Hay Making on a Different Scale

[Lineman North Florida]

Well I have been waiting for a 3 day window for a while and today was supposed to start 3 days of 24% chance so I cut one of my fields down and flipped it, well about 6 PM the weather changed to 96% and I got about 1/4" of rain on it, so no luck putting up hay that ain't been rained on down in Florida either.

 

[LHF2019]

Knocked down 6 acres in 2 different mowings due to the uncertainty in the weather. Felt like fall mowing the first 3 acres. Windy cloudy drizzly most of the day on Thursday. Mowed it for baling on Friday. Then they firmed up Saturday to being good. Knocked down the rest of the field and tedded it last night at 6PM.

Really pathetic when given the same window in advance we can accomplish up to 50 acres.

 

[Hay Dude]

Looks mature, but nice looking stuff.
Hope it bales well for you.

 

[ultrarunner]

Knocked down 6 acres in 2 different mowings due to the uncertainty in the weather. Felt like fall mowing the first 3 acres. Windy cloudy drizzly most of the day on Thursday. Mowed it for baling on Friday. Then they firmed up Saturday to being good. Knocked down the rest of the field and tedded it last night at 6PM.

View attachment 3798337View attachment 3798338


Really pathetic when given the same window in advance we can accomplish up to 50 acres.

My grandfather would plan using the Old Farmer’s Almanac…
What do you guys use for advance planning?

60-Day Extended Weather Forecasts | Long-Range Predictions From The Old Farmer's Almanac

www.almanac.com

 

[5030]

I use my wife actually. She predicts better than anyone. The 2 fields around the barn, I'm gonna run the shredder on and chalk it up to a bad year. Least I'm not using the equipment much this year. Maybe next year will be better.

I'll stick to mowing lawns this year and I'm sure glad I turned back all the rented hay ground. Lot less anxiety now.

 

[Hay Dude]

My grandfather would plan using the Old Farmer’s Almanac…
What do you guys use for advance planning?

60-Day Extended Weather Forecasts | Long-Range Predictions From The Old Farmer's Almanac

www.almanac.com

Most times I look at what’s happening in Houston, TX, cause that weather will be where I live 2 days later.
Or I look at the weather systems on a weather radar map

 

[LHF2019]

My grandfather would plan using the Old Farmer’s Almanac…
What do you guys use for advance planning?

60-Day Extended Weather Forecasts | Long-Range Predictions From The Old Farmer's Almanac

www.almanac.com

Ag Weather

ag-wx.com

Weathermodels

Weathermodels.com: Beautiful & affordable weather forecasting tools for professional and enthusiasts. Get ECMWF (incl. 1-hourly data and 6z/18z extra runs), EPS, EPS 46-days, UKMET, GEFS, GFS, HRRR, CMC, CAMS and many more here. Animate, compare, export and create customised GIFs.

weathermodels.com

I forecast my own weather. This year with the way the systems are moving I'm about a half day to a day ahead of what my uncle sees on local news or one of the many sites he looks at. The only site I use for confirmation if needed is Meteoblue which blends many countries models into an average. I was mowing and he was still undecided due to what he saw.

Weather Russell - meteoblue

Today's and tonight's professional weather forecast for Russell. Precipitation radar, HD satellite images, and current weather warnings, hourly temperature, chance of rain, and sunshine hours.

www.meteoblue.com

 

[LHF2019]

Looks mature, but nice looking stuff.
Hope it bales well for you.

Lots of Timothy and it is late this year. Only thing keeping it decent.

 

[LHF2019]

3-4 acres 520 bales

 

[LHF2019]

Today is July 20th. I started the year at 185 acres that are used for making dry hay. As of this morning we stand at 109 acres of 1st cutting left to cover. Acreage window went like this/ 9 acres, 6 acres, 50 acres(baled in 2 days), and recently 11 acres (mowed and baled at 3 different intervals with the last 2 being a week later from the first section). The only thing saving us is for whatever reason the growing season was phenomenal. The last 11 acres went 151.7 bales/acre. No fertilizer but 75% did get manure.

Today we start making hay like we are supposed to with a known forecast. By the end of the day we should have approx. 40 acres down. 30 in 1st cutting for round bales and 9 of 2nd cutting. Should the forecast stay firm fully expect another 10-15 acres of 1st cutting in a couple days

 

[Hay Dude]

View attachment 3803256View attachment 3803257View attachment 3803258View attachment 3803259

3-4 acres 520 bales

That’s more like it! Lookin good….
Me & Mrs. are headed out for a vacation and I’m getting worried I won’t finish 1st cutting by August 9th!
I’m usually done 1st cut by July 21st.

 

[Saucymynx]

Ag Weather

ag-wx.com

Weathermodels

Weathermodels.com: Beautiful & affordable weather forecasting tools for professional and enthusiasts. Get ECMWF (incl. 1-hourly data and 6z/18z extra runs), EPS, EPS 46-days, UKMET, GEFS, GFS, HRRR, CMC, CAMS and many more here. Animate, compare, export and create customised GIFs.

weathermodels.com

I forecast my own weather. This year with the way the systems are moving I'm about a half day to a day ahead of what my uncle sees on local news or one of the many sites he looks at. The only site I use for confirmation if needed is Meteoblue which blends many countries models into an average. I was mowing and he was still undecided due to what he saw.

