More rain

[hurleyjd]

I was thinking that maybe I would be able to cut and bale next week. Been raining all afternoon and night. I guess I will have to move the plan ahead. Here it is the middle of July and I have not been able to do any hay to speak of. Maybe I will be able to in August. If not then maybe September. I think there will be some cows start going to the sale if there is not any weather that will allow hay baling. Maybe time to quite the cow business and go tio the coffee shop every morning with the rest of the retirees.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I was thinking that maybe I would be able to cut and bale next week. Been raining all afternoon and night. I guess I will have to move the plan ahead. Here it is the middle of July and I have not been able to do any hay to speak of. Maybe I will be able to in August. If not then maybe September. I think there will be some cows start going to the sale if there is not any weather that will allow hay baling. Maybe time to quite the cow business and go tio the coffee shop every morning with the rest of the retirees.

One cutting this year here, grass is waist high can't cut or spray. Bottom hayfiels still have standing water. Maybe next week I have 45 acres that need to be cut bad.

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Lost more hay around here this year than was cut last year due to the rain. I'll take the rain any day over the drought.

 

[Caustic Burno]

The retirement part don't sound bad either spend more time hunting and perch jerking.

 

[Earl Thigpen]

Saturday a week ago we sat on the front porch and watched 2.5" come down. That was right after pouring out a full rain gauge. Last week looked pretty good - not much rain and the fields are starting to dry out a little. Moved 60 bales off two fields so I can get the fertilizer truck back in there. Maybe I won't fertilize. I've got 35 acres in coastal and bahia that's over knee high that'll produce at least two bales/acre and a field that has gordo on it that gets me a lot of hay late in the season. And the two fields I just cut will be ready to bale again in a couple of weeks.

Cows are so fat that got ripples on their sides over their rib cages. Even the late calves are rippling in fat. Never seen them looking so good this early.

 

[cattleluvr18]

last week we got missed by 4 rain chances. 3 outta the four i coulda sat on my deck and watch the thunderheads form south of me and then watch the lightning once it got dark.
its frustrating enough not gettin rain, but when you can watch it rain everywhere else it just makes it all the more worse.

 

[novatech]

last week we got missed by 4 rain chances. 3 outta the four i coulda sat on my deck and watch the thunderheads form south of me and then watch the lightning once it got dark.
its frustrating enough not gettin rain, but when you can watch it rain everywhere else it just makes it all the more worse.

Last year that was us. This year the opposite. I got mine cut and started to bale. Some made it to the barn. Some got split back open in the field(small squares). Some I need to fluff so the other side will get washed off tomorrow. It'll burn cleaner when I set fire to it.

 

[VZCR]

last week we got missed by 4 rain chances. 3 outta the four i coulda sat on my deck and watch the thunderheads form south of me and then watch the lightning once it got dark.
its frustrating enough not gettin rain, but when you can watch it rain everywhere else it just makes it all the more worse.

Last year that was us. This year the opposite. I got mine cut and started to bale. Some made it to the barn. Some got split back open in the field(small squares). Some I need to fluff so the other side will get washed off tomorrow. It'll burn cleaner when I set fire to it.

Burning it is no bueno. Check this out.....12 acres, 88 rolls. 4x5s. I wore out the tedder, rebuilt it, wore it out again shaking the water off this, but it really made good hay! Coastal Bermuda fertilized with 30-10-10 foliar between rain storms every 2 weeks till we could cut and bale it.

Its raining again........1/2 inch so far, filling up the mud holes again...........glad this got baled yesterday!!! Thunderstorm ran us out of the hay field today, just short of finishing baling another 15 acres. :lol: :lol:

 

[CUZ]

Burning it is no bueno. Check this out.....12 acres, 88 rolls. 4x5s. I wore out the tedder, rebuilt it, wore it out again shaking the water off this, but it really made good hay! Coastal Bermuda fertilized with 30-10-10 foliar between rain storms every 2 weeks till we could cut and bale it.

Its raining again........1/2 inch so far, filling up the mud holes again...........glad this got baled yesterday!!! Thunderstorm ran us out of the hay field today, just short of finishing baling another 15 acres. :lol: :lol:

Yummy!!! Looks good enough to eat.

Cuz

 

[Jogeephus]

That's some good looking hay Cuz. When you tedder it 5 times won't that make the hay more tender for the cows? :lol: (Kinda like beating a steak)

 

[VZCR]

That's some good looking hay Cuz. When you tedder it 5 times won't that make the hay more tender for the cows? :lol: (Kinda like beating a steak)

:lol: :lol: :lol: New equipment - Hay Tenderizer.. :lol: :lol:

 

[Angus In Texas]

We ended up getting another 9 inches Saturday morning. That brings us to a little above 50" for the year..... major flooding occured with this round and several roads were washed out.

 

[VZCR]

last week we got missed by 4 rain chances. 3 outta the four i coulda sat on my deck and watch the thunderheads form south of me and then watch the lightning once it got dark.
its frustrating enough not gettin rain, but when you can watch it rain everywhere else it just makes it all the more worse.

Last year that was us. This year the opposite. I got mine cut and started to bale. Some made it to the barn. Some got split back open in the field(small squares). Some I need to fluff so the other side will get washed off tomorrow. It'll burn cleaner when I set fire to it.

Burning it is no bueno. Check this out.....12 acres, 88 rolls. 4x5s. I wore out the tedder, rebuilt it, wore it out again shaking the water off this, but it really made good hay! Coastal Bermuda fertilized with 30-10-10 foliar between rain storms every 2 weeks till we could cut and bale it.

