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oscarsteve

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Put 24 acres on the ground today. About 15 acres of ryegrass, clover, vetch, and some lespedeza. And about 9 acres of ryegrass, oats, and rye. Hope the weather forecast holds true.




 
Nothing like that here either, Ron they were terribly dry this summer and fall, but they made up for it this winter. Oscar, how long will that rye grass take to dry?
 
I'm in Georgia, about halfway between Athens and Augusta. You're right Grit, we were extremely dry last Summer and Fall. I even had to feed hay last July. Drilled the ryegrass at the end of October but didn't get any rain on it for the first 2-3 weeks. Since then we've been getting a little off and on, including a little over 3 inches last week. Had planned to wait another couple of weeks but a few seed heads were starting to show up AND if the meteorologists can be trusted, no large chance of rain until next Tuesday. Figured I'd better take advantage of that window. Grit, I plan to fluff it a couple of times this week and hope to be able to bale Friday or Saturday. Sunshine, low humidity, and a breeze during the day should work in my favor. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Good luck Oscar, knocking down first cutting is one of my favorite things to do. I've still got a month or so but I pulled the haybine out tonight to get it ready.
 
oscarsteve":3ue1nzxo said:
Put 24 acres on the ground today. About 15 acres of ryegrass, clover, vetch, and some lespedeza. And about 9 acres of ryegrass, oats, and rye. Hope the weather forecast holds true.




Click to expand...

You'll be doing what most can't get done and envy, including me, which is cutting at the right time for quality, and getting it cured/rolled. Very hard to do that around here and is one of the reasons I've went to haylage for ryegrass. Wish you the best and keep trucking!
 
oscarsteve":sfz2fdzb said:
Put 24 acres on the ground today. About 15 acres of ryegrass, clover, vetch, and some lespedeza. And about 9 acres of ryegrass, oats, and rye. Hope the weather forecast holds true.




Click to expand...

Dang, that's impressive. How many bales will you get?
 
Cowman: I don't think I want to put a number on how many bales it'll turn out out. This is the first time I've overseeded the hayfields (15 acres) with ryegrass. I did it in hopes of getting a better quality, and quantity, with my first cutting of the season. Also, I cut about 9 acres of the winter grazing that I knew the cows wouldn't be able to utilize before it would be lost due to the warm weather. BTW, this is NOT Marshall ryegrass but Gulf ryegrass. Pictures below show what I did today. It's drying pretty quickly. In the background of the first picture you can see some of the land that we recently had cleared with younger ryegrass on it. In the background of the 2nd picture you see another area of the land clearing endeavor that is awaiting a final disking with the smoothing harrow followed by the cultipacker, and then seeding. Got to get the hay up first and then I'll get back to it.


 
oscarsteve":1lzs9iq0 said:
Cowman: I don't think I want to put a number on how many bales it'll turn out out. This is the first time I've overseeded the hayfields (15 acres) with ryegrass. I did it in hopes of getting a better quality, and quantity, with my first cutting of the season. Also, I cut about 9 acres of the winter grazing that I knew the cows wouldn't be able to utilize before it would be lost due to the warm weather. BTW, this is NOT Marshall ryegrass but Gulf ryegrass. Pictures below show what I did today. It's drying pretty quickly. In the background of the first picture you can see some of the land that we recently had cleared with younger ryegrass on it. In the background of the 2nd picture you see another area of the land clearing endeavor that is awaiting a final disking with the smoothing harrow followed by the cultipacker, and then seeding. Got to get the hay up first and then I'll get back to it.


Click to expand...

How do you like your canopy on your tractor? A neighbor of mine needs something like that.
 
Banjo: I love the canopy. Interestingly, it was home made by my son. He made it using galvanized pipes and coupling and a old fabric top from his jeep. He used a pipe bender to form the frame for the front and back and bolted it to the rollover bar. It was a Father's Day gift last summer. (He decided he could afford this a little better than the metal or fiberglass factory produced canopies.) I came home from a 2-3 day trip...and there it was. REALLY helps during summertime hay season because it provides shade from the sun beating down on me. Only drawback to it is, you have to be careful when transporting it on the trailer from one area to another. I found out the hard way that it won't handle 55+ mph winds without some support on the front frame.
 
