- Location
- Ceredigion
Chill Man . Most farming in this is like Smoking Dope , if you run for a bus they laugh at you . Hopefully Brexit will sort them out
Night Rows
- Thread starter steveR
- Start date
kiwi pom
Member
- Location
- canterbury NZ
And if you don’t get it until August?
Plenty don’t graze hay paddocks in the spring ( too wet) then a late cut of hay and maybe some grazing afterwards when it’s finally recovered.
Just seems a bit strange in a wet climate, could have had 2 good quality cuts of silage off it by now.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Don't leave it much longer growing than a baleage crop and it's a better feed, minus all the plastic.
Hay is seriously underrated, IMO
A lot of the hay know-how disappeared with the advent of the wrapper and "weather forecasting", but if you look at the bigger picture grass makes hay every year if you let it. So there's usually a window.
Proper seed hay is another matter, it's hard to put a value on that as it is bags of seed + nutrients in an often undervalued bale.
There is usually a lot of seed knocked out if you keep bashing it about when it's dry!
And it is ready later on, when hot, it always used to be the summer holiday job for me
Exfarmer
Member
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
look mate, what was good for my Great Grandfather is good enough for me
Actually my Great Grandfather is supposed to have made a lot of money in WW1 selling hay to the army, not sure if we should be proud of that or not
I agree on the use of a wuffler type of machine being much better as it avoids knotting and bunching which modern tedders excel at! But I am not sure I have the patience to use one now...! Interesting to see alpine haymaking where they seem to use a device that uses a belt to windrow and ted.
I have been complimented on my rowing up for baling on more than one occasion, possibly because I bale myself too...
Bogweevil
Member
It is the agricultural equivalent of cricket - you cannot play cricket in the rain, but we invented it anyway.
- Location
- Devon
I see where you're coming from .
Personally I'd be cutting for haylage/ silage in July rather than waiting for hay.
But I'll make hay whenever the weather allows to save plastic.
Plenty of sheep here too so certainly not a problem grazing through April.
- Location
- Near Colchester
Why do we make hay then @kiwi pom ?
Silage and haylage are easier, they don't need a shed to put the product in, or an expensive clamp if you bale, they don't waste so much nutrient by leech loss, volatilisation or leaf smashing, they allow the regrowth to grow rather than knocking the growing tips off the new grass.
I make hay as well as silage and haylage because;
I think that it is a better feed especially for sucklers and ewes.
It is easier to feed than all those round bales.
Selling small bales to Jodhpur wearers supplements my meagre income.
It is cheaper to make without all that plastic.
It looks more environmentally friendly (although it isn't I guess)
A lot of my ground has date restrictions on cutting times and by the time I am able to cut the grass the stalks go straight through the first 4 layers of plastic.
Some of my very late season hay will go to power stations, they don't take silage.
I am in the driest area of Britain - sub 20 inches of rain per year, sadly a lot of it occurs in Jun, July and August
I quite like moaning about it
I have some room in a barn for it
Silage and haylage are easier, they don't need a shed to put the product in, or an expensive clamp if you bale, they don't waste so much nutrient by leech loss, volatilisation or leaf smashing, they allow the regrowth to grow rather than knocking the growing tips off the new grass.
I make hay as well as silage and haylage because;
I think that it is a better feed especially for sucklers and ewes.
It is easier to feed than all those round bales.
Selling small bales to Jodhpur wearers supplements my meagre income.
It is cheaper to make without all that plastic.
It looks more environmentally friendly (although it isn't I guess)
A lot of my ground has date restrictions on cutting times and by the time I am able to cut the grass the stalks go straight through the first 4 layers of plastic.
Some of my very late season hay will go to power stations, they don't take silage.
I am in the driest area of Britain - sub 20 inches of rain per year, sadly a lot of it occurs in Jun, July and August
I quite like moaning about it
I have some room in a barn for it
- Location
- cheshire
We only ever rowed it up at night on the evening before it was going to bale
Having been cock pheasanted to an inch of its life for the previous 4 or 5 days it was rowed up with the acrobat , Dad would just roll it over onto dry ground after the dew had gone next day with the acrobat again
Grandad would come along mid afternoon and declare it wasn’t quite fit so it got moved again with the acrobat and then left till rea time before dad got the baler into it
Couple of hours later of bottom gear and clutching due to knotted grass the dew was coming down but by heck they weren’t for stopping wind pressure off baler be alright
The old man would be thrutching about baling well past dark many a time
Fortunately by the time I left school we had gone all civilised and moved onto silage and very rarely made any hay
Think the acrobat ended it’s days as a fence
Having been cock pheasanted to an inch of its life for the previous 4 or 5 days it was rowed up with the acrobat , Dad would just roll it over onto dry ground after the dew had gone next day with the acrobat again
Grandad would come along mid afternoon and declare it wasn’t quite fit so it got moved again with the acrobat
and then left till rea time before dad got the baler into it Couple of hours later of bottom gear and clutching due to knotted grass the dew was coming down but by heck they weren’t for stopping wind pressure off baler be alright
The old man would be thrutching about baling well past dark many a time
Fortunately by the time I left school we had gone all civilised and moved onto silage and very rarely made any hay
Think the acrobat ended it’s days as a fence
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Hay is the cheapest feed
No plastic or wrapper needed
And the market is for hay, wrapped stuff is half themoney
Plastic is everywhere
oil barron
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Princess Pooper
Member
- Location
- East Mids
First farm I worked on in 1980's they always rowed up at night and (as long as no rain forecast) spread it out in the morning. Minimise the amount that will get rain or dew on it at night and maximise the area in the sun. Also helps to tease out any clumps from mowing. Used acrobat for rowing as it's so gentle, to reduce the shattering. I was horrified when I met Prince Pooper and found he didn't don't row and spread! Then I realised how hard our rig and furrow is on machinery and understood why!
