Sad Pictures of Hay

[JWL]

Ye Gods, I've never seen that many people around a hay field let alone anywhere near when stacking and I've worked for some farms where we've made hay to sell on to horses and merchants!

 

[Devil's advocate]

Ye Gods, I've never seen that many people around a hay field let alone anywhere near when stacking and I've worked for some farms where we've made hay to sell on to horses and merchants!

I wonder if it is a mix of contractors & grooms from the horse business. Still just imagine the cost per hour. The Irish do seem to like bale carriers & hand stacking.

 

[firther]

Serious question. Why do people bother with, and put such high value in hay. Surely since he advent of plastic and high performance grass mixtures, Haylage or dry silage is the way to go. Two cuts instead of one of dead rubbish with little feed value.
Graze it hard and buy some nice straw if it's belly fill you need.

less chance of listeria

 

[firther]

I get my quality hay mid May when nowadays we seem to get a better spell of wether. The belly fill hay comes in June or July when the grass gets the better of the lambs that have gone to market. Still wait to cut some and bale it up for hay. Plenty of clover in the bottom will make up for the blown rygrass.

bloody hell, most years grass only just got going up here and some years it aint

 

[7610 super q]

Why not wrap it ?
Because when you're trying to sell it, and competing with mugs selling for £6 / bale, the last thing you need is the extra expense of wrapping the stuff.
Also, hay should keep in the shed for years if unsold. Haylage 3 years max ?

 

[glasshouse]

Good hay in the shed is better than money in the bank.
So the old saying goes.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Good hay in the shed is better than money in the bank.
So the old saying goes.

And probably safer than most banks these days

 

[Grassman]

There will be some even sadder pictures today. Heavy rain most of the night here!

 

[glasshouse]

My dad was unfortuneately talked into emptying his hay shed in may 1985 of quite a lot of excellent timothy hay from the hot summer of 84.
We replaced it in aug 85 with round bales of dung, and had to buy in some half crap hay made in october for sheep.
The only saving grace was the round bale silage we got for the first time before the weather broke .

 

[glasshouse]

In autumn 85, hay was arriving in scotland from canada in containers.

 

[GTB]

Haven't made hay here for at least 25 yrs. Could have made some this year in early june but we rarely get the weather here and have nowhere to store it in any case.

 

[Clever Dic]

Serious question. Why do people bother with, and put such high value in hay. Surely since he advent of plastic and high performance grass mixtures, Haylage or dry silage is the way to go. Two cuts instead of one of dead rubbish with little feed value.
Graze it hard and buy some nice straw if it's belly fill you need.

Common sense would tend to agree but we are talking horses here....
Very expensive hay is a lovely product and at the smart and you are dealing with people with huge buying power, horses in training cost say £350 a week and they consume very small amounts of forage so the actual cost per horse per day even at £300 a ton is very little. A lot of people as well are very traditional and have heard horror stories in the early days of haylage giving botulism this was caused by making the haylage too wet and not enough care 're soil and dead animal inclusion. Now add making it too high in protein in the early days which people did therby making the horses very loose in their droppings and lively in nature plus protein lumps and it's easy to see why if you had the money stick with quality hay. Also if a load of hay arrives you can see what you are getting not hidden behind layers of plastic.
There are still people buying over here U.S. 3 tie hay which is north of £500 a ton but if you have oodles of money or your horses are valued in 100s of £1000s it doesn't matter.

 

[onthehoof]

Just to amuse you a little, not seen a sledge like that in years, interesting music.

No better feeling than slogging your guts out to get it in the shed just before it rains

 

[holywell farmer]

Slowly, but surely, turning into yet another shite summer.

Weather can change

 

[Pan mixer]

Just to amuse you a little, not seen a sledge like that in years, interesting music.

They would get on a lot better if the knife on the baler was sharper, the bales would not be joined like that.

I used to do that method, I built a manual sledge instead, nice regular job standing on the back stacking the bales by hand.

Then the wife became with child and couldn't drive the baler anymore so I had to buy a flat 8.

FIL said that it would never work for hay - good hay needed to stand in vertical 8's in the field to sweat.

I wouldn't go back to any of those methods now.

 

[Clever Dic]

have you not seen the forecast

Readjustment required. ....
Seen forecast and not mowing.

 

[Downton_shep]

Just to amuse you a little, not seen a sledge like that in years, interesting music.

The Saw Doctors !!

 

[jemski]

Here's mine... it's had 4 days of heavy rain on it, but there's a surprising amount of green in it still.

 

[Grassman]

Here's mine... it's had 4 days of heavy rain on it, but there's a surprising amount of green in it still. View attachment 553726View attachment 553728View attachment 553730

Fine Monday and Tuesday. Possibly Wednesday as well. Get it wrapped.

 

[Ukjay]

Does no one else have depressing hay pictures?

Mine is still in the field uncut - bloody weather is a rite pita. At this rate will get nothing of the fields as I was told to wait till july for Hay, as June hay is shite apparently. Wish I took the gamble in June now!