What a Haying Season!

[Negligence]

This has been my second year doing hay, but the first doing it myself. We're in August and we still don't have a break in the weather to harvest, I can't believe this!

We managed to get 40 rounds off in early July but most have spots of mold in them, not good for our horses. I still have about 80+ acres to cut. The guy doing our round baling quit on us (too busy with other things) and we can't find anyone else, so now we're looking at buying a NH 648 ($16K) baler just to get our round bales this year. What a pain.

I hope it hasn't been as bad for everyone else... I know things in Ontario haven't been good for haying. But after a rough winter, I was hoping to get an easy summer... I guess farming is never easy!

 

[slowzuki]

We got a lot of haying done in a 3 day spell in July but it has rained ever since. Everything has headed out, the weeds are maturing nicely lol.

I've got about 80-100 rounds left to do. My squares are all in.

Fields are too wet to drive in right now.

 

[ddivinia]

We need rain bad.

I hay 100 acres on our place. I got 107 round bales (48" by 65").

No rain and no fertilizer for the 2nd cutting. I have only done the front 30 acres or so and I got 7.5 bales. Last time I got 32.5. Pretty ugly... Going to do the back pasture this weekend.

D.

 

[Rara Avis]

We got a lot of haying done in a 3 day spell in July but it has rained ever since. Everything has headed out, the weeds are maturing nicely lol.

Fields are too wet to drive in right now.

Ditto that...

 

[zzvyb6]

About 1/2 of the hay I've cut so far has had rain on it before it got baled. 1 field even had 2 separate rain sessions. Yet, each time I went out and teddered it as soon as there was dry ground to throw it on. The hay is darker and brown, but it smells great and feeds out fine. I've reduce the price of it and the customers have flocked to it. No complaints.

 

[DonWorrell]

What does a round bale sell for in Mich?

Don

 

[threeman]

dang it man. it varies here. some folks have hit it right and the second cutting has been good. majority have fertilized once and have waited for rain. in south ga we are subject to a tropical storm so this time of year i ask for rain quietly.

field here at home i had expected to get 110 or so on 15 ac. but looks more like 125 or 130. havent counted yet i have it leased. thick alicia grass.

 

[chh]

If you all are tired of that rain up north send it on south. We went from flooding this spring and too wet to get into the fields and cut for the first cutting to bone dry and so hot hay will be dry enough to bale before you finish cutting a field. Quality is a very relative term at this point.

 

[Niji]

Here in southwestern Va. we're dry and hurting. Although, I cut (aka clipped the weeds) on 15 acres day before yesterday to clean up and get what feed I could since we're feeding hay way early with the pastures all dried up. Then, half way through raking yesterday it rained just enough to mess the haymaking up. Then it quit. I should have tried that tactic weeks ago to get a shower since I'm getting about 40 square bales in a field where I made 900 first cutting.

First cutting, by the way, I can not complain about. I have neighbors that didn't get a single bale put up that didn't get rained on, and I didn't catch rain on any of my 1250 square bales and had just perfect conditions for it, but 50 round bales got wet, but dried out fairly decent.

The up side is that my junkyard Ford 532 square baler I got recently for 400 bucks (I replaced 1 little flat spring in the knotters from an old NH in the weeds around up the road at a friend's) makes a great bale and hasn't missed a knot yet. It is awfully blue, though.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

So FAR.....(knock on wood)......Hayin' has been about "average" here in this part of Kentucky.

Last season was nothing short of a disaster. Wet early, then a late cold snap. That was followed by record heat and record DRY. Hay was in short supply. People were baling anything that they could wrap a string around. By early winter, hay just wasn't available at ANY price. Same basic story as a large part of the US.

This year started off a little wet. That got a decent crop standing, but as usual, it stayed wet just a bit too long. Once we started getting decent dry weather to mow, things got rolling. Decent first cuttings, probably 80% to 90% of normal. Since, we've had just "enough" rain, but not as much as we'd like. 2nd cuttings were normal to SLIGHTLY below average, but WAY better than last year. We've had a few decent rains in the last 10 days. I'm looking at 3rd cutting in 2/3 weeks. A normal fall, and there might be a fair 4th cutting. From what I'm hearing locally, hay inventories are almost back to where they should be. Fuel, fertilizer, and labor cost is so that prices aren't likely to drop from last years "panic buying prices", so, as someone who sells ALL of my hay crop, this is going to be an average year for my bottom line. I can't complain over-all.

 

[farmerjim]

up here in southern new england we pretty much got done w/ 1st cut in about a 3 day stretch in july, although we were able to get 2 fields in in late june. then its rained almost every week since. still seeing some people just finishing their 1st cut. and others who were fortunate to get some in late june are starting on 2nd cut. should be starting 2nd cut in a week or so.

