Made my first hay this year

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millstreaminn

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Was a perfect weekend to finally make some hay. Did my "test" field behind the bard first. It a good place to test the equipment out and it's hidden from the neighbors, so if a wheel falls off of something or the baler won't tie, you don't attract an audience. :D

This is my PITA field. Is about 2 acres, side hill and a perfect triangle... :roll:

Ended up with 23 bales off the 2 fields, got one to bale tomorrow, should get 10 more. Each round bale will last me 2 days, so I will have over 2 months of hay done in 2 days. It was a perfect weekend. :nod:

 
looks good. I would be tempted to windrow and bale the opposite direction so the bales would stack themselves
 
M5farm":22wmh5xz said:
looks good. I would be tempted to windrow and bale the opposite direction so the bales would stack themselves

I lost one off the top field 2 years ago. Talk about feeling helpless when you watch a bale picking up speed heading downhill. It jumped the road, bounced over my 6 strand high tensile fence and never broke a wire. I carry the bales to the bottom of the field in the baler now before I dump them. :D
 
TN Cattle Man":1vm697k4 said:
Looking good millstreaminn... how long did your hay have to lay on the ground before being cured enough to bale?

It was wrapped balage. Mowed it, hit it with the tedder, then raked and baled. From cutting to wrapping, it was down about 30 hours. It would have made dry hay, but I like to get my first cutting off as soon as possible and the easiest way for me is to bale and wrap. Don't need to be too worried about the early summer weather that way. Also usually ensures me a real nice 2nd and some 3rd cuttings.
 
millstreaminn":22x0f8ao said:
Was a perfect weekend to finally make some hay. Did my "test" field behind the bard first. It a good place to test the equipment out and it's hidden from the neighbors, so if a wheel falls off of something or the baler won't tie, you don't attract an audience. :D

This is my PITA field. Is about 2 acres, side hill and a perfect triangle... :roll:

Ended up with 23 bales off the 2 fields, got one to bale tomorrow, should get 10 more. Each round bale will last me 2 days, so I will have over 2 months of hay done in 2 days. It was a perfect weekend. :nod:


Looks good congrats.
My first cutting wasn't pretty but I have enough from it and left from last year
I have my winter hay put up for this year.
The winter we had and cool nights into late spring set our grass back hard.
Bahia and Bermuda here are not wired for four snows.
In a bad winter here snow if it falls at all rarely sticks cause the ground is to warm.
 
bigbull338":nxdespm7 said:
your hay looks real good.

Thanks! Here's some bales "nekkid" Very fine hay, redtop, orchard and a bit of timothy. The dandelion heads were still in seed.

I use a Krone 130 Mini Stop baler. It makes 4X4 bales, just right for a hobby farmer that has 15 cows. I bale will last me 2 days, so the baleage doesn't sit around long and heat before it gets eaten. It's not your eyes, its out of focus. :roll:



Close up- smelled great! The cows will eat this over fresh pasture. The last bale off the field was a pup, so I fed it to them. You would have thought they were starving...



Wrapped and waiting for winter...

 
Looking good. I've thought about wrapping my hay but have never looked into it to much. $5 used to be the going rate.
 
I also wrap all my first cutting hay here in Pa. I have a NH 7060 silage special baler, and I can bale a few hours behind the discbine.
I have a local Mennonite boy inline wrap all my hay...he charges $6 a bale...wrap included, and he feeds the wrapper so I can keep baling.
 
jasonleonard":2gmb1sqz said:
I also wrap all my first cutting hay here in Pa. I have a NH 7060 silage special baler, and I can bale a few hours behind the discbine.
I have a local Mennonite boy inline wrap all my hay...he charges $6 a bale...wrap included, and he feeds the wrapper so I can keep baling.

Having someone to wrap would be nice. I've set up my haying program to be a "one man show". Raking, baling, loading, hauling, wrapping and stacking... 20 bales a day is plenty for me.
 
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