Its raining again........1/2 inch so far, filling up the mud holes again...........glad this got baled yesterday!!! Thunderstorm ran us out of the hay field today, just short of finishing baling another 15 acres. :lol: :lol:

But, but, but, but VZCR, we don't all have the immaculate tedder!!!! I'm glad you got to save your hay!! :lol:

Question: In leu of a tedder, does it help at all to rake it again and again as long as we don't loose leaf??

Yep, sure does, anything to keep it turning and drying, fluffing, etc. While the tedder was broke down, I took one side of wheels off the wheel rake so it would turn the windrow over and move it over and it helped. I know its impossible with this ground as wet as it is now, rains every day, heavy dews, we got another inch yesterday. I had to burn some that was ruined a while back. Its no fun. But the grass came back lush. Good Luck!

 

[tytower]

Have mercy on the guys with a modem /slow connection

Those same pictures are posted over and over and over and over and over................

 

[Jim62]

How long can it get rained on before it's ruined? Got some that will probably be rained on for 4 or 5 days . And what is it that makes it no good? Mold or something?

 

[cowtrek]

We're in the same boat here. Not gonna gripe because the rain is better than the drought that's for sure, but I haven't done a single hay job yet because wet weather. Gonna be busy when the cycle does break though.

I HATE getting hay rained on. I'll usually wait a while rather than have it rained on, and I can usually outguess the weatherman enough to get my hay up without it being rained on. I did have some last year get showered on twice but I rolled it over twice with the rolabar rake and it came out fine. Just screw the right end of the basket down to normal raking height, or a tad higher, and screw the left end all the way up, (this is all for a left hand rake like a NH 256 or 258 not a right hander like a NH 260) throw her in gear and run like heck. It'll unroll the windrow into a swath about 10 ft wide or so. Once it's dry set it to normal raking height and roll it back up. Works great. OL JR

 

[hurleyjd]

The last week and a half has let me cut and bale some hay. I have cut about 25 acres, I do not know how many bales, but it is more than last year. I will start cutting a 19 acre patch Monday. It had crimson, and then Apache clover go to seed. It looks like there will be a lot of hay there also. And then if weather permits I will start on 50 acres week after next.

 

[cowtrek]

We're in the same boat here. Not gonna gripe because the rain is better than the drought that's for sure, but I haven't done a single hay job yet because wet weather. Gonna be busy when the cycle does break though.

I HATE getting hay rained on. I'll usually wait a while rather than have it rained on, and I can usually outguess the weatherman enough to get my hay up without it being rained on. I did have some last year get showered on twice but I rolled it over twice with the rolabar rake and it came out fine. Just screw the right end of the basket down to normal raking height, or a tad higher, and screw the left end all the way up, (this is all for a left hand rake like a NH 256 or 258 not a right hander like a NH 260) throw her in gear and run like heck. It'll unroll the windrow into a swath about 10 ft wide or so. Once it's dry set it to normal raking height and roll it back up. Works great. OL JR

Good tip. Thanks! Went through Needville today - place is a bog just like ours over in Wharton. Got another 3 inches of rain this week on ground that was alrady saturated. We need at least two full weeks of no rain to get things dry enough to bale.

Could be worse I could have grain in the field! Last two years sure made me glad I gave up the row crops! At least cows have four wheel drive to handle the mud! Pasture is all pucked up from hooves though. Still better than last year just watching the sun beat down and cook everything.

I feel sorry for these guys with grain in the field. I drive a schoolbus through the country and I'd guesstimate that prabably a third to a half of usual cottonfields went into grain and corn this year. Seen a lot of good sorghum and corn around here but not much has been harvested. Neighbor got his last week just before the bottom dropped out again last Saturday. The ground was sticky but firm enough to hold up the combine. Other guys around here have been combining nearly in standing water. That sure plays heck with your land; I picked cotton that way one year and took at least 5 years to get the soil to break up properly again, and still had wet spots that lasted nearly 10 years. So wet they had a kid on a tractor with a rear blade scraping the mud off the road to keep DPS off thier backs. That's pretty bad. So far it doesn't look TOO terribly bad from a mold standpoint but then again I'm not wading out in fields or hanging out at the dryer enough to know for sure. Corn looks ok so far but if it stays wet another couple weeks they're going to be in bad shape, especially if a guy has corn ready to combine and cotton ready to be picked.
Still, could be worse, went thru Edna to Victoria last week and it's water water everywhere, fields completely flooded down there. Sad.

Funny thing is, my inlaws up in Indiana are having a drought this year. Last year they were swamped with rain while we burned up. This year completely opposite. We're getting all their rain and ours too. Sis inlaw said it hasn't rained on their corn and soybeans for 50 days straight. They did get 2 inches or so but with their sandier soil it was already dry again. We were up there from Memorial Day to the last week of June and it was dry then, corn was starting to curl then and it was only a foot tall. Sure they're really hurting by now.

Good luck and yall take it easy! OL JR

 

[JDI]

Flood stage is 15 ft.on the Trinity at Moss Bluff ...@ 8:00 pm Fri. level was 17.4ft. & @ 9:00 pm on Sat. it was 20.4ft...I'm coming home on Aug. 29th...hope they have taken the pontoons of the cows by then..would like to get things done that have not been done in the last couple of yrs. I been gone. And I got quite a list started!!!!

 

[JHH]

last week we got missed by 4 rain chances. 3 outta the four i coulda sat on my deck and watch the thunderheads form south of me and then watch the lightning once it got dark.
its frustrating enough not gettin rain, but when you can watch it rain everywhere else it just makes it all the more worse.

I feel your pain. Very dry and 10-20 miles north looks good and 10-20 miles south looks good just caught in a place that it doesnt like to rain for now.

Wish we had the same problems as some of the others. JHH