Twine knotters need timing and tension checks. Net wrap systems need the roll mechanism and knife inspected.
- Bale chamber rolls — spin every roll by hand and feel for rough or tight bearings. Look for flat spots or surface damage.
- Hydraulic tailgate — cycle it open and closed. Check cylinder seals and pivot pins.
- Electronic monitor and sensors — plug in and test every row and channel. Broken sensors are almost always discovered mid-field.
Wagons and transport
- Hitch pins and hardware — inspect every pin, clip, and chain. Replace anything that’s corroded or worn.
- Running lights — test all lights before road transport. This is a legal requirement and a safety issue.
- Axle and hub condition — check for cracks on older equipment, particularly at the axle-to-tongue junction.
- Floor and side boards — check for rot or damage that could fail under a load of bales.
| Hydraulic hoses: inspect before every season Walk every hydraulic hose on every implement and look for cracking, abrasion, or stiff sections. A hose that looks borderline will fail. We fabricate replacement hoses on-site at our Jonesburg shop using the Gates System — 1/4″, 3/8″, and 1/2″ with a full assortment of fittings. Most hoses can be made the same day. Call ahead with your size. |
3. Cutting Strategy: When to Cut and When to Wait
The decision of when to cut is one of the highest-leverage calls of the hay season. Cut too early in a weather window and you risk baling wet. Cut too late and you miss the window entirely. Cut at the wrong growth stage and you sacrifice quality.
Maturity stage: the yield-quality trade-off
For alfalfa, the conventional guidance is to cut at early bud to 10% bloom for highest quality — leaf-to-stem ratio and digestibility are both best at this stage. Waiting for full bloom increases yield but reduces protein and digestibility. For a cow-calf operation, the trade-off may be worth it. For horse hay or dairy-quality forage, early cutting matters.
For mixed grass-legume stands and grass hay, target the boot stage to early heading. Heading grasses drop in quality quickly after pollination. Most Missouri mixed stands lose meaningful protein content within a week of the optimal cutting window.
The practical rule: cut for what you’re feeding. Know your buyer’s or your animals’ requirements before you decide on maturity.
Reading the forecast for hay
The minimum useful window for cutting and baling is three days: one day to cut, one to dry and ted, and one to rake and bale. That’s the floor — not a comfortable target. Five days of clear, dry weather above 70°F is a good window. Anything less requires precision.
What to look at beyond the basic forecast:
- Relative humidity — baling hay above 75% RH, even with no rain, risks heating and mold in storage. Watch overnight humidity, which is often the problem even on sunny days.
- Dewpoint — high dewpoints mean slower dry-down even in sunshine. A 70°F day with a 65°F dewpoint isn’t a great drying day.
- Wind — underrated in hay drying. A dry, steady wind does more for dry-down than two extra degrees of temperature.
- Cloud cover timing — morning clouds burn off by 10 a.m. are fine. Afternoon clouds on a cut field slow the last hours of dry-down significantly.
| Cut on day 1 if: — Forecast shows 4+ dry days — Dewpoints below 55°F — Temperatures above 70°F with wind — Stand is at or near ideal maturity | Wait or monitor if: — Only 2-3 clear days in forecast — Afternoon thunderstorm risk >40% — High overnight humidity forecast — Stand has another 3-5 days of safe growth |
4. Tedding, Raking, and Dry-Down Management
Tedding and raking are where a lot of Missouri hay quality is either saved or lost. Done right, they speed dry-down without losing leaves. Done wrong, they cost you leaf loss, increase soil contamination in the windrow, and don’t actually help dry-down as much as you’d think.
Tedding: when it helps and when it doesn’t
Tedding is most valuable in the first few hours after cutting, when the crop is still wet and surface area matters most. Tedding already-dry top layers into wetter bottom layers speeds uniform dry-down. Tedding too late — when the top is already dry — causes leaf shattering, especially in alfalfa.
