How agriculture works thread

[Hay Dude]

Around here wheat straw is baled in rounds and then fed into a hammer mill-grinder and mixed with feed and fed to cattle. One of the guys down the road does nothing but round bale wheat straw he buys off combined land and sells it to cattle diary farmers to grind into feed.

We will leave Hay Dude to supply the grass hay to mushroom dirt thing. Wheat straw, preferably rained on makes good bedding too. The rain washes off the wax coating and allows it to be more absorbent.

It’s not just left to me. It’s an entire industry. It covers the mid Atlantic states from New York to Virginia. Your ignorance on what mulch hay is and why it exists astounding, but not surprising. The biggest growers in the mid atlantic are all involved.

The best part allows any rained on hay to be sold at a lower cost ($120/ton), instead of trying to pass it off as good feed hay, 5030/ sidecarflip.

 

[5030]

Normal procedure is, if you don't bale it, tou combine chop it and let it lay in the fields and allow it to compost back in to provide some nutrient value.

On a side note, new crop corn here is below $5.00 a bushel presently. There is no way with current fuel and input cost that any grower will break even (without government welfare, aka: farm bill). Beans aren't much better at 8 bucks, new crop.

 

[ovrszd]

Normal procedure is, if you don't bale it, tou combine chop it and let it lay in the fields and allow it to compost back in to provide some nutrient value.

On a side note, new crop corn here is below $5.00 a bushel presently. There is no way with current fuel and input cost that any grower will break even (without government welfare, aka: farm bill). Beans aren't much better at 8 bucks, new crop.

Here, if they don't want the straw they combine the wheat as high as they can. If they want the straw they combine low and windrow the combine ouput.

Definitely a manipulated grain market.

Last year at this time my friends had contracted their grain for this year at $5.85 for corn. Early last Spring they were wondering if they made the right choice. They feel better about it today.

 

[5030]

Here, if they don't want the straw they combine the wheat as high as they can. If they want the straw they combine low and windrow the combine ouput.

Definitely a manipulated grain market.

Last year at this time my friends had contracted their grain for this year at $5.85 for corn. Early last Spring they were wondering if they made the right choice. They feel better about it today.

I don't know. With input costs so high, not sure if $5.85 will cut the mustard, especially around here as we seem to be having a pest infestation in the corn and the beans.

It is 100% manipulated but not by the growers but by the corporations like the Andersens for instance. Produces are always on the back end of the train.

 

[5030]

Harvesting wheat (? they call is cereal) in Suffolk, England with large Claas combines. Might be 40 or 50ft heads they are using.

Wheat barley and oats are are all classified as cereal grains.

 

[5030]

Wheat field fire in Montcalm County, Michigan just a few days ago caught on a drone cam.

They did exactly what they needed to do, chisel plow a fire break in front of the advancing burn. In reality a roasted stubble field saves the farmer some tillage work. It's dry down here in SE Michigan too. Strange year this year.

 

[5030]

I noticed that at a dairy a few years back. I remember at home on the farm Dad didn't really like saving wheat straw because it wasn't very nice. He much preferred oats or barley straw.

Wheat straw that hasn't been rained on has a waxy coating on it that makes it not very good bedding material because it won't absorb any urine to amount to anything. Good wheat straw is straw that got rained on and dried before bailing. Easy to tell the difference too. Virgin straw will be 'bright' whereas rained on will be dull. I plant potatoes in rained on square bales of straw. Makes excellent medium for spuds to develop in. Easy to harvest too. Cut the twine, separate the flakes and out come the spuds. No weed issues and no digging plus the bales become mulch for the garden for next season.

 

[ovrszd]

I don't know. With input costs so high, not sure if $5.85 will cut the mustard, especially around here as we seem to be having a pest infestation in the corn and the beans.

It is 100% manipulated but not by the growers but by the corporations like the Andersens for instance. Produces are always on the back end of the train.

They bought their input products before the price increases, including diesel fuel.

Definitely not manipulated by growers. Traders should be required to take delivery. That simple requirement would stabilize market prices and help growers.

 

[Jstpssng]

They bought their input products before the price increases, including diesel fuel.

Definitely not manipulated by growers. Traders should be required to take delivery. That simple requirement would stabilize market prices and help growers.

Even I understand THIS comment.

 

[ArlyA]

A couple of pics from a family members farm in central SD. The combines with the same headers would be theirs but the remainder would be contract. This is winter wheat they are doing.