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Yee - haw, a great hay harvest!

Started by scsmith42, April 29, 2009, 07:43:46 AM

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scsmith42

About two and a half years ago I acquired an 7ish acre piece of land that had been a rental farm field for many years.  The soil was of very poor quality, the first years hay harvest (ryegrass) was around 15 bales per acre.

As an experiment, I tilled 40 semi-loads of agricultural compost into the field, putting about an inch of compost out and then disking it, and repeating the process several times to make sure that I had a good blend.  Crop planted was a mixture of fescue and rye.

Production skyrocketed!  Last spring the yield was equivalent to 130 bales per acre, but I lost the entire crop because I couldn't get it to dry after cutting (plus the weather forcast changed after I cut and it got rained on 3 times).  I finally had to rake and bale it just to get it off of the field so it wouldn't kill the underlying grass.  I still lost around 40% of my grass though and had to reseed it.

This year I cut a full month earlier than normal (mid-April instead of mid May) so that I wouldn't have so much hay as to not be able to work it, and by leaving it lay for a couple of days before tedding the hay was manageable.  Yesterday we baled; yield was 100 bales per acre (which is unheard of around here).

This is that harvest that makes the previous 6 years of harvest frustration worthwhile.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Ks.Farmer

  All you need now are a few cattle or some sheep and let them mow it off.

Norm

After reading that you just got a Belgian you'll need every bit of that hay. :D

rbhunter

That is just the first cutting. That would be just over 700 bales. I think he needs another Belgian.
"Said the robin to the sparrow, I wonder why it must be, these anxious human beings rush around and worry so?"
"Said the sparrow to the robin, Friend I think it must be, they have no heavenly father, such as cares for you and me."
author unknown. Used to hang above parents fireplace.

isawlogs


He has a first cut done, grass here is just barely turning hreen let alone trying to think of a harvess.  Working the ground and putting into it always has good dividends. I am in the process of reclaiming some fields from brush ,we should be able to plow some of it some time this month .

 
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

chevytaHOE5674

We still have some snow in half of the fields round here. I'm jealous that your already cutting hay. We get one cut a year and thats it.

ksu_chainsaw

Our hay season won't start until at least another month.  If we get enough rain, we might get a second cutting of the brome.  We have been spreading the scrapings out of the cattle lot up until about 2 weeks ago over the smaller hay fields, and that's after the LIGHT application of the fertilizer this year- Nitrogen has still not gone down in price yet.

Charles

Restoman

40 loads of compost!! what was the cost of that? Square bales of hay, right? 

Corley5

Still six or seven weeks til haying season for me  :)
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

scsmith42

Quote from: Restoman on April 29, 2009, 05:00:41 PM
40 loads of compost!! what was the cost of that? Square bales of hay, right? 

This is the best part!  Two years ago we were in a drought, and a local compost plant (2 miles from my farm) ran into an overstock situation because farmers weren't buying the agricultural grade of compost (didn't want to put it out and risk burning their fields).

They brought me 250 tractor trailer loads, FOR FREE - just to make room in their yard for more inventory!  I still have 200 loads stockpiled for future land clearing and pasture creation (and existing pasture rework).

Yup, square bales.  I also bale round ones, with my Gehl baler I usually average around 17 square bales per round bale (700 lb 4 x 4 bales).  I'd prefer to sell round bales, but the local equine market demands square bales.

And NO MORE HORSES - we don't need any more hay burners!  It took me three years to get the Doc down to 4 (from 8), and now we're back up to 5...

KS - the problem with acquiring a cow or two is that everything on the farm gets named by the Doc, and once it has a name... you can't eat it!    I think that I'll stick with selling the hay and turning the proceeds into steaks.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Handy Andy

  I used to have the same trouble, only it was my daughter.  We used to raise baby calves, and bought a heifer one time, and Amy named it Daisy.  Well, it turned out to be a sterile heifer, didn't breed, and was big and fat, so I wanted to butcher it.  Well, I did, and Amy wouldn't eat it. 
My name's Jim, I like wood.

Dodgy Loner

Good to hear of your success!  My grandad was talking about what a great hay harvest he had this week as well.  In his words "Just the way I like it--it was growing on Saturday, and on Wednesday, it's all sold."  He had a buyer come by who wanted to buy every single bale on the day he was baling the hay.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Captain

Congrats Scott,  sounds like the recipe worked.

Captain

OneWithWood

gotta love it when a plan comes together  8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Fla._Deadheader


Scott, do you crimp and windrow the hay as you cut it ???
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Restoman

This is a very interesting topic. Thank you for elaborating on it.  Round bales sell here for around $15 picked up.  My wife and I figured (city people) $3 for a square bale.  It's funny, in a town of 250K  land in the middle of town that is not developed sells for 1.2 million per acre and they grow hay.  It used to be cotton and it looked so nice. 

scsmith42

Harold, I have a Fella disc mower / conditioner.  It uses a flail system to wipe the wax off of the stems (as well as crimping them somewhat), as opposed to the roll style conditioner.  The local farm equipment dealer told me at the flail conditioner was better for fescue and rye.

Restoman, fortunately for me our local prices went up significantly after the increased fuel prices last year (as well as drought the previous year).  Horse quality fescue square bales typically sell in the $5.00 range, and round bales from $50.00 on up.

Not that long ago you could buy square bales locally for $2.50 - 3.00 each, and round bales for $25.00 - 30.00, but those prices are simply not realistic considering today's nitrogen, fertilizer, labor, fuel and property tax costs.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Rooster

My daughter also named all the animals when she was about 8 yrs old.  And at that time I was thinking about getting a bull calf and raising it as a steer (for meat).   But knowing that she would name it, and get attached to it, I first asked her how she fealt about the idea.  She sort of frowned, so I suggested that we get 2 steers.  She could only name one as a pet, but the other one we would butcher.   She thought for a moment, and came back with, (and I quote)...

