I started getting the equipment ready for the hay season about a week ago. On Thursday I mowed a small pasture that the grass got ahead of the cows. Usually we just trim it with the sickle mower but this was enough to actually make a few bales out of. Our ground is still really wet but by tedding a couple of times and being light hay, I was able to get 8 small square bales off the small field. This also gives the equipment a good test run.
Hay Season 2024
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cjet69
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88 Dodge Snowfiter, 93 Dodge diesel, 02 Durango, 01 Electra, 02 Sportster, 2000 Dodge diesel 5 speed
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Yep cow farming is a 24/7 365 job. I don't miss that part for sure.
Farm #1 had 60 head of milk cows on 100 acres 8 miles from the farm I grew up on.
Farm #2 I lived on, was the heffer farm.
Farm #3 was the pre milking farm or for sale cows farm with a chicken house.
I worked both #2 and #3 farms as well as the 60 acres we rented to grow corn on between #2 and #3 farms. #2 and #3 were only 1.5 miles apart.
We grew a lot of alfalfa and corn. We had a couple fields of Timothy hay.
Farm #1 had 60 head of milk cows on 100 acres 8 miles from the farm I grew up on.
Farm #2 I lived on, was the heffer farm.
Farm #3 was the pre milking farm or for sale cows farm with a chicken house.
I worked both #2 and #3 farms as well as the 60 acres we rented to grow corn on between #2 and #3 farms. #2 and #3 were only 1.5 miles apart.
We grew a lot of alfalfa and corn. We had a couple fields of Timothy hay.
We normally cut 3 times except for last years drought, only got one small cut and had to buy 300 round bales for the first time ever.
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Buying hay can get expensive. But what choices do you have. Sell the herd or buy hay.
That's why I let the next door neighbor pasture some of my yard. It gets part of their cows through the summer.
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We only get one cutting so I was done on July 24th.Is everyone done for the year?
88 Dodge Snowfiter, 93 Dodge diesel, 02 Durango, 01 Electra, 02 Sportster, 2000 Dodge diesel 5 speed
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One cutting doesn't seem right. Heck around here we can get 3 cuttings some years.
I hated hay time! but I remember doing it once with the alfalfa (we would replant something else after the alfalfa) , and 3 times with the hay/Timothy grass.
I hated hay time! but I remember doing it once with the alfalfa (we would replant something else after the alfalfa) , and 3 times with the hay/Timothy grass.
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We did a rotation of oats, alfalfa three years, pasture two years, one of beans and then corn.
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We pasture most of the fields after we mow the hay. The ones we don't pasture still don't grow enough to make it worth cutting a second time. We would need to fertilize and irrigate to get a second cutting and that would cost way to much.
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I noticed in Arizona, one cutting and it turned under.
88 Dodge Snowfiter, 93 Dodge diesel, 02 Durango, 01 Electra, 02 Sportster, 2000 Dodge diesel 5 speed
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Well they don't call PA the farm state for nothing. We really do have a long growing season and great dirt here. The little 1.5 acre patch across the street is almost ready for it's 3rd cutting.
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The dairy farmers east of me have a sandy loam soil that's part of the flood plain for the river that runs through it. They load the manure on and irrigate and get 3/4/5 cuttings a year. We have clay soil It holds the water in but also makes it so we can't get on the fields early. Then once things dry out the grass really slows or goes dormant until the fall rains return.
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Drained northern Iowa swamp land seams to do well also on the fertility list.
88 Dodge Snowfiter, 93 Dodge diesel, 02 Durango, 01 Electra, 02 Sportster, 2000 Dodge diesel 5 speed
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Farmer cut and BIG square bailed the lot across the street. 3rd cutting and got 10 large bails. I'd love to throw a fence around that lot and raise a pair of cows.
Drought is definitely affecting hay and other crops here locally. I got 19.5 500+ lb. round bales off my first cutting. Fertilized a day after baling as they were calling for 80% chance of rain w/3/4" - 1" expected. Barely got 2/10's and has been hit & miss all Summer. Didn't even get enough rain to set the fertilizer. Just made second cutting last week, and it had a lot of Foxtail in it. Ended up with 5.5 bales.
Hay was a little damp in the morning so tedded it up to dry for an hour. Raked, then gave it another hour to dry. Humidity was down to 24%, and in areas where it was mostly Fescue grass it was so dry, the pickup fingers shattered it into 3"-4" pieces. I plugged the baler 2X.
Good thing I get enough off of first cutting to get the kids through the winter. Still have 80% of last year's second cutting. I gave this year's second cutting to a buddy for his goats, as his paddock is bare dirt. I just wanted this grass with Foxtail in it off the field. I more than likely shattered seed out of the Foxtail, but hopefully will cut before going to seed next year, or at least not as bad.
May not have to worry too much about fertilizer next year, as we didn't get enough rain to really set it in. I only put on P&K I sowed Renovation Clover on a couple years ago for a source of N. Too many times of spreading Urea, and again the weather service prediction of a good rain missed us to set it in before evaporating into the air.
The Renovation Clover (name brand) has done a very good job of providing N. It's not cheap, but a lot cheaper than N going into the air. Sowing rate is suggested at 1 lb. per acre so it goes a long way. The seed dealer warned me that if applied at a heavier rate, like 2 lb. per acre it can become invasive. I put 5 lb. on 4 acres and it's doing a great job.
I used the "Frost Seeding" method to sow it on and worked great.
Hay was a little damp in the morning so tedded it up to dry for an hour. Raked, then gave it another hour to dry. Humidity was down to 24%, and in areas where it was mostly Fescue grass it was so dry, the pickup fingers shattered it into 3"-4" pieces. I plugged the baler 2X.
Good thing I get enough off of first cutting to get the kids through the winter. Still have 80% of last year's second cutting. I gave this year's second cutting to a buddy for his goats, as his paddock is bare dirt. I just wanted this grass with Foxtail in it off the field. I more than likely shattered seed out of the Foxtail, but hopefully will cut before going to seed next year, or at least not as bad.
May not have to worry too much about fertilizer next year, as we didn't get enough rain to really set it in. I only put on P&K I sowed Renovation Clover on a couple years ago for a source of N. Too many times of spreading Urea, and again the weather service prediction of a good rain missed us to set it in before evaporating into the air.
The Renovation Clover (name brand) has done a very good job of providing N. It's not cheap, but a lot cheaper than N going into the air. Sowing rate is suggested at 1 lb. per acre so it goes a long way. The seed dealer warned me that if applied at a heavier rate, like 2 lb. per acre it can become invasive. I put 5 lb. on 4 acres and it's doing a great job.
I used the "Frost Seeding" method to sow it on and worked great.
The field behind me was bailed for the third time a few weeks ago, but with this last batch of rain, and if the temps hold out, I can see getting a fourth this year.
88 Dodge Snowfiter, 93 Dodge diesel, 02 Durango, 01 Electra, 02 Sportster, 2000 Dodge diesel 5 speed
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I can see that across the street too. Another 6 weeks and there may be enough growth to cut and bail again.
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That's not going to happen here. Maybe four weeks but not six. That's the end of November. We could be knee deep in snow by then.
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