Hay

[hurleyjd]

Finally got around to baling 18 acres of Tifton 85. Pretty rank . It has dried to long because of baler problems. They stems will be like wire so the cows will cull most of it. I am getting pretty disgusted with this cow business.

 

[True Grit Farms]

It's not the cow's fault that the baler was broken. At least you have something to feed.

 

[slick4591]

Finally got around to baling 18 acres of Tifton 85. Pretty rank . It has dried to long because of baler problems. They stems will be like wire so the cows will cull most of it. I am getting pretty disgusted with this cow business.

I will have 6 adults in one pasture and can only get 25 bales right now, so if I can't find some more I'm kinda leaning toward corn stalks and injecting them with liquid feed to get by. Might work for you, Hurley.

 

[Jogeephus]

Stick a syrup tank out there and they will eat it just fine. I'm cutting my second cutting which should be my third or fourth cutting at the moment. Mine is past rank and I dread baling it - assuming I can get it to dry since the meteorologist just doubled the chance of rain. I don't even know if I'll need to put the tractor in gear to bale this stuff as I believe all I'll need do is line up on the end of a windrow and let the baler suck the windrow to me like spaghetti. This is going to be fun business and will probably give me an excuse to drink.

 

[farmerjan]

I wish we could get a GOOD 7-10 day dry spell. It cleared out wed afternoon, after 2 1/2 inches rain a couple days total. We keep having these "possibility of scattered showers" forecasts. So started cutting Thursday with the forecasts at less than 20% for a whole week. Sat I raked about 10 plus acres of some rough weedy mixed stuff. Last of 1st cutting..... BEAUTIFUL clear crisp day, no humidity, 80* and a great day to be out on the tractor raking.. We planned to bale Sunday afternoon. Full moon Sat night. It got humid and we got some rain Sunday morning. It will all have to be tedded out as it is wet down through the windrows... not soaked but wet enough that I don't think it will dry even if I flip it over. Now there is a chance of scattered showers for the next couple of days. We have 25 acres of sorghum-sudan on the ground that should have been cut 3 weeks ago, and 10 acres of good 2nd cutting orchard grass just cut yesterday (saturday). That's for square bales. And the forecast has said now possible scattered showers Wed. afternoon with showers thursday.... GGGGRRRRRR Trying to be thankful we have plenty of pasture...... but the hay quality is really not that great. And it is more difficult when you have to work "real full-time jobs" and farm around it.... some days I even wonder if it is worth it.

 

[1982vett]

I wish we could get a GOOD 7-10 day dry spell. It cleared out wed afternoon, after 2 1/2 inches rain a couple days total. We keep having these "possibility of scattered showers" forecasts. So started cutting Thursday with the forecasts at less than 20% for a whole week. Sat I raked about 10 plus acres of some rough weedy mixed stuff. Last of 1st cutting..... BEAUTIFUL clear crisp day, no humidity, 80* and a great day to be out on the tractor raking.. We planned to bale Sunday afternoon. Full moon Sat night. It got humid and we got some rain Sunday morning. It will all have to be tedded out as it is wet down through the windrows... not soaked but wet enough that I don't think it will dry even if I flip it over. Now there is a chance of scattered showers for the next couple of days. We have 25 acres of sorghum-sudan on the ground that should have been cut 3 weeks ago, and 10 acres of good 2nd cutting orchard grass just cut yesterday (saturday). That's for square bales. And the forecast has said now possible scattered showers Wed. afternoon with showers thursday.... GGGGRRRRRR Trying to be thankful we have plenty of pasture...... but the hay quality is really not that great. And it is more difficult when you have to work "real full-time jobs" and farm around it.... some days I even wonder if it is worth it.

Hate to say it, Sometimes it is and sometimes not....

 

[snoopdog]

Well , after we got some rain , we're going to get a second cutting , but now it's scattered showers every couple of days . Hooked up and ready .

 

[farmerjan]

Just got back. My son tedded out the hay that got about 1 tenth on it, enough to get it wet. Then an hour later I started raking as the sun had come out real strong. The third field had some tough spots in it but they have changed the forecast again to "possibility of scattered showers as the humidity increases" .... so my son came back and started baling the first 2 fields while I finished raking the third and he got to the third just as I raked the last row and left to go take care of my nurse cows.

It will get baled and be done with it even if there are a few spots not quite dry. He will roll them on the outside of the bales.
Had to haul a load of water to put in the troughs in the pen. No electric and no water near so I haul 150 gal or so every 2-3 days for them and the calves when they are locked in. It's a pain, but not many other choices there and the barn there works very good for the nurse cows. There is a water trough that is gravity fed from a spring way down over the hill in the wooded area but not accessible, so it is easier for me to haul from a spring here & just fill the troughs in the pen.
I'm beat and will welcome a shower after I figure out what to eat .

