Finally got the hay cut

[TSYORK]

Six weeks ago it began raining here in NC and since then have never really had the few dry days to be able to cut and bale my hay. Well, this week was the week; the forecast looked like it was going to cooperate. Got it cut Monday, but it was sooooo thick that it took it till Friday to cure out, that's with tettering, turning, etc. We finally got to bale it yesterday. I round baled some and square baled some of it. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown yesterday evening when the T-storms started popping up, I was afraid it was going to get rained on. Well, the storms for the most part missed us. It may have rained 50 drops on it, but by then I was backing the last trailer full into the barn to unload last night. I ended up with 623 bales. Talk about beat, I am whopped! But it's such a relief to know it's baled, put up, and stockpiled for winter feeding. The only thing left to do is to move a few round bales into the barn, which I'm going to do this morning, but all the squares are in and stacked.

[topside1]

That's great news, take half the day off and only work 12hrs instead of 24....Congrats, that is one huge accomplishment...Topside

[Callieslamb]

I know how your are feeling here! Whew! Glad you got it in.

[LibertyWool]

We are still getting rain and the 10 day forecast doesn't look any better.... Maybe we will get to hay in July?

[myersfarm]

I have mine all baled but NEXT year I will put up baleage , as I bought a bale wrapper this year have the day set to start baling next year as May 10 , 2010.

Friend baled his on June 3 , and wrapped it , tested it , for protien most were in the 13 % percent for fescue

We are the only ones in our area with the wrappers.... I know people in other areas have had them for ever...If any body does this tell me if this will work
..cut in the morning......... rake that late afternoon or next morning .........and bale early next day ...... wrap that afternoon


Glad I do not bale 600 bales anymore...I use to lose 20 pounds during baling season each year and lots of sleep


Gald your done with out any getting wet

tjm

[travlnusa]

We had the opposite problem here in NW WI. I was late in cutting first crop hay as there was no hay to cut with the dry weather. Quality was up, but tonnage down. Hoping for mild, as summer goes, for second crop. Lost three weeks waiting for enough hay to bale.

[Jennifer L.]

Just barely getting started here, and the weather keeps calling for 50% chance of rain. I'll cut if it says 30 or 40%, but 50% is just too iffy for me. So I sit here looking out at a sunny day but with that 50% for tonight, I just don't want to try it. I sure hate that first hay for the year to get rained on, even though early first cutting can take rain and still be decent hay. Oh, well. It's the way haying goes!

Jennifer

[commonsense]

Glad you got your hay in!

We were baling under the threat of evening storms yesterday, round bales and small squares.

Started the day off unloading wagons for the day's baling, then headed to the fields. It was a great day, low humidity, steady breeze, hot and sunny. Came out with five wagons (approx 650-675) of small squares and 13-14 round bales.

We loaded up two trailers with round bales and got it stacked in the shed, then pulled the loaded wagons inside MINUTES before the rain started. Talk about close! I'm tired today and beat up from a bunch of little bumps and scrapes on the haying equipment, but very happy to have made the hay.

We don't have any more cut down today, which is a shame because the weather is absolutely perfect for baling.

[agmantoo]

TSYORK
I am certain there is a great feeling of satisfaction from having the hay up. On the other hand, I am curious as to why you continue to go the hay route when here in NC it is easy to do the rotational grazing which is less demanding physically and is much more cost efficient?

[genebo]

TSYORK,

You didn't tell us how many times your baling equipment broke.

I broke my cutter, my rake, and my old baler 5 times. Still we got it in. Very satisfying. I know just how you feel.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[TSYORK]

Nothing broke, not one time! We had the rake running right in front of the baler! It was flawless for once.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Dad and I put up over 1100 bales last wed thru fri. I know what ya mean! I also know about stuff breaking down. Our old baler always gave us a fit but a few weeks ago we bought one from Agmantoo and it worked great! It's an awesome thing to bale a whole field and not get off the tractor to fix something even once!

[francismilker]

Here in Oklahoma we were blessed with a lot of Spring rains this year. We started rolling up bales in mid-May and put up 151 5x6's and 200 squares. I usually put up a lot of squares to sale but this year was a little different. It takes quite a few bales through the old JD 346 baler to get polished up and working good. This year was one of those nightmare situations where I was on and off the tractor a dozen or more times spreading out busted bales to re-bale or rethreading the wire. By the time I finally got my 200 baled it started performing well. If we start getting some rain (right now it's really dry here) I'll get a good second cutting of bermuda hay. This first cutting was pretty weedy and my early season spraying was not as effective as usual due to the fact that I could'nt get too many dry hours to spray. Well, I've got all the weeds cleaned off and the bermuda has got the heat. All I need now is some rain!