Start of hay season on other side of pond

[KNERSIE]

First real alfalfa cut of the season, this field is irrigated, so hopefully its the first of 5 cuts this summer and one that will be wrapped for baleage in May or early June.

Just for interest's sake the winter growth and grass was cut and wrapped on 23 September so this is the growth in the last 28 days. The forecast looks good for getting it dry, but its always a gamble in the spring. (This means the forcast isn't good for the veld )

 

[bigbull338]

man thats a good looking field of alalfa.i was wondering when you started cutting hay in your part of the world.as well as how meny cutting you can/could get.an how meny bales to the ac you get.

 

[Jogeephus]

That's nice. Sure does look GREEN. How many bales do you guestimate you'll get off that cutting?

 

[Angus Cowman]

Great looking field and I was wondering what is your yield and do you guys bale any grass hay and what kinda yield do it get off it

 

[1982vett]

Man, everyone has or had nice green pastures and meadows this year. I'm beginning to feel left out. Sure is pretty Knersie.

 

[grannysoo]

That's pretty stuff! I would not know what to do with a field full of that. We're just accustomed to having the coastal bermuda.

 

[KNERSIE]

We don't cut any grass hay, its either alfalfa or oats and some horse folk will bale teff. I live in a winter rainfall region so all the hay fields are irrigated and you just get more per mm water out of alfalfa than anything else so here its mostly alfalfa. My farm is very sandy with an extremely low pH so alfalfa isn't really suited for my conditions.

Alot of baleage is made the last cut in fall and the first after the winter just to get the field clean, most dairies plant triticale and vetch together in the winter to wrap for baleage in September. According to them the triticale gives the bulk and a stem for the vetch to climb on the vetch provide the quality.

I had to convert from ha to acres, but as far as yield goes, I get about 60 small quares per acre for the Oct, Nov and Dec cut, Jan about 50, Feb about 30, March 40 if the weather holds.

On average I'd say in my area you'll get 250 small squares per acre dry in a season and cut twice for baleage.

 

[dun]

We don't cut any grass hay, its either alfalfa or oats and some horse folk will bale teff. I live in a winter rainfall region so all the hay fields are irrigated and you just get more per mm water out of alfalfa than anything else so here its mostly alfalfa. My farm is very sandy with an extremely low pH so alfalfa isn't really suited for my conditions.

Alot of baleage is made the last cut in fall and the first after the winter just to get the field clean, most dairies plant triticale and vetch together in the winter to wrap for baleage in September. According to them the triticale gives the bulk and a stem for the vetch to climb on the vetch provide the quality.

I had to convert from ha to acres, but as far as yield goes, I get about 60 small quares per acre for the Oct, Nov and Dec cut, Jan about 50, Feb about 30, March 40 if the weather holds.

On average I'd say in my area you'll get 250 small squares per acre dry in a season and cut twice for baleage.

What is the weight of your small squares. Around here everyone figures anything over 65 pounds is heavy. In the desert we put up 3 wire bales that ran around 160 pounds.

 

[Angus Cowman]

some people around here are promoting Teff what is your opinion on it? in western Oklahoma people planted rye and vetch and just baled it but I never really liked it seemed like most injected it with a molasses based feed like in a lick tank so cows would eat it I thought if you had to put something on for the cows to eat why bother planting it I see that using it for haylage might work better

 

[KNERSIE]

some people around here are promoting Teff what is your opinion on it? in western Oklahoma people planted rye and vetch and just baled it but I never really liked it seemed like most injected it with a molasses based feed like in a lick tank so cows would eat it I thought if you had to put something on for the cows to eat why bother planting it I see that using it for haylage might work better

I'll never plant teff again, I got two cuts, the yeild is much lower than alfalfa or any of the sudan hybrids. The horse people like teff if they can't get oats.

As pasture teff is worthless, the root system is so shallow most of the plants are pulled out. It may perform better with more fertiliser and water than it got from me, but I think there are better grasses.