Weather Russell - meteoblue

Today's and tonight's professional weather forecast for Russell. Precipitation radar, HD satellite images, and current weather warnings, hourly temperature, chance of rain, and sunshine hours.

www.meteoblue.com

I like Ag-Wx the best. It seems that the ECMWF forecast is the most accurate. I also look at NOAA for shorter term and WeatherBug for casual weather. I’ve spent a ton of time looking at weather reports this year. Finally got a three day window here in the upper peninsula of Michigan to get some hay done. I’ve also become a believer in looking at evaporation as an indicator for drying time.

 

[MichiganIron]

I like Ag-Wx the best. It seems that the ECMWF forecast is the most accurate. I also look at NOAA for shorter term and WeatherBug for casual weather. I’ve spent a ton of time looking at weather reports this year. Finally got a three day window here in the upper peninsula of Michigan to get some hay done. I’ve also become a believer in looking at evaporation as an indicator for drying time.

We have a strange weather phenomenon here we call the Lansing Shadow. Late spring to early summer, the weather pattern here changes. Any fronts coming directly from the west across lake Michigan will die out just west of Lansing. The storm line will split at Lansing, go north and south of us, and redevelop about 10 miles east of here. This pattern will persist from late spring through August. It will rain North, South, East and West, but directly in the shadow of Lansing will get nothing. We don't have any explanation for it, but can definitely count on it during 2rd and 3rd cutting. Fronts coming from the southwest or northwest will bring rain, but directly from the west across the lake will not survive the Lansing shadow.

Some day I would like to understand what is going on.

 

[LHF2019]

What a week. 50-60 acres done. 1st and and our first field of 2nd cutting. 4 days of baling totaling 170 4x4 round bales, 4 - 4x5 round bales, 1782 small square bales. Started out seasonally nice then went back to heat and humid. 18+ hour days between UPS and hay. Time to catch up on eating and drinking.

Found during greasing. Not sure how long it ran like this. Not the first time either to find missing locknuts.

Our pollinator field. No heigth. Just mowed and left. Field I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet and took the early summer weeds off for baleage. Very impressed with all the clover that I did not plant and looks better than just weeds. Looked like this as well last year.

 

[LHF2019]

Nice having all tractors up and running. IH back to yard dog duty moving wagons when all others hooked up or left at fields.

 

[ultrarunner]

I will have to revisit as my cellular data struggles to handle one thread picture at home… life living on the fringe of the outer limits…

 

[LHF2019]

Another round of 2nd cutting done. Very poor yield even with fertilizer. Just a crappy year all around. Still picking off first cutting. Customer orders are filled. Sales are down again. Making some baleage with it to feed this winter and get some rounds and squares in the barn to sell. We went from wet and no weather to make hay to hot and dry. Then comfortable and dry. We are currently in the middle of a 10 plus day dry spell. Yields are going to suffer.

Getting tired of all these smoke events. Seems to happen way to often and used to be a fall issue. Now it is late spring and late summer/fall

 

[Hay Dude]

The Canadian wildfire smoke is a real problem.
I hope things turn around for you. The clock is ticking, though.
I am taking a 1 week vacation (probably not advisable, but my wife planned it) then hammer down when I get back. I hope my son can hold the fort down and not break anything while I’m gone.

Hay sales looks pretty good here, but not overwhelming.
IMO, there’s fewer & fewer small scale horses and cattle operations with each passing year.

 

[QRTRHRS]

We used to have an Arab and a quarter horse studs. We long ago quit breeding for a variety of reasons. Like dogs and cats, there are too many unwanted horses, people that had no idea what they were getting into, and expenses. Vets coming out of school that want a 9 to 5 schedule, older vets retiring. I just spent $249 for a ten lb container of Throid L, $425 for a 160 day supply of cushing's medication and $106 for Equioxx (arthritis). Add to that 4k to take a horse to a large animal hospital last April only to put him down, another $275. When our last two go, I will miss them but not the work and the bills.

I don't know but cattle operations must be feeling it too?

On a happier note, my area has hit a dry spell, maybe to dry but there is hay making going on everywhere that i go. The farmers are having a "field" day

 

[Rockbadchild]

The Canadian wildfire smoke is a real problem.
I hope things turn around for you. The clock is ticking, though.
I am taking a 1 week vacation (probably not advisable, but my wife planned it) then hammer down when I get back. I hope my son can hold the fort down and not break anything while I’m gone.

Hay sales looks pretty good here, but not overwhelming.
IMO, there’s fewer & fewer small scale horses and cattle operations with each passing year.

yeah I had a hard time getting my hay to dry up, I got some nice days but no sun it took for ever for it to dried up.