When should you not make hay?

Answer 1

Hay is cut, dried and baled during the summer months, after it has grown sufficiently long but before it gets too tough or starts to go to seed. In most parts of the U.S. this can be done two or even three times a summer, starting in early summer and ending in early to mid fall, although farmers may have to work the fall cutting around the harvesting of other crops.

Hay should not be cut if there is rain in the forecast over the upcoming three to four days, as the hay must be dried, fluffed, and dried again before it is raked and baled. If the hay does get rained on, the hay must be allowed to dry completely again before it is baled or it will get moldy and be inedible. Hay that has been rained on is generally worth less even after it has been dried because it is gets bleached by the extended time in the sun and loses some nutritional value. Lower quality hay is sometimes baled in large cylindrical or rectangular bales and feed to cattle rather than the small bales generally used for horses, although of course some hay is expressly grown for cattle.

The phrase "make hay while the sun shines" refers to the need for farmers to schedule their haying around the weather forecast.