What Would You Do?

[robertwhite]

So for the last couple of years I have been buying my hay rolls (5x4) from a guy that basically just cuts, bales, sells, just to keep his fields mowed and is not really looking to make any more than he puts into it (fuel, string, etc). 1st cutting is a mix of field grass & sericea (sp?) and my cattle eat it like candy. His second cutting is typically Bermuda & Johnson and is usually just fine.

So this year, I bought all of his 1st cutting and then when I did my figures, I found I was going to be short, so I bought 18 rolls of the second cutting. Didn't really pay attention to it as it was stored under tarp. I just loaded it, drove home, stacked it in my barn.

Since the second cutting was the last purchased, it naturally went in front of the other rolls and I started feeding it to the cows. The first bale they kind of picked through it and didn't seem that interested. After a few days they had eaten enough that I dropped another roll. Again, they picked through it (unlike the sericea which they devour). A buddy came over a couple days later and we went out and looked at the roll. Turns out the cows weren't eating it because they didn't like it, it's because they can't. It has a LOT of Johnson grass that was cut too late and it is basically twigs. (thick heavy straw).

I then had to move all of it out of the barn so I could get to the 1st cutting rolls, which once again they are eating it all up.

Soooooooooo, if you are still with me, I need some advice as to what to do about the bad hay (16 rolls x $25). It is not a ton of money, but it also is not a little amount either. I don't want to cause bad blood and lose my connection for close by, cheap hay. But I also now have 16 rolls that I can do nothing with. I really have no place to dump them and I have no access to a shredder/chipper which would allow me to chop it and mix it with corn to feed.

I partly blame myself for not paying closer attention when I picked it up, but I have never had to check it before. If I ask for and receive some/all of my money back, that then might make him not willing to sell to me next year. I MAY have enough of the 1st cutting to get by as we are having a mild winter and I took my bull to the sale barn. (he was 100 pounds lighter per the scales than 2 weeks before due to the crappy hay)

Any advice or thoughts would help greatly, as I am pretty torn about what to do. :frowns:

 

[hillrancher]

The hay was there for you to inspect before buying. It is your fault that you have it. At $25 a bale you have cheap hay.If it was here we could get $55 a bale. Roll it out let them pick through it. They will eat the fodder off the steams you still will get a lot of use out of it.

 

[kenny thomas]

Yep, they will pick through it and get a lot of it but will be a lot of waste. Unless he told you the hay was better than what you see I would not go back. Just mark it up as a lession learned.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

As suggested unroll it and they will pick thru it eat what they will
The rest will be fertilizer. Probably more than $25 in Fert in each roll. Try to put it in lower fertility areas first

 

[Jogeephus]

No one's fault but your own.

 

[Isomade]

I feed a lot of hay just as you are describing. There isn't as much waste as you think. Those sticks and twigs left over from each bale don't hardly weigh anything. Roll out a bale, when they have eaten all they are willing to rake up the twigs and weigh them in bags. Bet they don't weigh more than 50 pounds. The hay you are describing will winter cows very nicely. I hate the left over junk too but I bet you are getting more bang for your buck with the loss on those bales than the other.

 

[ohiosteve]

Sounds to me like the guy you are dealing with is a straight shooter and wasn't trying to swindle you. I would feed the hay on thin spots in your pasture and the resulting traffic and manure will benefit you.

 

[jedstivers]

You paid 25 and don't have far to go to get it. People on here are paying a 100 plus and its coming from 500 +miles and glad they have even that.
Don't shi+ in your nest for next year. Roll it out and they will eat a lot of it or hold it till bad weather and roll it out, if they don't eat then it will be beding. It's not a total loss. Even if it's value is 1/2 you have lost 225. Is that worth not having a good, cheep, close hay supply?

 

[robertwhite]

Sounds to me like the guy you are dealing with is a straight shooter and wasn't trying to swindle you. I would feed the hay on thin spots in your pasture and the resulting traffic and manure will benefit you.

Guy is absolutely not trying to swindle me. I really like the guy which is why I am so bummed over this.

As you all said, I should have checked it and I am at fault. I will talk to him about it just so that he gets it cut sooner next year. He has only been doing it for a few years, uses no fertilizer, and just rolls basic cattle hay. It was tested at 12.4% protien this season so its decent hay. Just let it grow too long.

I like the idea of rolling it out in a non used area and I have an area that water collects (low spot) that grows crappy grass and maybe the unrolled remains will help.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[Angus Cowman]

you keep saying the first cut hay has sericea lespedeza in it I have never known anyone to bale or want sericea lesp as hay or for pasture as it is a very invasive species and very hard to get rid of with little to NO nutritional value
I would prefer the JG a 100 to 1 anyday over the sericea
like Isom said I doubt the loss you are seeing amounts to very much at all

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Sericea is all right as long as it is cut at the right time. Only let it get about knee high and cut it.

