Hay Delivery Day!!!

[ponytug]

I've never seen 100 lb bales. I have enough fun stacking 60 lb bales by hand.

Yes, I think it is a western thing, though I don't know where the line is. When I grew hay in the Midwest, all of it was 70lb bales. Here in California retail hay is 100 lb bale territory for sure. Nobody bales 60-70lb bales here, where they are all 100-120lbs a piece. Large farms are setup for the big square bales.

All the best,

Peter

 

[sea2summit]

I've never seen 100 lb bales. I have enough fun stacking 60 lb bales by hand.

All I ever had as a kid, wire tied. Couldn't even get your fingers under the wires you had to use hooks. And that's why I can still draw any weight bow at any time

 

[5030]

I guess the horsey gals out west must be part time weightlifters then. A 100 pound square bale here would fly as well as a concrete cinder block.

 

[nisaacs]

Yes, I think it is a western thing, though I don't know where the line is. When I grew hay in the Midwest, all of it was 70lb bales. Here in California retail hay is 100 lb bale territory for sure. Nobody bales 60-70lb bales here, where they are all 100-120lbs a piece. Large farms are setup for the big square bales.

All the best,

Peter

I really dislike the three string, too much for me. The local feed store sells a semi load every 8 days, those guys that load it are buff, then I have to drag it, lol. If you notice in the picture I posted the truck is loaded in sections. The special fork lift loader (squeeze) loads them that way, 64 bales per squeeze. The farmer uses a stacker that is the same size/count. Makes for easy work, same with the big bales, but not many homeowners are setup to handle those.

For some reason, hay is a very popular sale item here with sellers everywhere, from 60lb to the big square or round bales. I like the 60 lb and use to buy and sell it years ago. Too expensive and competitive now.

 

[nisaacs]

This local seller has some really strange hay bundles, I have never seen this before.

 

[sea2summit]

This local seller has some really strange hay bundles, I have never seen this before.

View attachment 749300View attachment 749301

D14 packer, pretty cool units and cheaper than a bale bandit.

 

[sixdogs]

Yes, I think it is a western thing, though I don't know where the line is. When I grew hay in the Midwest, all of it was 70lb bales. Here in California retail hay is 100 lb bale territory for sure. Nobody bales 60-70lb bales here, where they are all 100-120lbs a piece. Large farms are setup for the big square bales.

All the best,

Peter

When I baled horse hay-timothy-in Maine, the typical small bale was 45 lbs, more or less. That's what the competition sold so that's what I baled. Nice fresh smelling and green color smelled good enough to eat.

 

[TheMan419]

I guess the horsey gals out west must be part time weightlifters then. A 100 pound square bale here would fly as well as a concrete cinder block.

I am in Northern Indiana. We get the typical 50-60 pound small square here. I would love about a 150 pounder. I would imagine a small spear for my tractor to move them from here to there. Would be a lot easier than doing it by hand. They would still flake off and be easy to hand feed to the horses. A guy can dream.

 

[Xfaxman]

This local seller has some really strange hay bundles, I have never seen this before.

View attachment 749300View attachment 749301

Here is my hay bundle thread:Hay Bale Bundle

 

[TheMan419]

The bundle makes so much sense to me. A good compromise between what the end user desires and the farmer's need to reduce labor and do more mechanically. Plus if we went to those for our horses I would be able to justify a bigger tractor, and who doesn't want that!

 

[Hay Dude]

Krone multi baler will do this. It is an amazing machine. I like the bale barons, too.

KRONE-MultiBale - Krone North America

Krone North America, Inc. is an industry leader in hay and forage equipment. Their innovative line-up includes disc mowers, disc mower conditioners, tedders, rotary rakes, round balers, BiG Pack large square balers, BiG M self-propelled mower conditioners and BiG X forage harvesters.

www.krone-northamerica.com

Bundles

www.marcrestmfg.com

 

[5030]

Way beyond my pay grade.