 

[Blksim]

Here in southwestern Va. we're dry and hurting. Although, I cut (aka clipped the weeds) on 15 acres day before yesterday to clean up and get what feed I could since we're feeding hay way early with the pastures all dried up. Then, half way through raking yesterday it rained just enough to mess the haymaking up. Then it quit. I should have tried that tactic weeks ago to get a shower since I'm getting about 40 square bales in a field where I made 900 first cutting.

First cutting, by the way, I can not complain about. I have neighbors that didn't get a single bale put up that didn't get rained on, and I didn't catch rain on any of my 1250 square bales and had just perfect conditions for it, but 50 round bales got wet, but dried out fairly decent.

The up side is that my junkyard Ford 532 square baler I got recently for 400 bucks (I replaced 1 little flat spring in the knotters from an old NH in the weeds around up the road at a friend's) makes a great bale and hasn't missed a knot yet. It is awfully blue, though.

Weather man, for what it's worth, says you guys may get some rain today. We only got one cutting last year. This year's 1st cutting ran about 80%. Won't cut anymore. Cost too much for what it would yield. Cows can mow it. It's really dry here. If it doesn't start raining soon I'm in trouble.

 

[mark.r]

In Northern VA, we've had pretty decent rain up until the last 3 weeks or so. Now it is getting to be dry like last year and all I here in the forecast now is "possibility of rain" . Back during memorial day when people first started cutting up this way ANY chance of rain meant we got dumped on.

I will say that I have noticed that there were a lot of fields that were setting idle . . . . until now. These were fields are not farmed and do not have any livestock on them. These are just pastures of various acreage that someone owns that based on location I am assume is being held on to until the county allows them to be developed into more condos and homes. So essential you have all this former farm land that is just there for lack of a better description. Well up until about 3 weeks ago no one was touching it. The grass was WAY past its optimal harvesting for nutritional value. I was all now just a "sea of brown". I assumed that all the hay harvesters and local farmers hadn't been able to locate the owners/investors to get permission to cut it. From what I can tell in my area, these people are not charging any thing and are just saying "have at it" . . . . if you can locate the owner from a neighbor or maybe through tax records. At any rate, over the last couple of weeks I started noticing these fields being cut. One in particular, which I always wanted to own the sets just off the highway looks to be about 100+ acres wasn't hay'd last year and was just mowed. Well on my way home from the gym this morning I could just barely make out the top of a JD cab over the hill. I assuming someone is cutting it for cow hay since that would be the only thing you could feed it too. I am also assuming that with the drastic change in the weather people are now scrambling to cut whatever they can find.

 

[ryanbr]

brutal up here in Manitoba too, still working on first cut. Too much rain. Got about 240 acres down at the moment and about another 40 still standing and it rained yesterday again.

 

[AaronP]

Up here in W.NY. We've had way too much rain. The fields are soaked. We usually get 3 cuts on out 60 hays acres and about 130 1200Lbs. rolls a cut. We were only able to hay once this year and had no time to let them dry. We cut raked and rolled until 3 or 4 a.m. It rained just as soon as we finished. The amount of rain we have gotten has stunted the corn growth as well...I guess you can get to much of a good thing. Who ever said there was such thing as a regular season when farming...?

 

[mark.r]

Up here in W.NY. We've had way too much rain. The fields are soaked. We usually get 3 cuts on out 60 hays acres and about 130 1200Lbs. rolls a cut. We were only able to hay once this year and had no time to let them dry. We cut raked and rolled until 3 or 4 a.m. It rained just as soon as we finished. The amount of rain we have gotten has stunted the corn growth as well...I guess you can get to much of a good thing. Who ever said there was such thing as a regular season when farming...?

Wow. It is so dry down here I am water my three back paddocks just to keep the grass alive. Not much I can do for my large pasture other than rotate horses from side to side and hope for rain.

 

[zionview]

Here in Central PA, we haven't had measurable rain in months. Alfalfa is going to blossom in three weeks after cutting, corn rolls up by 10:30 in the morning, guys are respraying soybeans. The only good thing is small grain harvest went off without a hitch. Maybe one of these hurricanes will push some moisture our way. Hay is going to be high-priced again this winter. Even straw is bringing $3-4/small square bale.

 

[mark.r]

Hay is going to be high-priced again this winter. Even straw is bringing $3-4/small square bale.

Some of the stuff I seem them rolling up down here is down right ugly. Normally I would see it used as bedding but it looks like it is going to pass for hay this year.

 

[zionview]

It's so dry here, I saw a fire hydrant chasing a dog.

 

[AKfish]

We're really wet here this year! Hay prices have jumped to $9 for a small square bale cause alot of this season's crop is mold damaged or worse.

Still uncertain how/where I'm gonna find enough good hay to get my horses thru the winter..

AKfish