1982vett .... I have to agree with you. Sometimes it really isn't.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We got a little shower on our cut hay today. A 10th or less doesn't really bother anything besides the extra time needed to dry. We're hoping to get it all up by Wednesday night.

 

[JMJ Farms]

We got a little shower on our cut hay today. A 10th or less doesn't really bother anything besides the extra time needed to dry. We're hoping to get it all up by Wednesday night.

If you've got a way to run a tedder through it you can gain at least another day or maybe more. But rain chances are slim so you should be fine either way.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We got a little shower on our cut hay today. A 10th or less doesn't really bother anything besides the extra time needed to dry. We're hoping to get it all up by Wednesday night.

If you've got a way to run a tedder through it you can gain at least another day or maybe more. But rain chances are slim so you should be fine either way.

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next. But as you know we're blessed to have the grass this year. I still can't believe I sold cows in the beginning of May because of no grass. I'd rather have hay that's to dry than to have moldy hay.

 

[Silver]

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next.

Why so much mechanical intervention? Is high humidity the norm in your area? Seems to me if I beat my hay up like that there would be nothing left. And nothing left in my diesel tanks either.

 

[Nesikep]

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next.

Why so much mechanical intervention? Is high humidity the norm in your area? Seems to me if I beat my hay up like that there would be nothing left. And nothing left in my diesel tanks either.

We make hay in snowsuits up here and store it in igloos We just cut it and it freeze-dries

I avoid touching my hay once I've cut it as well, especially alfalfa/clover.. Grasses are a lot more forgiving

 

[Silver]

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next.

Why so much mechanical intervention? Is high humidity the norm in your area? Seems to me if I beat my hay up like that there would be nothing left. And nothing left in my diesel tanks either.

We make hay in snowsuits up here and store it in igloos We just cut it and it freeze-dries

I avoid touching my hay once I've cut it as well, especially alfalfa/clover.. Grasses are a lot more forgiving

I'm a big fan of the V rake, but that saves time and hay. If I have to dig the tedder out then things have went south. As in if I raked two really heavy windrows of red clover together then it rained or some equally sad tale.

 

[gizmom]

In our part of the country low humidity is anything below 50%. Living 22 miles from Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico can make haying a challenge for sure. A Tedder is a necessity in our part of the world.

Gizmom

 

[ddd75]

i have to ted once, usually twice to get it to dry here.

moisture present all the time here.

 

[Texasmark]

"Sweeten the pot." Go to the feed store and get some molasses, dilute to suit you and spray it on that which they turn up their noses. Will change their minds. I've fed some really rank stuff in a tight and they just came back for more.

 

[JMJ Farms]

We got a little shower on our cut hay today. A 10th or less doesn't really bother anything besides the extra time needed to dry. We're hoping to get it all up by Wednesday night.

If you've got a way to run a tedder through it you can gain at least another day or maybe more. But rain chances are slim so you should be fine either way.

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next. But as you know we're blessed to have the grass this year. I still can't believe I sold cows in the beginning of May because of no grass. I'd rather have hay that's to dry than to have moldy hay.

Yeah it's hard to believe we were dry in May. I had 2 rolls of hay left from last year. But boy things changed quick. This year we've run a tedder right behind the mower as well. And then again before raking. For the ones farther north of us a tedder ran properly won't destroy our Bermuda grass like I've heard that it will Alfalfa. Which is good bc if it did I'm not sure we would ever get any hay baled. Like Gizmom said humidity is usually over 50% here. Sometimes it's lower than that before lunch!

 

[Texasmark]

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next.

Why so much mechanical intervention? Is high humidity the norm in your area? Seems to me if I beat my hay up like that there would be nothing left. And nothing left in my diesel tanks either.

Different strokes/different folks...... I just baled my 3rd cutting and it's short and #2 was a waste of time, on SS. Problem is, if you don't crimp and tedder, the leaves will dry and break off when baling before the stems dries out and I work hard at it for small stems. Only thing I don't spend a lot of time on is Bermuda and that's only when it's light. Irregular fields make for problems getting good hay.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We've run the tedder through it twice already. On a normal year we cut and tedder the same day, then tedder, rake and bale the next.

Why so much mechanical intervention? Is high humidity the norm in your area? Seems to me if I beat my hay up like that there would be nothing left. And nothing left in my diesel tanks either.

Different strokes/different folks...... I just baled my 3rd cutting and it's short and #2 was a waste of time, on SS. Problem is, if you don't crimp and tedder, the leaves will dry and break off when baling before the stems dries out and I work hard at it for small stems. Only thing I don't spend a lot of time on is Bermuda and that's only when it's light. Irregular fields make for problems getting good hay.

There's times I've cut bermuda hay in the morning and rolled it that afternoon. This year is not one of those years.