 

[TheMan419]

Krone multi baler will do this. It is an amazing machine. I like the bale barons, too.

KRONE-MultiBale - Krone North America

Krone North America, Inc. is an industry leader in hay and forage equipment. Their innovative line-up includes disc mowers, disc mower conditioners, tedders, rotary rakes, round balers, BiG Pack large square balers, BiG M self-propelled mower conditioners and BiG X forage harvesters.

www.krone-northamerica.com

Bundles

www.marcrestmfg.com

Now that would be a great compromise. That bundle should weigh in around 450 pounds. I can handle that with my current tractor and then it breaks down into small bales. Nice set up. Farmer can just handle it like a large square and do it all mechanically.

 

[oosik]

I wonder - will cut hay mold - - just lying there in the field. I HAVE NEVER seen so much cloudy, rainy, drizzly weather as we are experiencing right now. Might as well be west of the Cascades.

 

[5030]

Depends entirely on the height of the cut, the moisture content of the ground underneath and the crop itself as well as the attention the farmer gives to it.

If you cut it and let it lay there untouched, yes, it can grow mold. I don't. I'll cut it and then stand it up and let it breathe (air movement through it) and if there is a rain event, soon as it passes, I rake it again and stand it up as the rain will flatten it down and compact it.

Grass hay is is much less touchy than say alfalfa. Grass hay is more tolerant to mold growth. Alfalfa because it's more dense, molds easier but all of it depends entirely on how the cut crop is managed by the farmer. Kind of a mix between predicting the weather and staying with the program.

 

[ponytug]

I wonder - will cut hay mold - - just lying there in the field. I HAVE NEVER seen so much cloudy, rainy, drizzly weather as we are experiencing right now. Might as well be west of the Cascades.

You betcha. And that's perfect weather for it to rot and/or catch fire as well.

I used to grow alfalfa hay for hamster pellets, in an area that had rain often. Getting the hay done was all, and I mean all, about finding five days in a row with no rain. No rain meant #1 top dollar hay. If it rained the day after cutting, you were probably ok, just had to turn it another time or two, but the day after that was mold inducing, (#2) hay and any more rain, you were just baling the hay to get it off the field to not kill the alfalfa under it.

Even when we had good hay going into the barn, we tried to leave new hay on the wagons for a day or two just in case any of them heated up. It is much easier to drive a wagon of steaming/smoking hay out than tossing the bales. Not everyone runs a small enough operation to have that luxury...

All the best,

Peter

 

[5030]

The issue especially with alfalfa is leaf loss from raking. Don't take much more than one additional raking to wind up with no leaves and all stems. Stuff is very touchy, why all I have is mixed forage.

 

[bindian]

Eddie,
Do you have enough room for a hay pasture. Then you would only be out the cost of planting, cutting, raking and baling? Or rent it out and get paid your percentage in hay.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

My long term goal is to have 4 separate pastures for my livestock so I can rotate them. Each pasture will be about 12 acres. I hope to have half of each cleared of trees for hay. Eventually, maybe more. Super long term goal would be to hay each of those pastures and not have to rely on buying it.

My math is pretty basic, but if I can get 2 bales per acre, I'm at 48 bales per cutting. If I get two cuttings, I'll have extra hay that I could sell.

The guy I'm getting my 4x6 bales from just raised his price per bale $5 to $90 each. It will be $100 pretty soon, with no limit on what it might end up if things continue like they are.

 

[5030]

he guy I'm getting my 4x6 bales from just raised his price per bale $5 to $90 each. It will be $100 pretty soon, with no limit on what it might end up if things continue like they are.

Nothing new there. I raised my per bale cost factoring in the increase in fuel and fertilizer costs. My big customer has no issue with it as he's getting hit with inflationary increases elsewhere as well.

The cost of doing business in any arena is going up and up.

I think we all know who to thank for it and I'll leave that unsaid.