Hay Making on a Different Scale

[LHF2019]

What you call horse nettle we call bull nettle. Same plant, in the same family as potatoes and tomatoes. USDA says eradication is darn near impossible. Best is to control it by frequent mowing. Spraying and manually pulling it are ineffective as it spreads by seed and propagation of roots.

We have a little in the horse paddocks. It grows on bare ground where the horses roll. They leave it alone as it is bitter and they have plenty of hay and grass. Each of the 3 horses has a paddock of 3/4 to 1 acre.

2 different plants. Not the same at all.

Solanum carolinense - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

 

[LHF2019]

Over 60 acres with 3 days of baling. The 2nd cutting on our 50 acre piece went a whopping 14 bales/acre. That's with fertilizer. Need moisture. Yesterday we got a total of .25 at 3 different timeframes followed by sun. Hard to say how much actually stayed.

 

[EddieWalker]

How many hours a day are you sitting on a tractor to do that much land? I'm in a cab with an air seat, bushogging my land, and 4 hours is the most I can handle. Then I'm half crippled trying to get out of the tractor and walk back to the house. 2-3 hours is about all I want to do at a time!!!

 

[LHF2019]

How many hours a day are you sitting on a tractor to do that much land? I'm in a cab with an air seat, bushogging my land, and 4 hours is the most I can handle. Then I'm half crippled trying to get out of the tractor and walk back to the house. 2-3 hours is about all I want to do at a time!!!

Friday went like this. Last minute decision to mow. At field mowing by 7am. 930am uncle takes over, go to barn load hay for customer. Swap implements on tractor head back to field. Start raking. Sit on raking tractor from 1030-2pm. Back to barn and get square baler hooked up. Grab a granola bar. My first food of the day. Go back to field and bale until 4pm. Finish raking field. Go back to baling. Wife shows up to bale I switch over to grapple tractor. At 730 i am backing wagons into the shed.

Thursday and Saturday not much different except add preload at UPS to my morning schedule

 

[EddieWalker]

WOW!!! That sounds like a very long, very painful day. And you did it three days in a row. I don't think I would be able to move after the first day.

 

[Hay Dude]

Over 60 acres with 3 days of baling. The 2nd cutting on our 50 acre piece went a whopping 14 bales/acre. That's with fertilizer. Need moisture. Yesterday we got a total of .25 at 3 different timeframes followed by sun. Hard to say how much actually stayed.

View attachment 3938479View attachment 3938480View attachment 3938481View attachment 3938482

Dang that’s some scant yields. That grass looks to be maybe only 18” tall.
I really hate cut/rake/bale low yield fields.
Would it help if you hung on a few more weeks, then go hammer down? Or are you running out of time?
I am going to start 2nd cutting later this week/early next week. I need about 6 weeks to do all mine, so that puts me into 1st week of October.

I’m also a little warmer in my part of PA, so you may have to start earlier in N. PA

Maybe you are trying for 3 cuttings??

 

[LHF2019]

Dang that’s some scant yields. That grass looks to be maybe only 18” tall.
I really hate cut/rake/bale low yield fields.
Would it help if you hung on a few more weeks, then go hammer down? Or are you running out of time?
I am going to start 2nd cutting later this week/early next week. I need about 6 weeks to do all mine, so that puts me into 1st week of October.

I’m also a little warmer in my part of PA, so you may have to start earlier in N. PA

Maybe you are trying for 3 cuttings??

Gets weedier the longer you wait. Also with the heat and no moisture the grasses are for most part dormant. Cutting it will stimulate it. This particular field was 45 days. It’s always a tough call when weather isn’t cooperating. And yes planning on 3rd hopefully. Obviously fertilizer didn’t do much so the 3rd should yield better IF we get moisture. No moisture no hay.

 

[LHF2019]

No not running out of time. Still long way to November lol

 

[Hay Dude]

Last year I was out until November as well. It was a very easy fall to make hay.

Do you have the little hood mounted centering/guiding device? Does it work well for mowing, too?

 

[LHF2019]

Last year I was out until November as well. It was a very easy fall to make hay.

Do you have the little hood mounted centering/guiding device? Does it work well for mowing, too?

It’s only on the tractor because not done spraying. Only used for spraying fertilizing and some tillage