How to dry fodder (any kind) when the humidity is so high?

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GBov

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Not only so high the trees drip but my hay under the barn gets musty from nighttime damp. :evil: I have kind of sorted that by covering it with a bed sheet but I cant seem to get things like grass to dry all the way, as soon as night comes they all go limp again.

As I want to grow a quarter acre of corn and dry it to feed the buns - NOT the corn itself but the plants - I really need to figure out how to dry things and keep them dry.

Or is it enough to hang somehting like a corn stalk up so the air can move round it freely despite the damp nighttime air? Will it keep good?
 
We have to dry or otherwise preserve food because there is so much of the year when nothing grows, but have you thought about planning your plantings so you have something fresh to feed all year? Would that be easier where you are than trying to dry stuff?
 
Since you live in zone 9b, can you possibly grow things year round to feed? I was reading somewhere that kale and other cool weather plants will grow all winter in south florida. Then you wouldn't have have to worry about drying things just feed fresh?

Don't know if this would actually work it was just something I was wondering about.
 
alforddm":2uxdy6w4 said:
Since you live in zone 9b, can you possibly grow things year round to feed? I was reading somewhere that kale and other cool weather plants will grow all winter in south florida. Then you wouldn't have have to worry about drying things just feed fresh?

Don't know if this would actually work it was just something I was wondering about.
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This is the charm of Florida really. I think it might be even why the soil here is so stripped, just plants able to grow here all year long in the crappiest of sand because hey, it is non stop warm and wet. After my move, I am planning to do more proper gardens with treated soils so I can attempt natural feeding again with better materials to work with. Oats will almost always sprout here and when it wont, Rye will.
 
How funny! Mum suggested the same thing to me! :lol:

When hay is cut I have read the grass has the highest food value right before it flowers so I was wondering about planting a block of corn (about a third of an acre), letting it just get to the tassel stage and pull it all up and hang it by the roots to dry in the poll barn. That way I am not fighting the corn worms and can turn two packets of corn seeds into HEAPS of food that I can feed at my leisure.

That plus what I can grow should see the buns fed great but only if the corn plants wont mold on me.
 
Corn stalks don't have very good nutritional value unless your going mainly for just fiber (after rereading your posts it sounds like that might be your goal). Surprisingly feedipedia doesn't list the nutritional value of fresh corn stalks but the value of corn hay is quite low. Of course is this usually baled after the crop is harvested but since corn is a grass I'm guessing it's protein is going to be in the 8-11% range fresh.

http://beef.unl.edu/feedvalue-cornstalkbales
http://feedipedia.org/node/16072


You might try drying some weeds by hanging that have a similar composition to corn and see how it goes. Johnson grass would probably work for a test.
 
GBov":rkzw0f5t said:
That plus what I can grow should see the buns fed great but only if the corn plants wont mold on me.
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We had field peas we had cut just as they were setting pods and hung them in the loft of our new barn to dry. There were still lots of openings where the doors and windows would go but they were under a roof, out of any rain. Then we had several days of high humidity and nights that were foggy and it moulded. Would guess that you're dealing with high humidity much of the time and getting stuff dry could be a real challenge.
Maybe you could try with a small amount first so you don't lose much if it moulds. I'm wondering if our loft will work better next summer when it it is more closed in and what else to try if that space doesn't work for drying.
 
I dried a bunch of, dont know its proper name but its a very tall lush grass, and it went musty but didnt actually mold.

The corn would be to go with root crops for fiber.

How on EARTH did people make hay in Fl. in the olden days?
 
GBov":3veo6b1p said:
How on EARTH did people make hay in Fl. in the olden days?
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Why would anyone want to make hay if the grass grew year round? We had visitors from New Zealand one June when we were haying and they thought it was really funny that we were cutting and drying all that grass. We just told them that if they were here in January (or any other winter month) why we did it would be clear.
 
GBov":4pzh69cr said:
I dried a bunch of, dont know its proper name but its a very tall lush grass, and it went musty but didnt actually mold.

The corn would be to go with root crops for fiber.

How on EARTH did people make hay in Fl. in the olden days?
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http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/AA/AA25100.pdf found this article for you. :)

Also FL is full of specialized breeds like cracker cows which were used a lot more back then when hay was very difficult to make.
 
GBov":1ytkt2xr said:
How funny! Mum suggested the same thing to me! :lol:

When hay is cut I have read the grass has the highest food value right before it flowers so I was wondering about planting a block of corn (about a third of an acre), letting it just get to the tassel stage and pull it all up and hang it by the roots to dry in the poll barn. That way I am not fighting the corn worms and can turn two packets of corn seeds into HEAPS of food that I can feed at my leisure.

That plus what I can grow should see the buns fed great but only if the corn plants wont mold on me.
Click to expand...

JMHO...
I think your "hanging it up by the roots to dry" idea is probably your best bet, also closing the door to the barn at night to keep dew off helps-- and contrary to popular opinion I have found that rabbits do quite well, on corn stalks that are pulled and dried just before or just after the top blooms are fully formed. I would say it is favorably comparable to any other grass hay. also-- [as another mentioned above] I also grew and fed collard, and Toscana kale all year, rabbits performed great on both of these, [both are a little shy on long stem fiber, so grass hay, or corn stalks need to be added to the diet] JMHO, ...
 

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