Finished up yesterday afternoon. Took longer to get it dried than I thought, even with the good weather conditions. Fluffed about 10 acres 3 times in consecutive days. The rest I only fluffed twice. It takes a while to get it all done when you're working by yourself and only have one tractor. AND one area of 14 acres is almost 6 miles from the other 10 acres. Got 55 rolls 4' x 5'. Averaged almost 2.5 rolls/acre. Should be pretty good quality.


 
oscarsteve":39o2h3r1 said:
Finished up yesterday afternoon. Took longer to get it dried than I thought, even with the good weather conditions. Fluffed about 10 acres 3 times in consecutive days. The rest I only fluffed twice. It takes a while to get it all done when you're working by yourself and only have one tractor. AND one area of 14 acres is almost 6 miles from the other 10 acres. Got 55 rolls 4' x 5'. Averaged almost 2.5 rolls/acre. Should be pretty good quality.


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Oscar,

Are you going to get the hay tested? If so please post the results. Just curious as to what it would check.

OldCrow
 
Old Crow---I have never had any tested but, like you, I am curious about it. I KNOW it will be better quality than what I normally bale, especially on my first cutting. But my cows have never really complained either. I finished baling Saturday and moved it all out of the fields Monday. However, I don't have a barn but normally put a tarp over it. I haven't done that yet because a moisture meter I have indicated it still had some moisture. And some bales were pretty warm when I stuck my hand into the center as far as I could. I know it'll probably take a good bit longer to sweat and finish curing than the bahia I usually bale in the summer and can immediately cover it. And yesterday afternoon and last night it got a total of 1.4" of rain on it. So, it's gonna be awhile before I can cover it. I'll see what I can do about testing it.
 
Crow: After your inquiry, I did take samples of the hay and sent it off to UGA for analysis. The hay was cut April 10. Three samples were sent. Field 1 was mostly annual ryegrass with a little clover and vetch mixed in. Field 2 was annual ryegrass. Field 3 was mostly annual ryegrass with some winter rye and oats mixed in. Fields 1 & 2 had 60 units of liquid nitrogen applied March 24. Field 3 was grazing I took away from the cows and 200 lbs./acre of 34-0-0 was applied February 14.
Field 1: Dry matter crude protein-17.1%, crude fiber-25.4%,RFQ-143.6, TDN-62.1%, DMI-2.84%, Nitrates-1218 ppm, as sampled moisture-27.0%, Dry matter-73.0%.
Field 2: CP-17.3%, CF-25.7%, RFQ-143.9, TDN-62.3%. DMI-2.84% , nitrates-2791 ppm, as sample moisture-28.2%.Dry matter-71.8%.
Field 3: CP-15.8%, CF-24.9%, RFQ-147.1, TDN-62.6%, DMI-2.89%, Nitrates-2549 ppm, as sample moisture-32.6%, Dry matter-67.4%.
I think it's pretty good hay. I knew the moisture was gonna be high in it even though we had low humidity and sunshine while it dried for 4-5 days before baling. Field 1 was fluffed 3 times. Fields 2 & 3 were fluffed twice. Therefore, I just spread the bales around the field so they could dry (sweat) some more. It's been sitting out for 3 1/2 weeks now. Forecast is for 2+ inches of rain today and tomorrow. So, this morning I stacked it and covered it with a tarp. After tomorrow we're supposed to get 8-9 days of cooler weather with sunshine so I'll probably uncover it Saturday and check it. AND I'm planning to cut those fields again this Saturday.
 
Everything looks awesome besides that pesky moisture. You didn't happen to use a preservative did you? One of the reasons we went to haylage is it is just almost impossible to get everything right in the spring but you dern near did it. If you ever get a chance to sit in on a haylage seminar I would recommend it. There are added benefits outside of being able to cut at the right time with a smaller window and for you one would be cover. Nutrients leach out of dry hay stored in a barn over time but with wrapping, even dry hay, the nutrients are preserved. At least that is what the studies show. :D Thanks for taking the time to share this information!! :tiphat:
 

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