"Sure Dad,...we can get 2.  This way we can have one for fun...and one for on a bun!!"

And this from an 8 yr. old!!!

We never did get the steers.  But when I get my team of oxen, their names will be Fun & Bun!!

Rooster
"We talk about creating millions of "shovel ready" jobs, for a society that doesn't really encourage anybody to pick up a shovel." 
Mike Rowe

"Old barns are a reminder of when I was young,
       and new barns are a reminder that I am not so young."
                          Rooster

Fla._Deadheader


Scott
When I had my custom Hay Business, in Arkansas, I used a Hesston Mower Conditioner. It had the steel ribbed-and rubber rollers. I could cut in the morning, and leave the windrows through the next day, and bale in the afternoon on the 3rd day.

Saved a LOT of rained on hay, by NOT rolling the windrows, until 2 hours before I was ready to bale.

  The windrows naturally build heat, and the warm air rises out of the windrows and draws fresh air through the windrows. I built a 2 wheel rake and put it on the front of the Tractor, and rolled 1 windrow into the other, if the rows were a little light.

  Put up many thousands of bales, both square and round.  Had to really talk the farmers into trying the windrow method. Flat hay does not allow the air to move through the hay, and Fescue will turn brown if it is really heavy.
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

scsmith42

Harold, thanks for the advice.  One problem that I have with the new field is that the windrowed hay is so thick, typically 12" - 16" after mowing in a 4' wide windrow.  I have to cut a month early, or the cut hay is so thick that it will ball up underneath my tractor or the mower dolly.  Even cutting a month early sometimes it will ball up in the thicker portions of the field.

This most recent harvest I left the hay in windrows for the first two days after cutting, and then tedded.  When I tedded the hay on the bottom of the windrow was still very fresh, my problem last year was that the thickness of the hay on top did not let the hay on bottom dry, and it started to mold (as well as killing my grass due to the heat).

This year I learned that it's best to leave the hay in the windrow for a couple of days before tedding, otherwise it's so thick that it comes off of the tedder in bunches.  When I raked after tedding, the hay seemed to finish off rather quickly.

I wonder if I could reduce the drying time by only leaving it lay a day after tedding and before raking?  My rake is the finger type, which pulls from both sides to make the windrow, but the hay on the bottom in the middle of the windrow is not turned, thus I probably need to ted no matter what.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Fla._Deadheader


Scott, I once mowed and baled a piece that produced 200 bales of ORCHARD grass. Yup, surprised me too.

  Had to roll the windrows and wait till the next day to bale it.

  I windrowed right out of the cutter. Then, you have bare ground to work on, even turning windrows. If it gets TOO much growth, cut it earlier and more often. Hard to kill Fescue by cutting it.

  Of course, it all depends on the weather.

  Only rake I owned was the 2 wheel ground driven spoke type.

  I've seen those tedders, just never liked them. I figured the less hay exposed to the sun, the better looking-quality of hay.

  Just my views on haying in Arkansas.  ;D ;D ;D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

scsmith42

Harold, thanks for the advice.  Nice to hear it from someone that's "been there - done that".  200 bales per acre of Orchard Grass is an incredible harvest - at least by our local standards!  Your windrows must have been 2' tall, or taller!   How did you keep it from clumping up underneath your drawbar?  I've been tempted to hang a sheet of roofing tin underneath the back of my tractor to help the hay slide under it... but I still have the drying problems associated with the thick hay.

I'll have to check into one of those Heston crimpers.

I had one of the older ground driven rakes, but traded it to someone when I bought the disc rake.  Fortunatly I have "borrow" rights, I might have to go back to it!  Come to think of it the ground driven rake also leaves one portion unturned (the part that the raked hay lands on).

The nice thing about the disc rake is the speed, but the drawback is that the hay in the middle of the path does not get turned over. 

You make a good point about the wind needing to get under the hay to dry it, and when it's solid on the field only the top portion dries.

One option for me may be to leave it windrowed out of the mower, and then rake it a day or two later to turn the windrow, and rake it a couple of feet to the side one more time to flip over the hay on the bottom before baling.  I might experiment a little with this; I can still use the large rake and do it faster. 

One other challenge that we have locally is the humidity; it's much higher here than in Arkansaw.  I've actually had hay increase in moisture content by 4 - 5 points in the field from one day to the next due to an increase in relative humidity.  It's often in the 70% - 80% RH range when I mow.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

isawlogs


  I have seen pulling two rakes at once to get that portion that sits on the ground up and turned ....  Had a ground driven rake turning the winrow that the big rake made .
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

fishpharmer

SC great to hear you had a good harvest.  Cool hearing about how folks do things in other places.

SC you ever us a tedder something like this youtube if it works.  It will take a day off of drying time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9MdTFmOGYo
Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Fla._Deadheader


QuoteOne option for me may be to leave it windrowed out of the mower, and then rake it a day or two later to turn the windrow, and rake it a couple of feet to the side one more time to flip over the hay on the bottom before baling.  I might experiment a little with this; I can still use the large rake and do it faster.

  Scott, this is exactly what I was trying to describe.  ::) ::)  This way, it doesn't get under the tractor as bad. Biggest problem I ever had , was, getting the cut up close to the fence of ditches. Then the hay might ball up a bit from change of direction. ???

  I know I speak foreign languages.  ::) ::) :D :D :D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

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