Most people run conditioners all wrong, and it slows drydown, rather than speeding it up. Wide swathing is far and away the most critical aspect of drydown, regardless of humidity or whether the crop is being made as haylage/baleage or dry hay . These folks that condition aggressively and swath it narrow out of the mower are just wasting fuel and horsepower, because biologic drydown (from continued photosynthesis) is drastically reduced in narrow swaths, plant respiration time in the swath is greatly lengthened, and the sugars and starches are consumed by the still-living plants, rather than being preserved in the feed. Rapid phase-one drydown from wide swathing (down to about 60-65% moisture) halts respiration and preserves as many nutrients as possible.
how fast does the hay dry for baling compared to conditioners?
Faster
Most people run conditioners all wrong, and it slows drydown, rather than speeding it up. Wide swathing is far and away the most critical aspect of drydown, regardless of humidity or whether the crop is being made as haylage/baleage or dry hay . These folks that condition aggressively and swath it narrow out of the mower are just wasting fuel and horsepower, because biologic drydown (from continued photosynthesis) is drastically reduced in narrow swaths, plant respiration time in the swath is greatly lengthened, and the sugars and starches are consumed by the still-living plants, rather than being preserved in the feed. Rapid phase-one drydown from wide swathing (down to about 60-65% moisture) halts respiration and preserves as many nutrients as possible.