 

[MosesR]

Try to think back to the weather at the time.
My dad did custom harvesting all around this area for years. Some years the hay was perfect, good growth, cut at the right time, cured well, and stayed dry until it was in the barn. Some years, especially with fall hay, everything was too mature, took too long to dry, even without rain we can get very heavy dews day after day on down hay and it would look like it had rain on it. Anyway, think back to the weather at the time of harvest, if the conditions led to the hay being harvested late and you bought it, just be happy you have hay to feed. So far with the mild winter, I have fed some not so good hay and let the cows clean it up. Follow it up with a good bale.

 

[bigbull338]

if it was me id keep feeding that hay till its gone.i cant say how must waste your having without seeing whats left in the rings after 3 or 4 days.that hay may need to age awhile,an maybe then they will eat it.

 

[shaz]

Uh, I actually cut hay like that one cutting this year. I could see the field from the road (400ft away) and guessed it was about 4ft tall so I hooked up the cutter...

The average height was over 6ft (didn't know J grass got that tall!)

Anyway, you can unroll with the leftover hay serving as "biomass" for lack of a better word. You could also sit it out on flat rocky areas that you want to cover.
It's not a total loss.

 

[1982vett]

Feed a "bad" roll then follow up with a "good" roll or two....12% johnson grass isn't bad hay....just sounds like it's stemy with a lot of visible waste.

 

[LimoX]

I would make them pick through and eat it! As long as they are getting enough protein then they can handle the forage. They are just like us we want to eat nice tender steak but have to eat hamburger sometimes too!

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I would make them pick through and eat it! As long as they are getting enough protein then they can handle the forage. They are just like us we want to eat nice tender steak but have to eat hamburger sometimes too!

Worse, sometimes we have to eat chicken.

 

[Suzie Q]

I would be using it as mulch hay in the garden.

You can start a Lasagne Garden which is what it is called in America. In Australia it is called a no dig garden.

Don't start too big as you won't be able to feed it.

Go to your newsagency and ask if you can get newspapers for free that have not been sold. I do this and they love me as it saves them a trip to the dump.

Do not open the newspapers, place them down where they overlap and this does not matter where you put them - you can put them on a bitumen car park if you like.

Cover with hay from your roll and leave until the next time you have motovation. The hay stops the newspapers from blowing away. Don't be stingy with each layer.

Add a layer of cow manure. Add a layer of hay. Don't be stingy with both. Wait until motivation hits you again. Add whatevery layer you like. Horse manure, cardboard boxes, junk mail. Always make sure that hay is the top layer. One so as what is underneath does not blow away, and also so that it stops sunlight getting through which will help keep weeds at bay.

You can make the layer anything that is organic. Clothing that you no longer want, made out of cotton or wool. Elastic is not organic and won't break down. Denim jeans are okay.

Don't use meat as this will encourage dogs etc to dig.

You will end up with a raised garden bed, so as you don't have to bend your back. The more layers the better.

This is after a hay layer, as you can see it looks like a garden and you have no idea what is underneath

You can plant straight away or when motivation hits you. For you you might want to wait until after snow if you have that.

Use some potting mix, put in a seedling is the easiest and quickest and then all you have to do is give it the right amount of water - oh and an electric fence around it of course to keep the cattle off it!!!!

If you have read correctly, you are right - no soil except the potting mix at the end.

Newspapers down. I used to open them and wet them first. Not anymore for either. The thicker the better.

On top of that I throw cardboard boxes and junk mail. Then hay.

Then egg cartons as I no longer had chooks and they were just attracting cockroaches.

Then hay if you want a rest of days between.

A Layer of horse manure

Then hay and leave so you can have a rest.

Then I put in cow manure. (I did it all in one sitting but you don't have to) This had old hay and stuff in it from where they stand waiting to be fed. - Gardening Gold!!

I have also used shredded paper, I can not tell you enough how much plants (and worms) LOVE shredded paper.

I have also used silage as I said anything organic.

This can be used as I said anwhere, even on a bitumen carpark. It can be used in pots. You can grow anything from flowers to fruit and vegetables.

All these are from my lasagne (no dig (or soil)) garden.

Well you asked what I would do!!!!

 

[robertwhite]

That's pretty cool Suzie Q, but the only motivation I have with a garden is dumping the manure in and telling my wife it needs to be tilled. :lol2:

 

[Suzie Q]

LOl Robert. No dig. No till.

The only digging required is to get the manure in the first place so you have done the hard work and your wife doesn't need to do that.