Weather - Bales today!

[Alex]

Sat Nov 27 04 and Sun we turned Barley out of the frozen ground with a swath turner, and baled. Our first year Barley crop on 55 acres had 12 inches of rain, then 13 inches of snow, and more snow and drying times. The crop was cut late for green feed, and never rotted. Then a few days ago it started freezing and the wet frozen fields could hold the tractors.

Never heard of a fall this wet.

But look at this we got a few bales Sat, and a few more Sun. We thought we were being normal farmers and losing the whole works on this new land.

And look at the bales - they look great - don't they? And, they still have lots of Barley in them. Though, Francis will feed them right away, in case there is any moisture still in there. And, too bad over half is still on the ground, and grain does fall off, oh well.

What do you make of this?

Thanks.

Alex (lucky duck)


Second Bale, Nov 27, 2004, Boucher Lake Rd, BC, Canada (Near Moberly Lake)


Pickup frozen Barley Green Feed with Swath Turner, Placing Two Into One Windrow for Baling, Nov 27, 2004, Boucher Lake Rd, BC, Canada (Near Moberly Lake)


Fourth Bale, Nov 27, 2004, Boucher Lake Rd, BC, Canada (Near Moberly Lake)

[Ole Man Legrand]

Will the barley left in the ground sprout and come up in the spring for a new crop, or will it rot before germination.

[Alex]

Yes some will sprout, not rot.

However, this is a first year field. It was just 'broke' - first time plowed, disced, harrowed, root raked, root picked - by hand, rolled and seeded to Barley.

Then plan is to rework in the spring (maybe early summer because of H2O), maybe some ditching - from the looks of the water on the field this wet fall, disc, root rake and pick again, then finally seed to alfalfa mix, plus another nurse crop of Barley or Oats again (since the hay won't come too good until the following year).

So, some Barley is OK.

Thanks.

Happy Camper Alex

[Ross]

What are you feeding it to? Cattle will pick at it but if it spoils you could have more than a little trouble (Listeria) . Small grain "hay" should be cut before it sets a complete seed head so this stuff is a little mature, and the rain hasn't helped. Sorry to be so negative but if its dry it would make better bedding than feed.

[Alex]

Ross,

Yes, it was cut before full head. It did not spoil on the ground and Francis (our neighbour and 60/40 share cropper) will feed it right away to about 175 head of cows - incase it starts to heat.

There are not that many bales, unfortunately, and at about 35 pounds a day each, that's around 4 or 5 bales a day. The bales are 5'-6" diameter, and 1500 pounds.

Thanks, still very happy about these odd baling conditions. And it is a real bous to get it out of the way. In the spring/summer the remainder will still be a problem to get rid of before disc, etc.

Alex