In Missouri’s spring and early summer conditions, running a tedder the morning after a cut is nearly always a good practice. In hot, dry August conditions with a light stand, tedding may not be necessary and may cause more leaf loss than it prevents.
Tedder tips for Missouri conditions:
- Ted early — morning of day two after a late afternoon or evening cut on day one
- Don’t ted again once the top layer is dry — the benefit is gone and the leaf loss is real
- Set tine height to just clear the soil surface — soil contamination in the windrow increases ash content and reduces feed quality
- Reduce ground speed in heavy stands — a light, fluffy spread is the goal, not throwing hay
Raking: building the right windrow
The windrow you build is the windrow you bale. It needs to be consistent in width, free of soil contamination, and the right size for your baler pickup.
Windrow width should match your baler pickup width with about 6 inches of clearance on each side. Too wide and the pickup misses edges, leaving hay on the ground. Too narrow and the baler feeds unevenly, causing loose ends or off-center bales.
- Rake in the morning when humidity is slightly higher — raking fully dry hay in the afternoon causes significant leaf loss in alfalfa and legume mixes
- Don’t over-rake — one pass is typically enough. Every additional raking pass increases leaf loss and soil pickup
- Windrow firmness matters — a loose, fluffy windrow bales cleaner than a tight, compressed one for most round baler configurations
- Watch for stones in the windrow — rake height is a balance between clean pickup and rock pickup
5. Baling Decisions: Twine vs. Net Wrap, Round vs. Square
These decisions come down to what you’re feeding, how you’re storing, and what your equipment can do. Here’s the honest breakdown.
Net wrap vs. twine for round bales
| Net wrap Faster wrapping cycle — 1-2 passes vs. 8-9 for twine Better moisture resistance in outdoor storage Tighter bale shape — holds form better over time Higher material cost per bale Better resale value — buyers prefer net-wrapped bales | Twine Lower material cost per bale Works well for immediate feeding — no storage concern Easier for some feeding systems to handle More weather exposure in outdoor storage Knotter timing failures are more common — more maintenance-intensive |
The practical verdict for most Missouri operations: net wrap is worth the material cost difference for any hay that will sit more than 30 days before feeding or sale. If you’re baling and feeding immediately to your own cattle, twine is fine. If you’re storing for winter or selling, net wrap more than pays for itself in preserved quality and presentation.
Bale density: the most dialed-in setting on your baler
Too loose and bales don’t shed rain, lose shape, and weather quickly. Too tight and you can damage the baler’s belts or rolls over time, and overly dense bales can heat internally if moisture is even slightly high.
The right density varies by crop and moisture. Grass hay can be baled tighter than alfalfa without heating risk. Hay that’s baled at 16-18% moisture should be looser than hay at 12-14%. When in doubt, run slightly looser — a good net wrap compensates better for loose density than you can compensate for a hot bale.
6. Bale Storage and Moisture Management
You can do everything right — cut at the right time, ted and rake properly, bale at good moisture — and still lose 20% or more of your hay value in storage if the bales aren’t managed well. Storage is where Missouri’s summer humidity does the most damage.
The moisture rule: when it’s ready to bale
The hard line for round bale storage:
- Below 14% moisture — safe for net-wrapped outdoor storage
- 14-18% moisture — safe for indoor storage with good air circulation; outdoor storage risks significant spoilage
- Above 18% moisture — heating and mold risk in storage. Don’t bale it yet.
Invest in a hay moisture probe if you don’t have one. Squeezing a handful of hay and guessing is how good hay becomes spoiled hay. A reliable probe costs $80-150 and pays for itself in the first season.
Outdoor storage: what actually matters
Most Central Missouri operations store a portion of their hay outdoors. Done right, outdoor storage is workable. Done wrong, you lose 30-50% of the outside layer of every bale to weather damage by spring.
1. End-to-end rows, not side-to-side. Orient rows north-south to maximize sun exposure on both sides. Air gaps between bales allow drainage and airflow — place bales 6-18 inches apart.
