Hay Making on a Different Scale

[Hay Dude]

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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 Wx

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.