Did a little hay last week ...

[sam5570]

well finally we finnish the hay today no chance of rain it's not took long to do it just couldn't get started on it.

 

[blueriver]

Well I got it all cut and wouldnt you know I see lightning in the distance,I look at the weather countless time and didnt see this All of it isnt gonna be ready by sunday and monday and tuesday have a 40%chance. I guess thats how it goes,we need the rain just may have timed it wrong cutting. I believe you can go back in one of the post and someone mentioned a Tedder:laughing:. I may just have to ask the neighbor down the road,to bale me out he has a tedder and I gave him a good deal on the 10ft shredder,I sold him last year(and its still working)

Welcome to the world of Haying .... same thing here. It was all around me yesterday, missed me. So ... that Pearl Millet may bale late Sunday or Monday.

A tedder is a great hay tool. It saves us a full day up here, is fast to use, and takes very little fuel. You can use a small horsepower tractor.

A super good tool and its on my list .... in this country usually not needed ... but great to have when you do!!

well finally we finnish the hay today no chance of rain it's not took long to do it just couldn't get started on it.

Thats great news ... how did it make?

 

[sam5570]

well finally done with hay had lot of stuff break butt now done

 

[foreman Etexas]

well finally done with hay had lot of stuff break butt now done

Great photos:thumbsup: Place looks nice,also....

 

[blueriver]

well finally done with hay had lot of stuff break butt now done

B E A utiful ...thats a good looking field!! What kind of break downs?

 

[sam5570]

B E A utiful ...thats a good looking field!! What kind of break downs?

blueriver we very seldom have problems untill this year the massey computer is bad or so they say they cut it back from 140 hp to 90 and told him to run that way till he got the hay all done the jd hay bine had some bearing problems was using the back up gehl and all the bolts came out of the shaft next to gear box fixed that while we were bailing the pllastic guides on the jd baller come out the wrap all wound up took about 3 hours taking apart to clean all the bale wrap out the guides had nuts counter sunk in pllastic so we had to prize them off of bolts took 2 and made 1 and it worked ok i told the guys i didn't know to much about the functions and parts on the equiptment but a few weeks like this and i be a expert. but one thing we have to consider the equip is old and has made alot of hay oh yea thanks for the complments my wife does good work and happy fathers day.

 

[sam5570]

Great photos:thumbsup: Place looks nice,also....

thanks for the compliments foreman etexas you wouldn't belive what that field looked like when we started on it around 30years ago oh and happy fathers day.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Happy Fathers Day to ALL Me and my father heading out to bale alittle HAY together

 

[Gordo 56]

Thanks Dennis ... I started the irrigator this morning on my best coastal field am going to run an inch of water then put out nitrogen and run another inch ... that will make it grow!!!

If I could get some rain on the fields that were just cut they would make a good second cut. But its getting dry.

That Pearl Millet I drilled in is about 4" tall ... wanting to put some nitrogen on it as well ... just need a rain in the forecast!!!

Hay prices are pretty steady right now ... those bales in the field brought $50 .. The squares are running $8

Hi Blueriver, I am just now following this post and I must say I am envious of your hayfields and equipment. Great post and pictures. I am new to farming and I have bought 40 acres in Iowa and want to have a 10 acre hay field for the 3 or 4 cows that I plan to raise. I have been reading lots of farm books to help me understand it all. Books like "Salad Bar Beef" by Joel Salatin, "The Contrary Farmer" by Gene Logsdon to name a few. They talk about using Red clover and alfalfa to your hay ground and other lugmes to help add nitrogen. Is this something you do as well? Also do you ever graze your hayfields after cuttings to help add fertilizer to them. If you have already addressed this in this post please forgive me. I have not read the whole thing yet.

 

[blueriver]

Hi Blueriver, I am just now following this post and I must say I am envious of your hayfields and equipment. Great post and pictures. I am new to farming and I have bought 40 acres in Iowa and want to have a 10 acre hay field for the 3 or 4 cows that I plan to raise. I have been reading lots of farm books to help me understand it all. Books like "Salad Bar Beef" by Joel Salatin, "The Contrary Farmer" by Gene Logsdon to name a few. They talk about using Red clover and alfalfa to your hay ground and other lugmes to help add nitrogen. Is this something you do as well? Also do you ever graze your hayfields after cuttings to help add fertilizer to them. If you have already addressed this in this post please forgive me. I have not read the whole thing yet.

Hello Gordo ... thank you for your comments. Believe me the hayfields and equipment did not appear overnight ... 40 acres in Iowa is a pretty sweet peice of ground ... I'm proud for you and I have read what Iowa farm land prices are bringing and you should be proud of yourself. I don't use any alfalfa because of the blister beetles in this area, I'm sure they could be controlled. I do use crimson clover and hairy vetch for the added nitrogen. I do have one 200 acre piece that is cross fenced into 100 acres each that is rotate for grazing ... the top is all grazing and the bottom ground is for hay fields and then sowing winter wheat and rye for grazing ... the cows only get it about October and can graze until the first of March. Grazing does cause compaction and it needs to be subsoiled every couple years ... my other hay fields are stickly hay fields that are managed for production ... the more hay the better the cows have it and I like to sell hay... a very nice cash crop.

I keep log books in the tractor cabs and take note of everything for reference next year ... I know when I planted, subsoiled, fertilized, sprayed and the amounts that were applied ...if it works I highlight it and if it don't I hope to know better next time.

Keep us posted on your progress ...

