How late is too late to cut and bale?

[John Fitzgerald]

I have a nice hayfield of a little over six acres of mostly bottomland that is a mixture of Bermuda grass on one end and tall Johnson grass on the other end. A neighbor who hays in the area has been getting it for years, but has been so busy (he says) he hasn't made the last cut, and the grass is over mature, falling over, and becoming matted in places. I give him the hay to keep the field cut. If it's not cut, it would become a huge fire hazard by late winter. He says he has to have five dry sunny days in a row this time of year to do hay. Doesn't look like he's going to get that, but he's had plenty of opportunities in the last three weeks. It's raining today. If he doesn't hay it, would brush hogging it be the solution? I could probably do it in a day with my XJ2025H and 5 foot RC. If I have to spend the time and diesel to cut it myself, I'll find someone else to hay it next year. What if it was left tall all winter? Would that impede haying greatly next summer?

 

[Hiptfarms]

I'd bush hog the field if it were me.

 

[Jstpssng]

I would mow it if it was mine. Leaving it will just cause more weeds to come in.

 

[atsah]

Bush hog it..

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Thanks. I'll say if he doesn't hay it soon, he bush hogs it if he wants to keep getting the hay. If I have to spend time and fuel to bush hog it myself, I will find someone else to get the hay. There's a closer neighbor who would get it and be glad.

 

[LouNY]

If its real heavy brush hogging it and leaving it in the field it can smother out some of the new growth next year.
Heavy ground it can take quite awhile for hay to cure out.
In this area have a neighbor still trying to bale small squares, so far he has tedded it out twice and still hoping to get it late Wednesday,
We finished chopping corn today and started mowing some third cutting about 12 acres which we will chop for haylage starting tomorrow.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

It's extremely heavy now. If brush hogging will leave too much debris, don't know what to do except wait until it rots. The johnson grass part will become a huge fire hazard if we have a dry winter and it is left standing. I have seen johnson grass fields burn, and when driven by the wind it's almost like gasoline is poured on it. My patience with this guy could nearly ruin my field. I'm tired of the turkey litter he uses for fertilizer anyway. Some of it comes out of his spreader truck in big packed chunks, and takes many weeks to decompose. Last time I asked him to keep it away from my pond, and he didn't. Bad stink.

 

[atsah]

I ran into the same problem with a guy haying a field, he wouldn’t mow it until November, I found someone else that mows it in July and again in September. It looks like he!! If it’s not cut never mind the fire problem.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

I ran into the same problem with a guy haying a field, he wouldn’t mow it until November, I found someone else that mows it in July and again in September. It looks like he!! If it’s not cut never mind the fire problem.

For the last few years, he's mowed it usually late May, mid July, and late September. Weather was great for haying until this week. Bad forecast for drying now.

 

[Thomas]

Dry time would be my condern,if question able fail mower should do the trick.

 

[Gary Fowler]

A guy that bales for my brother in law cut my small pasture and then decided not to bale it. The cut grass smothered out the grass and it took a year for it to come back. I helped it a little by mowing over the laydown hay to chop it up a bit but it was still very thick in spots. Lots of weeds came in the following year due to thin grass. I kept it all mowed with my lawnmower (set to highest position)all last year and it got rid of the weeds and helped the grass come back.
He cut it again this year and baled it up since it was really good hay at this point with no weeds.

If he doesn't cut it, I would wait for it to die down after a heavy frost then bush hog it to chop it up fine and spread it uniformly so it rots quickly and doesn't smother the roots.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Dry time would be my condern,if question able fail mower should do the trick.

I have never seen a flail mower around here. The farm supplies do not sell them, farmers do not have them.

 

[atsah]

Does the guy that cuts the hay use a disk mower or a mower conditioner?

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Does the guy that cuts the hay use a disk mower or a mower conditioner?

He has at least two disk mowers. That's all I have seen him use.

 

[atsah]

The disk mowers aren't very well suited for hay that is laying/matted down, they tend to make a mess of it, the mower conditioner picks the hay up before it cuts it and goes through the roller, does a much cleaner job..

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Aren't most conditioners these days disc mowers?

5 days is a lot, even without a tedder or conditioner. My dad made some last week in Ohio, in 3 days.

 

[atsah]

That I don't know, the 10ft JD we use has a cutter bar, old school probably but it cuts hay and leaves the field looking like a putting green..

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Aren't most conditioners these days disc mowers?

5 days is a lot, even without a tedder or conditioner. My dad made some last week in Ohio, in 3 days.

It's mostly bottom land. We get heavy dew almost every day by sundown, and doesn't dry until after noon many days. Much of the summer I cannot start lawn mowing until after 1:00 PM because of the dew laden grass.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The old ones were cutter bars, i believe new ones are disc cutters . from what ive seen, disc mowers perform better in down hay.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Dew is a problem this time of year, barely any drying time. Was surprised my dad put some in last week, with all the wet weather we have had.