Anyone mow hay yet?

[5030]

Someone in Owosso is advertising freshly baled hay.

Very first thing I'd do with that is, I'd have my Delmhorst moisture meter with me with the baled hay probe attached and stick the bales to ascertain the RH before even thinking about purchasing it. I keep the threshold alarm set at 25% always.

 

[LouNY]

...and dry forage users are screwed....

Not really, this time of year our ground is so damp and it usually takes 4 days of good weather to get dry hay. Square bales and even rounds will be a bit later this summer and is a bit more mature. Many of the dairy's will also blend in dry hay with the mixer wagons as part of the total ration. And the beef farmers don't want the super rich hot feed as it will just go through the animals and the brood cows will get too fat. It's good for finishing "grass" fed beef.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I saw a neat mower yesterday, on the FEL of the tractor, not a shredder, was leaving the hay in rows.
I've mowed the back field (as a yard) 5 times already, 1 mowing ahead of last years pace. We have been getting a lot of rain this spring.
Wish someone would do Dad's hay fields. Been shredding them the last few yrs, only have a 5ft mower, takes forever. He doesn't want to buy a larger mower, he'd rather use my free one. lol My brother got it on the tractor the other day and dad was getting hung up in the ditch trying to mow. Not bad for being 100 yrs old.

 

[Snobdds]

All my meadows are super dry this year. Lots of wind and no rain really dry them out quick.

The neighbor who does the haying is afraid to put any Nitrogen down, he's afraid it will burn it up too quick.

The fires this summer are going to be bad...

 

[5030]

I'd never want any mower to windrow any of my alfalfa, ever. In fact, I run a New Holland 'Wide-Thin' kit on the swath board of my disc machine just for that reason. I always want the widest possible 'windrow' I can get simply because the more times you fiddle with alfalfa, the more leaf loss you get and the nutritive value goes south as well.

I like to cut it using the wide-thin kit and then let it sit for a day, maybe 2 and then rake it with my Kuhn Masterdrive rotary rake which gives me a nice fluffy windrow that the air can easily circulate through, the I'll check the RM with my Delmhorst moisture meter and if it's around 20-22 % RM the next day and I'll round bale it the following day, preferrably after lunchtime. My customer that buys all of it raises high quality beef cattle he sells to upscale beaneries all over the Eastern US.... and we get our beef from him as well. Steaks you can cut with a fork btw. He even has a contract slaughter house that handles all of that.

He's very particular about his forage and he pays me accordingly.... and he also has his own Rodeo Company and puts on Rodeo's all over this state and Ohio as well.

Been supplying him with high quality alfalfa hay for over 5 years now. I'm all good with it and so is he. I know exactly what he wants and I strive to accomodate him. Ain't no 'mushroom' hay here (not meant to insult Hay Dude but I don't raise mulch hay and never did. He specifies only Vernal Alfalfa as well and of course I comply and I don't want to tell you what a 50 pound sack of certified vernal alfalfa seed costs, let's just say, it ain't cheap.

 

[LHF2019]

Not really, this time of year our ground is so damp and it usually takes 4 days of good weather to get dry hay. Square bales and even rounds will be a bit later this summer and is a bit more mature. Many of the dairy's will also blend in dry hay with the mixer wagons as part of the total ration. And the beef farmers don't want the super rich hot feed as it will just go through the animals and the brood cows will get too fat. It's good for finishing "grass" fed beef.

Same here. 4-5 days before I would even think about doing dry hay. Just so much moisture in it this time of year. Have a couple customers that always wonder why I don't do round bales in early June. I just tell them I won't push rounds. If you want earlier hay then you need to get small squares. These are the same customers that complain when they buy rounds elsewhere and find they are dusty.

And we don't do rounds in small lots either so I need a good 5 day window. 3 days days to dry and 2 days to move and stage for pickup/store. Usually do 40-50 acres at a time. It's a waste of my time to tie up good days just to try to fill one customer order.

 

[J&K]

No cutting here yet. Waist high but can get a long enough window to cut.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well I was all set to start and we have a week of rain moving through. I will be spending these next few days rotary mowing a few customers, then I guess it’s back to rain/repairs.

 

[Hay Dude]

I saw a neat mower yesterday, on the FEL of the tractor, not a shredder, was leaving the hay in rows.
I've mowed the back field (as a yard) 5 times already, 1 mowing ahead of last years pace. We have been getting a lot of rain this spring.
Wish someone would do Dad's hay fields. Been shredding them the last few yrs, only have a 5ft mower, takes forever. He doesn't want to buy a larger mower, he'd rather use my free one. lol My brother got it on the tractor the other day and dad was getting hung up in the ditch trying to mow. Not bad for being 100 yrs old.View attachment 871377

God Bless him! I hope to make it to 80 and still be on a tractor!

100?!?!?!? Every day on earth spent with him must be treasured.

 

[Tx Jim]

Steaks you can cut with a fork btw.

WOW those steaks/bovines must be in a class of their own. I've never seen or consumed a steak so tender one could cut it with a fork!

 

[zzvyb6]

Very first thing I'd do with that is, I'd have my Delmhorst moisture meter with me with the baled hay probe attached and stick the bales to ascertain the RH before even thinking about purchasing it. I keep the threshold alarm set at 25% always.

I've have a Delmhorst meter for over 25 years. The 'calibration' check (hand moisture level) is changing yearly, but isn't the green zone under 20% ?

 

[Torvy]

I noticed some people here have been cutting. May is our wettest month (5+ inches on average). Not sure if they will have hay or silage.

Even if I had the equipment, only a few acres aren't forest.

 

[LouNY]

How's this look for dry hay weather?

 

[5030]

I've have a Delmhorst meter for over 25 years. The 'calibration' check (hand moisture level) is changing yearly, but isn't the green zone under 20% ?

The one I own (and I bought it direct from Delmhorst in New Jersey), I can set the threshold anywhere I want to set it. There is no 'green zone' on mine at all and I have all the probes as well as the slipper shoes that go in the bale chamber for real time measurement as well. Wasn't cheap but I wanted all the necessary probes plus I wanted a 100% user programmable and defined measurement.

 

[5030]

WOW those steaks/bovines must be in a class of their own. I've never seen or consumed a steak so tender one could cut it with a fork!

I'd send you a package but I'm too cheap too. We are eating Angus presently. Just had a pork belly done as well. Great bacon I might add.

 

[1 Old Man]

WOW those steaks/bovines must be in a class of their own. I've never seen or consumed a steak so tender one could cut it with a fork!

Google Raider Red Meats in Lubbock. Their prime fillets are pretty close to fork tender.

 

[MossRoad]

A friend of mine did his first cutting this week. I helped him toss bales on the wagon last night, and load into his barn. Started off terribly hot and humid, but a cold front passed through, and it was pretty nice evening. Got done just in time to close the barn before 50mph gusts and rain came through.

For as much rain as we've had lately, those winds sure kicked up the dust from the freshly planted fields.

 

[Hay Dude]

How's this look for dry hay weather?
View attachment 871445

Oh man…..

 

[Hay Dude]

We have haylage down here today, but just a little.
Very few fields have been cut.

 

[LouNY]

When we start haylage or balage on the farm a decent day will be 20 acres a really good day would see 30 covered. Thats using the rakes and doubling windrows up. The bigger guys with the triple mowers and huge mergers will often do 6 windrows at a time for the choppers, with light yields I have seen them cover a 100 acres in a day but 60 or 80 acres is quite common.