- Location
- Cumbria
You have to larf at those who think you get less DM/acre making hay.......
Princess Pooper
Member
- Location
- East Mids
A very well respected nutritionist we used to use for the dairy herd was a big fan of some good hay in the winter milking ration - great way to get DM into them - and also great for dry cows. Our dry cows always get hay once housed or if on winter grass and only start to get some silage as we transition them close to calving. If we want to buffer when cows are on lush spring grass we always prefer to use hay as well, saving silage as a buffer for later summer drought.
Exfarmer
Member
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Good hay is magic food, sadly you do not make a lot of it in a bad year, or Wales
- Location
- Lincolnshire
I remember getting in a right mess with the turner trying to keep the corners right turning it in and turning it out alternately. The wuffler didn't like rig and furrow either, where it could end up with its belts squealing like a stuck pig.
Mower ready now. Just waiting for the rain to pass through. Not a big fan of mowing in the rain or just before it but some reckon it gives you a head start. Possibly but I'm not convinced. Once cut, the grass just doesn't suck the moisture out but lays wet.
The Haybob was quite a revolution here and although not quite a technically efficient as the wuffler turner outfit, it is nearly as good if used thoughtfully. It saved having to tow a snake of equipment round the countryside and spend half an hour moving draw bars and folding up wheels before you even got started.
I found the Stabilo a bit of blunt instrument but it spreads better than the Haybob ever could, though won't row up tidily enough for baling but good enough to keep the dew off.We use a rake for that now. Luxury.
For me the fastest way to dry was to drive up between two rows with the Haybob pulling half each adjacent row onto the dry ground between them, spreading as wide as it can which isn't full width so leaves the wettest bit if ground that was under the middle of each row exposed toddy. Do this as many times as you can during the day then row up tighter together again in the evening. It takes careful driving though tomkeeomthe rows even and not end up with two into one. You always knew when it was dry with the Haybob as the rows would whip up to a big volume when rowing up, not drop flat again.
Mower ready now. Just waiting for the rain to pass through. Not a big fan of mowing in the rain or just before it but some reckon it gives you a head start. Possibly but I'm not convinced. Once cut, the grass just doesn't suck the moisture out but lays wet.
The Haybob was quite a revolution here and although not quite a technically efficient as the wuffler turner outfit, it is nearly as good if used thoughtfully. It saved having to tow a snake of equipment round the countryside and spend half an hour moving draw bars and folding up wheels before you even got started.
I found the Stabilo a bit of blunt instrument but it spreads better than the Haybob ever could, though won't row up tidily enough for baling but good enough to keep the dew off.We use a rake for that now. Luxury.
For me the fastest way to dry was to drive up between two rows with the Haybob pulling half each adjacent row onto the dry ground between them, spreading as wide as it can which isn't full width so leaves the wettest bit if ground that was under the middle of each row exposed toddy. Do this as many times as you can during the day then row up tighter together again in the evening. It takes careful driving though tomkeeomthe rows even and not end up with two into one. You always knew when it was dry with the Haybob as the rows would whip up to a big volume when rowing up, not drop flat again.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
On a smallish farm I prefer hay any day. It doesn't go mouldy or heat up in the ring feeder before its eaten as silage bales tend to do with small numbers of stock. The cattle seem to enjoy the hay.
All easier said than done and techniques vary according to crop density weigher etc. You play your cards according to the hand you are dealt.
All easier said than done and techniques vary according to crop density weigher etc. You play your cards according to the hand you are dealt.
There's just too much haylage / silage made in West Wales to attempt to sell it. Devil's turds everywhere. Make decent hay and you have half a chance of flogging it.
We only ever rowed it up at night on the evening before it was going to bale
Having been cock pheasanted to an inch of its life for the previous 4 or 5 days it was rowed up with the acrobat , Dad would just roll it over onto dry ground after the dew had gone next day with the acrobat again
Grandad would come along mid afternoon and declare it wasn’t quite fit so it got moved again with the acrobat
Couple of hours later of bottom gear and clutching due to knotted grass the dew was coming down but by heck they weren’t for stopping wind pressure off baler be alright
The old man would be thrutching about baling well past dark many a time
Fortunately by the time I left school we had gone all civilised and moved onto silage and very rarely made any hay
Think the acrobat ended it’s days as a fence
Love It!
I recognise the process, all to well. Add h and then round bales were the big changer...
- Tags
- baling derv round bales