Has anyone made any Hay yet this year

carole · Post by **carole** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:25 pm

We are in East Cornwall and cannot seem to string together 3 or even 2 days of dry weather, as a result our 36 acres of grass still lies in the field, our newly reseeded ground, in only its 2nd year has the ryegrass buried beneath the clover and looks to the passer by like a field of clover.

The grass fields we shut up now have really heavy crops in them but I dont think I will get on them without causing a lot of damage as the land is so soft. Worst of all I fear that if the rain does not end soon it wont be worth the cost of baling anyway.

I am so frustrated that I may well cut anyway in less than ideal conditions just to get some round bales in, what are you all doing out there, sitting frustrated by the weather or taking a chance??

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 7:06 am

We've wrapped all ours between the rain. The grass is so dry now that we have been able to just mow with one tractor and another following straight behind with the baler-wrapper. No turning, no waiting. The feed value will be on the low side.

One field with masses of clover had to be spread,turned, wilted for 2 days before being baled/wrapped. the bales are slightly sloppy and won't stack because of the clover but it should be good stuff.

We're now just about to mow/bale/wrap our set-aside because I have been told that DEFRA have now allowed people to do this. We are just leaving out 6m borders in tact.

Looking at the forecast it appears the same till end of July !!!

Hay? No chance this year at all unless we do some Sept stuff if the later weather turns hot.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:53 am

Using 'snatch and grab' we did manage to get 2 fields cut last weekend. A day and a half without rain and with strong winds enabled us to make what I hope will be haylage - wrapped in big bales of course. Another half day and we might have got hay but that wasn't to be. We have 2 more fields to cut but after yesterday's torrential rain all day the ground will have to dry out again. I haven't seen a situation before where taking the bales out of the field cut up the gateway. Or where we've had to think about wet ground as well as how many dry days are expected. Anyone care to guess what the price of hay will be this year?

stew · Post by **stew** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:10 am

no hay cut yet im near york have about 50 acre to cut

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:06 am

We have done none of 28 acres yet, hay looks impossible so wrappings seems to be the order of the day for any sort of decent value fodder.
Problem is the wrapper contractors are so busy.
Clive, did you litterally wrap as you cut, the moisture content would be very high, sh.t all around this winter then!
Mark

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:36 am

Yes Mark, the baler-wrapper (one machine) follows straight behind the mower. Obviously, the mower goes far more quickly so a gap naturally develops and by the end of the day there's a half day gap. The grass is dry when we do it and totally void of clover. I would not do what we do if there was any amount of clover. It's also a stemmy, dry grass as well (not leafy). It makes very good haylage when we bale it when it is virtually totally dry. This particular field we are doing we seeded especially with this grass so that we can do a quick job when we need to. Even if it were damp with water, but the matter itself was dry, if we had to we would still bale and wrap.

Rob R · Post by **Rob R** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:24 pm

Right, I've stopped laughing so I can reply now :D

The grazing fields are looking flat & much of it's getting trampled due to the ridiculous weather. The hay fields are still standing but until the standing water goes there's no chance. We've probably got enough fodder as it is, with some 'hay' that had to be wrapped last year because of crazy weather. We're feeling fortunate not to have had the Ings land rented this year- bet the person who took it on is cursing, it's under five feet of water now! :D

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:22 pm

Hay???

I've been lucky to mow the lawn!

Stephanie

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:15 pm

Just cut 7 acres , nice wind, sunny periods,no clover, going underfoot soft but not muddy or boggy, grass wet when cut and still quite green.... will bale and wrap it tommorrow giving it 24hrs to wilt.
Mark

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:41 pm

I think we had all better mark the bales and report back around the end of the year as to what comes out of them. Should be interesting.

Rob R · Post by **Rob R** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:50 pm

Mark Bowles wrote:Just cut 7 acres , nice wind, sunny periods,no clover, going underfoot soft but not muddy or boggy, grass wet when cut and still quite green.... will bale and wrap it tommorrow giving it 24hrs to wilt.
Mark

Forecast must be better where you are- we've got a 'severe weather warning' for tomorrow.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:00 am

There is a severe weather warning for the whole of the UK for today (Sunday) and tomorrow.

I can't believe it, I'm getting my barns ready to bring in the whole herd and maybe the sheep as well...in the middle of July!!!!! And we are apparently the second driest county in England.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:25 am

It is after 11am and still a wonderful sunny day with mostly blue sky here today, though there was a bit of very localised low mist early this morning, almost like fairyland.

We have had a wonderful summer here and made lots of very good hay.

Sorry, disregard the last paragraph, my hand slipped. I rely on buying in hay from Stirlingshire and as far as I know none has been cut yet. Early cuts of silage for dairy herds here will have been good, but the weather since beginning of June has been poor with hardly two dry days in a row. Nothing like the flooding that some areas have suffered, but a poor summer. Quite a number of Friesian/holstein type dairy cows are showing the strain, with things like acetonaemia and displaced abomasum showing up almost as often as they do in late winter, and it is more difficult to see cows in season or get them in calf.

I would happily switch to feeding my cattle silage from big bales but the handling is a serious problem as I have no tractor to lift big bales around, and it does make sheds a lot more difficult to bed. My late father used "Mowbags" in the arly 1970's when wet weather prevented making hay till August. We had to put special wedges into the small baler, and tighten up the bale chamber as tight as possible, and baled grass after a day or so wilting. Then each small bale went into a bag and we double wire tied them. It made really good feeding, but the snag was that even a single peck from a bird damaged the bag and the whole bale was bad. But at least they could be handled without loaders etc.

Duncan

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:05 pm

Slightly off subject, but you know I have been talking about crossing my Dexters. Well I have decided that I am going to. So I am in the market now for a new bull...I want a nice Water Buffalo (non-short).

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:36 pm

Clive, is that polled or horned?

Duncan