Haying 2013

[Carl Russell]

I would not classify this area as lucky…. I am just pushing the envelope….. Rain did not hold off this afternoon… at least it will be well rinsed hay… if it ever dries….

Carl

[near horse]

Wow -hearing your weather woes I sure feel like a pussy! “It’s too hot and dry to make hay. Boo hoo.” I can’t even imagine hot and foggy? Our dew points are rarely above 50F.

You guys are an inspiration for me when I have hay issues and I tell others around here about how in the f*** you all put up hay that quickly and with that much rain in the summer.

Best to you all. BTW – hay crop in my local area (non-irrigated, one cutting) is really pinched this year so there might be a bit of a scramble.

[near horse]

Anyone ever salt their hay? Some guys who put it up a little too green will salt between layers in the barn. The stuff I saw looked god but it felt strange. It was limp like wilted grass but w/o the moisture. Not stiff like dried hay.

[Does’ Leap]

I have salted hay between bales in the past when it was on the green side. I am not sure it helps though.

Carl, how is the hay?

George

[Carl Russell]

Well rinsed…. Just got in from tedding, and although it got pretty wet last evening, we have gone 24 hr without rain. Still had green clumps, with some bleaching, but mostly still looks good. It will all come down to whether we get wet tonight, and how the weather breaks tomorrow. I will ted and rake it tomorrow, and if all is good, bale it……. or leave it in the windrow until it dries out again….

Hanging in there, Carl

[j.l.holt]

I have salted my hay a few times when I could not get it as dri as I wanted. They seemed to eat it ok. You tend to forget all about it in the winter when your moveing snow so the next snow has a place to fall to.

[mink]

my way of thinking on the salt thing is, wet and green hay heat like hell and even it dont burn your barn down all you end up with is moldy dusty hay. like was mentioned here before you got to make hay in the field and not in the barn. i have baled some hay that would either be in a big wad or a sag in the field and get a wet or green bale , i always feed or throw it aside . about 2 days they get wicked hot if you stick your hand between the flakes. but the cows always get them never the barn.

[Michael Low]

We salted 2nd cut hay this last year for our goats. The hay was not very wet, maybe just a tiny shade off what I prefer in terms of dryness for putting it into the barn. It did the trick, the hay did not get dusty at all, overall quality was good. I will steer away from using salt in the future though for several reasons:
1) It sucks moisture from the air and near the front of the mow where we feed from it got very wet and spoiled some hay. All the salt that fell off the bales collected there.
2) Our goats did not do well on all the extra salt.

I think the most appropriate use of salt may be if you are bringing dry bales in after dark. A local farmer sais his father would bale in the afternoon and then wait for the day to cool off, collecting his hay between 9PM and 1 AM. So the hay itself was dry but had dew on it. He sais he never saw a dusty bale with this technique.

Salt definitely works, though I would not expect it to work miracles on wet hay and would use it judiciously to avoid over salting livestock.

[Carl Russell]

Just not quite enough sun to really get it dry….. I raked it into windrows this evening, but the air was so humid, and there were still too many green patches that I just couldn’t pull the trigger with thunder boomers all around…. too stressful, I’d be baling in the rain until 9pm, and then I’d still have to put wet bales in the barn…… gonna get rained on for the next few days, but it should keep a bit better rolled up.

Shit happens, Carl

But we are going on nearly 50 hours without rain…. not much sun either though, but thunder all around right now..

[near horse]

Sometimes it’s the other non-weather “shit” that can mess things up. Friday all as mowing well until I broke a pitman stick. No biggie as I’ve got a few BUT I was shy a few of the 8 bolts used on the pitman so rushed to town and got some by 8PM. Installed Sat AM and promptly broke one of the 3 carriage bolts used on the flywheel bearing (from MacNairs) and I was going to drop in one of my new sharp knives to finish the field. So I had to drive to town and get said bolts plus some higher clearance clips since my hew knife has bolts. By the time I arrived home it was Sat PM and when I went to look in the bag for the bolts, they were not there. No sign on the receipt so they’re still on the checkout counter some where. Too late to go to town again so I wait until Sun AM to make another trip then after adding one of my knifeheads to the new knife and trying to install it, it becomes obvious that these heads are “close” to mine but not the same and will not work. Pull the knife and the new clips, replace my old knife after a quick sharpening with my grinder ….. Get harnessed and hooked by 2PM and finally get to finish (about 4-5 acres)

[Does’ Leap]

Carl, sorry the weather hasn’t cooperated.

Geoff, I have had numerous hardware shortfalls like the one you are describing….very frustrating and time consuming. The nearest hardware store is 10 miles from me. Two years ago I spent $350 on a bolt and nut assortment, drawers and all. It has been one of the best investments I have ever made.

Happy mowing. We are still waiting on the weather.

George

[mitchmaine]

we seem to be socked in under the jet stream, bringing our weather up from the gulf, instead of central Canada. don’t think we have it as bad as you folk in Vermont by the sound, but its been rain or chance of showers for two weeks now. and hot and humid half of that.
we had a run of this a few years ago where we made hay twice in july and had to make what we could in august of not very pretty hay. I have finally made it down to, and am feeding out that very hay. it don’t look too good, but the horses eat a bale each every day, along with pulling grass each night. thought I was finally getting rid of that hay, and now it looks like i’m going to replace it with the same stuff. darn.

[near horse]

Hey Mitch.

Sorry to hear you’re also in the rainy pattern. I agree about the nut/bolt assortment just haven’t gotten around to replacing the some stuff from the fire and bolts/storage are just one of the “projects”. It’s 26 miles (one way) to the closest town with any hardware and 40 to one that would carry hay hardware (sections, rake teeth etc). Those trips just kill your day.

But just to add insult —- I woke around 4 this AM to the sound of thunder. We started the day with a nice T-storm. Remember the saying “rain follows the plow”? Modern version is “rain follows Geoff’s hay being down”.

[mink]

the noon weather shows parts of new york, vermont and new hampshire and a slice of maine in flood watch again today. i think the good lord wants some skinnier horses in the north east.

[Livewater Farm]

been very hard to make good dairy quality feed this season making balage has been a real challenge also never mind the weather when we do get a small
window we either can not get on a field or end up spending more time stuck than making hay

Bill

[Author]

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