FEASIBILITY OF DRYING HAY IN GREENHOUSES.

A new hay drying method is proposed in which hay is cut and spread on the floor of a greenhouse-type structure for drying. Samples were dried in trays inside greenhouses. Preliminary results show that 1. 6 kg/m**2 of wet hay can be consistently dried in a single day using this technique. A linear regression model with drying constant and solar energy as the dependent and independent variables, respectively, gave a median R**2 of 0. 272. A simple economic analysis illustrates that greenhouse drying is economical if field losses with conventional haymaking are assumed at 30%.