I've experimented with a little with vetch myself and although I had no problems getting the cattle to eat it the growth was so slow compared to rye grass and oats that it just wasn't worth the hassle. It did reseed itself to some extent, but not as well as the literature promised.

Dun, our small squares are also in the 65-75lb range.

 

[EAT BEEF]

Great looking feild,but why are you running over your hay before you cut it?

 

[KNERSIE]

Great looking feild,but why are you running over your hay before you cut it?

If you can tell me how to start cutting between two rows of permanent sprinklers without doing so I'll be all ears.

 

[EAT BEEF]

Great looking feild,but why are you running over your hay before you cut it?

If you can tell me how to start cutting between two rows of permanent sprinklers without doing so I'll be all ears.

Since you asked you could get a self propeled swather. I could not see the sprinkler until it resized itself.That will teach me to be a smart a$$ before the whole pic downloads :dunce:

 

[dun]

Great looking feild,but why are you running over your hay before you cut it?

On the first pass unless there is an road along side, you gotta drive over at least one uncut section.

 

[EAT BEEF]

Great looking feild,but why are you running over your hay before you cut it?

On the first pass unless there is an road along side, you gotta drive over at least one uncut section.

If you go get on a slow computer you won't see the sprinkler for about five minutes and it looks like he's mowing the wrong way.I didn't really think Knersie was that stupid, just a poor attempt at a joke.

 

[KNERSIE]

Just as a belated update...

The alfalfa was baled 6 days after being cut, yielded 45.2 small squares per acre, a little fewer than I hoped, but I knew I cut it too early. The intention was to try and squeeze an extra cut out before February. Would normally cut at 10% flower, but one of my neighbours who is regarded as the alfalfa expert here cuts every 4 weeks regardless of stage of growth and according to his experiments this yields the highest yield per ha in our area.

The yield may not have been great, but I think its the best quality alfalfa hay I've baled to date.

 

[Jogeephus]

You know it just don't seem right ya'll cutting hay and all in January and February. That does sound like good hay - it sure was green enough.

Off the subject but I gotta ask something - been dying to ask for a long time. Do the commodes actually turn counter-clockwise? (coriolus affect or something?) If so, there has got to be a division line between the two areas. If there is, you don't know what happens in this region. Sorry for the hijack I'm just dying to know.

 

[novatech]

Off the subject but I gotta ask something - been dying to ask for a long time. Do the commodes actually turn counter-clockwise? (coriolus affect or something?) If so, there has got to be a division line between the two areas. If there is, you don't know what happens in this region. Sorry for the hijack I'm just dying to know.

My understanding of this is that you are asking Knersie to go stick his head in the toilet. Just for observation of course. :lol2:

 

[Jogeephus]

Off the subject but I gotta ask something - been dying to ask for a long time. Do the commodes actually turn counter-clockwise? (coriolus affect or something?) If so, there has got to be a division line between the two areas. If there is, you don't know what happens in this region. Sorry for the hijack I'm just dying to know.

My understanding of this is that you are asking Knersie to go stick his head in the toilet. Just for observation of course. :lol2:

:lol2: :lol2: Not at all. Its one of those things you've read about but have never seen. Having someone who actually has witnessed it somehow makes it more believable. I guess my big question is what happens between the two zones. Does it flush one direction one day and another the next or does it just go straight down.

 

[dun]

Off the subject but I gotta ask something - been dying to ask for a long time. Do the commodes actually turn counter-clockwise? (coriolus affect or something?) If so, there has got to be a division line between the two areas. If there is, you don't know what happens in this region. Sorry for the hijack I'm just dying to know.

My understanding of this is that you are asking Knersie to go stick his head in the toilet. Just for observation of course. :lol2:

:lol2: :lol2: Not at all. Its one of those things you've read about but have never seen. Having someone who actually has witnessed it somehow makes it more believable. I guess my big question is what happens between the two zones. Does it flush one direction one day and another the next or does it just go straight down.

I was told it was the equator that changed it. But what happens to a plane flying over the equator when it's flushed