Haying

[sweettractors]

Most is grass or grass/legume mix in the midwest. We have 300 acres and no alfalfa. The farmers who milk and the farmers that sell "Horse" hay, do raise Alfalfa, and it does real well in our state--Ken Sweet

Sweet Farm Equipment LLC *Over 35 Used Cultipackers-3 ft to 12 ft In Stock Today*

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="green"> Most is grass or grass/legume mix in the midwest </font>

What do you consider midwest? I thought Iowa and Illinois was the heart of the midwest and I can tell for 100% sure that there is no 78% grass and 22% alfalfa here. I know Wisconsin also has a heck of alot of alfalfa. It's almost all alfalfa and about the only thing that gets put in grass hay is waterways.

 

[ThistleKop]

Richard, probably 90% of the hay in Middle Tn. is fescue. Often has some orchard grass and a tad of clover in it. A few growers do well producing alfalfa for the horse owners.

TK

 

[HayDR]

Ken,
In 2002 KY harvested 2,362,356 acres of hay and only 310,874 acres were Alfalfa. My Souce USDA KY CROP STATS
That is just a little over 13%. Alfalfa is just not that big even in KY.

 

[RichZ]

When I first bought my farm, one of the first things I was looking forward to getting into was haying. Both my tractors are vintage, I don't have the money for new, and all of my haying equipment was pretty old too. I have an old sicklebar mower, that's so old and rusted, I have no idea who the manufacturer is. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I bought an old New Holland 273 bailer, with a kicker, two kicker wagons, and a real old JD hay rake. Surprisingly, I had very little trouble with my equipment, and would reccommend the NH 273 baler to anyone!! I was haying on about 50 acres of my and my neighbors hay fields. It was a fantastic experience, and I'm very glad that I did it. But as my wife and I get further towards our goal of being full time farmers, I found that haying was too time consuming to be worth my while. My old buddy and advisor, Cowboydoc, had warned me that this very thing would happen, and he sure was right. We are building a dairy goat herd, and establishing a goat dairy. Now my mornings and nights are spent milking, feeding, trimming hooves, etc. We are also just getting into breeding heritage breed pigs, to sell the piglets as breeders to other farms. We breed Gloucoshire Old Spot pigs, and are the only breeders of GOS pigs in New York state. Taking care of the pigs is not as time consuming as the goats, but it still takes time.

SO...as much as I enjoyed haying, I have finally found that I have no time for it!!! You will find that haying is incredibly hard and incredibly rewarding work. Thanks to advice from Cowboydoc, my hayfields are now producing pretty decent quality hay. But, now they will be used as pastures, so all the work was not for nothing!!!

Around here, I get hay for $2 per square bale, and as my accountant informed me, I can't hay fast enough to be worth my while, as my farm expands.

So...if you intend to stay a hobby farmer, or you just want to experience haying...go for it!!! It's great fun, and even greater work!!! But if you intend to be farming for profit, unless you're doing it full time, or have the money for some help, you'll find you'll be better off buying hay, or having it custom baled.

I don't regret one second of the time I put into haying, but farming is a business like any other business, and you have to figure the cheapest way to do things...and...time is money!!!!

One more piece of advice, if you do get into haying, listen to Cowboydoc!!!!

Happy haying!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Jim_C]

Thanks all for the input, sounds like I will be having it custom cut ( I think that is what you called it) Again thanks.

 

[nomad]

"custom cut" will not be enough. You will also have to take the cut hay out of the field. You will also have to have "custom rake" and "custom bale". These 3 processes were expensive here this summer and people purchased simple cutting and raking implements. These two won't cost high. Your next problem will be to find a way of taking the raked hay out of the field. Without using a baler which is an expensive machine and not necessary for your small field, how can you take the raked hay out of the field? This is a question. A simple damp rake you can build easily can solve this problem. Or, such a complete unit will do all your need (see attachment)

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

You can definetely cut, ted and rake it yourself. Then, hire out the baling.

 

[kensfarm]

Nomad.. that is an interesting piece of equipment.. I'd be interested to see some closeup photo's. Haven't seen you posting in a awhile.. hope all is well.

 

[cowboydoc]

Rich you are way to kind. I am sure glad that I could help you out. Don't worry about your hard work on the hayfields going to waste. Those fields will make for some excellent pasture now. I'm really glad to hear that everything is going so well for you. You deserve all the best.