 

[blueriver]

blueriver we very seldom have problems untill this year the massey computer is bad or so they say they cut it back from 140 hp to 90 and told him to run that way till he got the hay all done the jd hay bine had some bearing problems was using the back up gehl and all the bolts came out of the shaft next to gear box fixed that while we were bailing the pllastic guides on the jd baller come out the wrap all wound up took about 3 hours taking apart to clean all the bale wrap out the guides had nuts counter sunk in pllastic so we had to prize them off of bolts took 2 and made 1 and it worked ok i told the guys i didn't know to much about the functions and parts on the equiptment but a few weeks like this and i be a expert. but one thing we have to consider the equip is old and has made alot of hay oh yea thanks for the complments my wife does good work and happy fathers day.

Do you find its usually like that ... go along for what seems a lifetime with no problems and then one day you wake up and almost everything needs attention ... I take pride in keeping things up to par so too speak and then all of a sudden bang .... and it seems like I'm saying ... thought I had this under contoll !! My grandad said it best ... "Wouldn't break if you weren't using it"

 

[sam5570]

Do you find its usually like that ... go along for what seems a lifetime with no problems and then one day you wake up and almost everything needs attention ... I take pride in keeping things up to par so too speak and then all of a sudden bang .... and it seems like I'm saying ... thought I had this under contoll !! My grandad said it best ... "Wouldn't break if you weren't using it"

yea blueriver you so right that equipment has worked well for years all ways took care of but it's just wore out and the bad thing is all but the gehl was purchased @ the same time so i guess that means replace it all @the same time.i feel the price of making hay is about to go up.

 

[blueriver]

yea blueriver you so right that equipment has worked well for years all ways took care of but it's just wore out and the bad thing is all but the gehl was purchased @ the same time so i guess that means replace it all @the same time.i feel the price of making hay is about to go up.

Its time ... all the depreciation has been taken ... all the parts, repairs have been deducted. New equipment is nice (and costly) !!!

 

[Gordo 56]

Hello Gordo ... thank you for your comments. Believe me the hayfields and equipment did not appear overnight ... 40 acres in Iowa is a pretty sweet peice of ground ... I'm proud for you and I have read what Iowa farm land prices are bringing and you should be proud of yourself. I don't use any alfalfa because of the blister beetles in this area, I'm sure they could be controlled. I do use crimson clover and hairy vetch for the added nitrogen. I do have one 200 acre piece that is cross fenced into 100 acres each that is rotate for grazing ... the top is all grazing and the bottom ground is for hay fields and then sowing winter wheat and rye for grazing ... the cows only get it about October and can graze until the first of March. Grazing does cause compaction and it needs to be subsoiled every couple years ... my other hay fields are stickly hay fields that are managed for production ... the more hay the better the cows have it and I like to sell hay... a very nice cash crop.

I keep log books in the tractor cabs and take note of everything for reference next year ... I know when I planted, subsoiled, fertilized, sprayed and the amounts that were applied ...if it works I highlight it and if it don't I hope to know better next time.

Keep us posted on your progress ...

Thanks for your compliment and answering my questions. I wished I could have afforded some of the prime Iowa farm ground that you talked about, but could only afford bottom ground that tends to flood about once a year, but it is very fertile. Sometimes I feel like the city guy from the old show "Green Acres" trying to make a farm out of a very neglected pieace of ground. Even so I still look forward to a making a go of it when I retire in 3 years, I am doing what I can afford now to the farm to get it ready to go when I retire. I just want to grow some of my own food and have something to do that gives me purpose in life when I retire. Thanks for being very helpfull, I look forward to following your post. I have a post on here called "Milligan's Gander Hill Farm" you can follow to see my progress.

Thanks again Blueriver.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Well we finished up around 32acres made 44bales. Not great but will take it.I had a few that was alittle light on one side but I havent used a baler in 10yrs. My father raked and with the net wrap he didnt pull away to far from me. It was a great day Pics tomorrow....

 

[foreman Etexas]

 

[blueriver]

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Thats nice ... I really like the monitor ... does it also show which side of the bale needs more hay?

 

[blueriver]

Rolled the Pearl Millet today ... averaged 3 bales to the acre ... 4x5.5 net wraped. I can see regrowth already ... may get a second cutting on it. Started cutting Bermuda grass this afternoon... I have never had any Bermuda so thick and so dark green ... almost black when its layed down. Won't be a cut today bale tomorrow type ... may bale Wed evening.

 

[blueriver]

Rolled the Pearl Millet today ... averaged 3 bales to the acre ... 4x5.5 net wraped. I can see regrowth already ... may get a second cutting on it. Started cutting Bermuda grass this afternoon... I have never had any Bermuda so thick and so dark green ... almost black when its layed down. Won't be a cut today bale tomorrow type ... may bale Wed evening.

 

[Western]

Rolled the Pearl Millet today ... averaged 3 bales to the acre ... 4x5.5 net wraped. I can see regrowth already ... may get a second cutting on it. Started cutting Bermuda grass this afternoon... I have never had any Bermuda so thick and so dark green ... almost black when its layed down. Won't be a cut today bale tomorrow type ... may bale Wed evening.

Sounds like it's "panning" out great! May end up making a little out of it this year. Spoke to my brother ad they decided not to cut this year (Ft. Towsen) leased it for graze, I think they would have done better to cut it and just sold it rather than lease it. He has been on the road constantly , so time has been a big factor though.

Good to see your "gamble" on mother nature may pay out this summer.