2. Elevated or well-drained ground. Bales sitting in standing water or soil contact absorb moisture from below. Gravel pads, old tires, or even elevated planks under a bale row make a measurable difference.
3. Net wrap quality matters. Higher-quality net wrap with good UV protection lasts longer and sheds water better than bargain wrap. The $0.30 per bale you save on cheap wrap isn’t worth the spoilage.
4. Don’t stack net-wrapped round bales. Stacking traps moisture between bales and collapses the top bale’s shape. Round bales are designed to be stored in single-layer rows, not stacked.
5. Check stored bales in October. Walk the storage rows in fall and identify anything that’s heating, visibly molding, or showing significant weathering. Winter feeding starts with your worst bales first so your best bales hold their quality longest.
Indoor storage: getting it right
If you have barn or shed space, use it for your best hay — horse quality, sale hay, or anything baled in the 14-18% moisture range that isn’t quite ready for outdoor storage. Indoor storage requires adequate airflow; a barn that traps heat and humidity is almost worse than outdoor storage because mold can spread from bale to bale.
Leave airspace between rows and between bales and walls. Don’t pack a barn solid — it needs to breathe.
7. Between Cuttings: What to Do With Downtime
The time between first and second cutting — typically late May through late June — is one of the most productive maintenance windows of the year. Your hay equipment has been run hard and has a few weeks before it runs again. Use that time.
- Full baler service — belts or chains, pickup tines, net wrap or twine system. Don’t wait until the night before second cutting.
- Mower blade replacement or sharpening — first cutting is hardest on blades; inspect before second.
- Conditioner roll inspection — first cutting often surfaces wear that wasn’t visible pre-season.
- Gearbox oil check and fill — high-use season puts mileage on gearbox seals.
- Full grease on every implement — this is the most skipped between-cutting step.
- Repair any welding or structural damage you noticed during first cutting — small cracks get bigger.
- Parts order for anything worn — second cutting parts needs should be ordered between first and second, not during second.
This is also the window to evaluate your stand. Was first cutting yield what you expected? Are there thin spots that should be overseeded? Are weed pressure or pest issues showing up that need management before the season progresses? Walk your fields before second cutting, not after it.
8. Equipment That Breaks Down at the Worst Time — and How to Prevent It
These are the failures we see most often at our Jonesburg shop during hay season, and what you can do to avoid them.
Hydraulic hose failures
The single most common hay season breakdown. Hoses that looked fine in the barn crack under field pressure and heat. Prevention is simple: walk every hose in the pre-season inspection and replace anything that looks questionable.
When it does happen: we fabricate replacement hoses on-site with Gates fittings. Call us with your hose diameter (1/4″, 3/8″, or 1/2″) and fitting type and we’ll have it ready. Most jobs are same-day. If you don’t know the fitting type, bring the old hose in and we’ll match it.
Round baler knotters and net wrap failures
Knotters that run fine in a test cycle can fail in the field under real load and speed. Net wrap systems jam when the roll isn’t loaded correctly or the knife is worn. Both of these are preventable with a proper pre-season function test — run the system through complete cycles with actual twine or net before you need it.
Mower gearbox failures
Running a mower gearbox low on oil or with a failing seal that’s been weeping all season leads to a mid-field gearbox failure. These are expensive and slow to source. Check the oil level and look for seep stains in the pre-season inspection.
Bearing failures — pickup, rake, and baler
Bearings that have play in the pre-season inspection will fail during the season. No exceptions. The test is simple: grab and shake every rotating component and feel for movement. Replace anything with detectable play before the season starts. Bearings are inexpensive; downtime during a weather window is not.
| If you go down during hay season — call us first We keep common hay equipment parts in stock throughout the season and can fabricate hydraulic hoses same-day. If your equipment goes down with hay on the ground, call our Jonesburg shop before you start hunting elsewhere. We can often solve the problem the same day. |
