This week for hay?

[multi power]

Sun has been shining here since breakfast time. Combine is cutting all afternoon

 

[7610 super q]

Sun has been shining here since breakfast time. Combine is cutting all afternoon

Moisture % must be hellish high though?

 

[multi power]

Moisture % must be hellish high though?

It's for crimping so moisture is no problem

 

[bobk]

Anyway back to hay get it made there's going to be a shortage of good stuff, so you need a bit of top marketing .

 

[7610 super q]

Yes, but it's still raining every other day down here. It's going to be a job convincing peeps mouldy brown stuff is the new green. Anyhoo back to crimping...

 

[roscoe erf]

Anyway back to hay get it made there's going to be a shortage of good stuff, so you need a bit of top marketing .

talking the trade up eh

 

[glasshouse]

Got some cracking timothy last week, so good i had to pinch myself.

 

[Goweresque]

Anyway back to hay get it made there's going to be a shortage of good stuff, so you need a bit of top marketing .

I hope you're right, I've been steadily filling the barns up for the last two and half months, got some cracking green June and early July stuff, even the stuff made over the last 3 weeks is better than average I'd say. Its been a long old slog, started first week in June, never seemed to get a really settled spell where you could safely knock down a large acreage, just had to keep knocking off 10,15,20 acres as and when, but nearly there now. Just need one more little window for 20 acres of second cut stuff and I'll be done.

 

[Grassman]

I hope you're right, I've been steadily filling the barns up for the last two and half months, got some cracking green June and early July stuff, even the stuff made over the last 3 weeks is better than average I'd say. Its been a long old slog, started first week in June, never seemed to get a really settled spell where you could safely knock down a large acreage, just had to keep knocking off 10,15,20 acres as and when, but nearly there now. Just need one more little window for 20 acres of second cut stuff and I'll be done.

yes its been really difficult but we haven't had any real amount of rain. It gets forecast but hardly anything turns up!
Most I mowed at once was about 20 acres as well and that was a bit of a nightmare!
Quality is ok. I'm glad I didn't put the fertiliser on till the end of April.
A lot of big crops here though and most have got it pretty well so there will be another glut I'm afraid.

 

[Goweresque]

yes its been really difficult but we haven't had any real amount of rain. It gets forecast but hardly anything turns up!
Most I mowed at once was about 20 acres as well and that was a bit of a nightmare!
Quality is ok. I'm glad I didn't put the fertiliser on till the end of April.
A lot of big crops here though and most have got it pretty well so there will be another glut I'm afraid.

I'm not so sure. According to my sister down in Wales a lot of grass is uncut out west, and even if it gets made won't be very good, or end up as haylage. And I think further east and south the yields will have been lower than last year due to less rain, I know mine are down, or rather last years were 40% up on normal. Plus the lack of rain means grass is short and people are buying hay already - I added up my sales for July recently and was surprised to discover I'd sold nearly £2k worth. Chuck in Simon's tentative forecast for a wet autumn and who knows what sort of winter, and all in all I'm glad I've got spare hay to sell above and beyond my normal customer requirements. Its a long way to next September!

 

[Grassman]

well I must say I went in a block of fields I mowed in early june and the regrowth is not even above my boots.

 

[Mark C]

I'm not so sure. According to my sister down in Wales a lot of grass is uncut out west, and even if it gets made won't be very good, or end up as haylage. And I think further east and south the yields will have been lower than last year due to less rain, I know mine are down, or rather last years were 40% up on normal. Plus the lack of rain means grass is short and people are buying hay already - I added up my sales for July recently and was surprised to discover I'd sold nearly £2k worth. Chuck in Simon's tentative forecast for a wet autumn and who knows what sort of winter, and all in all I'm glad I've got spare hay to sell above and beyond my normal customer requirements. Its a long way to next September!

Our permanant pasture was 25-30% down on yield this year, second cut haylage is barely worth mowing and as Gowereque says, its been hot and dry in the south and people are feeding hay already due to no grass.

 

[Grassman]

Our permanant pasture was 25-30% down on yield this year, second cut haylage is barely worth mowing and as Gowereque says, its been hot and dry in the south and people are feeding hay already due to no grass.

Who hoo we are going to be rich!
As if!

 

[Smudge]

I'm not so sure. According to my sister down in Wales a lot of grass is uncut out west

Yep, and not many small bales being made around here this year, and lots of what has been made has been rained on. Although there are plenty like me who still have lots of 2014 hay left too.

 

[rob1]

Our permanant pasture was 25-30% down on yield this year, second cut haylage is barely worth mowing and as Gowereque says, its been hot and dry in the south and people are feeding hay already due to no grass.

First cut was pretty average for yield but top quality but second cut aint worth cutting except for one bit, did some third cut westwolds last week, was down for over a wk and was dry except for the nodes and as rain was forecast I baled it, waste of time as it heated and took it out and set fire to it this morning before it did it for itself in the barn, only 250 bales so not a disaster but a waste of time should have done it as haylage like the previous two cuts from it

 

[Grassman]

First cut was pretty average for yield but top quality but second cut aint worth cutting except for one bit, did some third cut westwolds last week, was down for over a wk and was dry except for the nodes and as rain was forecast I baled it, waste of time as it heated and took it out and set fire to it this morning before it did it for itself in the barn, only 250 bales so not a disaster but a waste of time should have done it as haylage like the previous two cuts from it

Its been an odd year for hay. Hardly seen any little bales and what I have seen have been baled in less time than it took me to make haylage!. Be interesting to see what it turns out like.

 

[Cowgirl]

Reading what you guys down south are saying about a glut of hay is almost making me weep. Here in the west of Scotland and especially further north, it has rained almost every day this summer. My husband cut a little bit of grass last Saturday, it rained Sunday and Monday and looks as though it will rain again before we can get it baled - it's heartbreaking. Fortunately we still have quite a lot of (poor) haylage left from last year but some folk don't. If the weather doesn't improve, it might be desperate this winter for some. It's the transport that's the problem, or I'd be down knocking on your door!

 

[George from SJM Planning]

So last night's fudging rain and thunderstorms never materialised; so much for the localised flooding we were warned about.
Probably could have baled today if we had gone ahead and cut at the weekend.
Oh well, $hit happens

 

[multi power]

So last night's fudging rain and thunderstorms never materialised; so much for the localised flooding we were warned about.
Probably could have baled today if we had gone ahead and cut at the weekend.
Oh well, $hit happens

no rain here, but, no sun either, no wind, nothing drying much today

 

[Johngee]

Could be better over the next few days.