Did a little hay last week ...

[kfvintx]

Sounds like perfect setup and great helper. I guess your accumulator and grapple are working out great. How is the new tractor?

Oh the memories...... those are some great ones visiting my grandparents and helping my grandad and learning to drive on rural roads at an early age. The little things early in life make huge differences at later stages. Good job passing them on to him.

 

[Bartcephus]

Oh the memories..... Congrats on the member of the Month Blueriver! I used to haul hay in my High School days for a local farmer. We used a Dew-Ez Bale Wagon. Looked like a flatbed trailer with a steering wheel on it. Had a snout that would pick the bales off the ground and conveyer would bring them to the back. Two hands stacked the bales while one drove. We made $0.05 per bale apiece to load, haul, and stack in barn. We could haul 2000 bales a day. Worked daylight to a little after dark and never had time to spend the money we made. What a great summer job. Only days off was because of weather or equipment failure. Oh the good ole days....

 

[bullbreaker]

Awesome pics ! :thumbsup:
Nice, clean great brainstorming on your operation there . Enjoying thread ! :thumbsup:

Boone

 

[Learning to Farm]

That is NICE hay, I wish the barn manager fed something half as nice as that. I don't understand why more East Coast hay farmers are not as involved in treating it like the crop it is Just like pastures, treat them well and fertilize .

As far as

 

[Learning to Farm]

That is NICE hay, I wish the barn manager fed something half as nice as that. I don't understand why more East Coast hay farmers are not as involved in treating it like the crop it is Just like pastures, treat them well and fertilize .

As far as

Oops, hit send to quick.

As far as youngsters and farming, I drag my niece and nephews out and they love it! I took the 14 year old niece out driving in the truck and she had to push the seat back because she is taller than me. The 16 year old nephew, got a manual lesson at the farm which has some good flat and some nice hills. The 7 year old collects eggs and takes the goats and sheep out. I have them work with me from sun up to sunset, they eat dinner, shower and fall asleep. They can't wait to come back next year!

 

[blueriver]

Sounds like perfect setup and great helper. I guess your accumulator and grapple are working out great. How is the new tractor?

Oh the memories...... those are some great ones visiting my grandparents and helping my grandad and learning to drive on rural roads at an early age. The little things early in life make huge differences at later stages. Good job passing them on to him.

Yes the accumulator and grapple are working out very well ... Oh that JD 5520 is a fine piece of equipment.

 

[blueriver]

Oh the memories..... Congrats on the member of the Month Blueriver! I used to haul hay in my High School days for a local farmer. We used a Dew-Ez Bale Wagon. Looked like a flatbed trailer with a steering wheel on it. Had a snout that would pick the bales off the ground and conveyer would bring them to the back. Two hands stacked the bales while one drove. We made $0.05 per bale apiece to load, haul, and stack in barn. We could haul 2000 bales a day. Worked daylight to a little after dark and never had time to spend the money we made. What a great summer job. Only days off was because of weather or equipment failure. Oh the good ole days....

Thank you Kind sir !!

I was raised on a dairy ... alfalfa square bales. We pulled the hay racks behind the baler and all the neighbors had racks and we would gather up 10 or so and seems as if every neighbor had a kid and we swapped wagons and kids for the hay cutting.

Wagon was hand stacked in the field and 1 tractor shuttled them back and forth to the barn where an elevator put them in the loft.

Long hard days that made kids into men ... we had a record setting football team !!!

 

[blueriver]

Awesome pics ! :thumbsup:
Nice, clean great brainstorming on your operation there . Enjoying thread ! :thumbsup:

Boone

Thanks Boone ... I get alot of help and give alot of help to my neighbors. I called one that day we square baled and he came with his new 5083e, put the grapple on it and he loaded ... first time he had ever done such a thing.

He told me I was setting the hook ... he says he needs a set!!!!

 

[blueriver]

That is NICE hay, I wish the barn manager fed something half as nice as that. I don't understand why more East Coast hay farmers are not as involved in treating it like the crop it is Just like pastures, treat them well and fertilize .

As far as

Its not only the East Coast, it happens around here as well. I do some ground for some neighbors on a 60/40 deal and they don't put out a drop of fertilize. I sell my share cheaper and for cow hay than my fertilized hay.

 

[blueriver]

I'm irrigating my best bermuda field as we speak (my smallest as well) ... I'll give it an inch of rain ... then Friday morning I'm dropping 300lbs to the acre of Nitrogen on it and then I'll shoot another inch of water on it and bale it off in 28 days.

My goal is to try for a 100 squares per acre ... we'll see how it goes.

Saturday Morning I'm dropping down 30 acres of bahia and bermuda mix (if the forecast holds) that was well fertilized and will produce some very good quality square bales. Its also thick with clover ... where did all the clover come from this year?

 

[Bob Ha]

Its also thick with clover ... where did all the clover come from this year?

I don't know... my fields were covered with clover, vetch and ryegrass this year. What are you paying per ton of Nitrogen. We are paying $525.

 

[blueriver]

I don't know... my fields were covered with clover, vetch and ryegrass this year. What are you paying per ton of Nitrogen. We are paying $525.

$660 a ton ... todays quote. Hard to believe there is that much difference. Think I'll call a couple more places to check it out.

 

[Western]

$660 a ton ... todays quote. Hard to believe there is that much difference. Think I'll call a couple more places to check it out.

That is a BIG difference!! I figured OK would be cheaper, fuel usually is and many other petroleum products.

 

[blueriver]

That is a BIG difference!! I figured OK would be cheaper, fuel usually is and many other petroleum products.

I guess its supply and demand ... two other's are out until next week and say they don't know what the price will be.

One guy said they sold the last Monday and it was $665 ... so I reckon if I want it and they got it for $660 out it goes Friday Morning.

 

[Learning to Farm]

Blueriver, you mentioned Bermuda and Bahia, do are you mostly warm season grasses? How big/heavy are your bales?

The University of Maryland has a rotational grazing demonstration farm and they normally get 150-200 fescue off the 4 acres with grazing.

I haven't gotten that far with my renovations of the fields, but I am hoping to be able to do that also one day.

Thanks for the knowledge (really want a grapple now)!

 

[Learning to Farm]

Blueriver, you mentioned Bermuda and Bahia, do are you mostly warm season grasses?

Sorry, just read your MOM (congrats by the way). I see that also grow Prairie grass, but I don't believe that is cool either.

 

[Bob Ha]

I guess its supply and demand ... two other's are out until next week and say they don't know what the price will be.

One guy said they sold the last Monday and it was $665 ... so I reckon if I want it and they got it for $660 out it goes Friday Morning.

How far South East are you... I'm in South Central Oklahoma, just a few miles north of the Red River.

 

[blueriver]

Blueriver, you mentioned Bermuda and Bahia, do are you mostly warm season grasses? How big/heavy are your bales?

The University of Maryland has a rotational grazing demonstration farm and they normally get 150-200 fescue off the 4 acres with grazing.

I haven't gotten that far with my renovations of the fields, but I am hoping to be able to do that also one day.

Thanks for the knowledge (really want a grapple now)!

Yes other than the rye grass. My squares are 65-70 lbs.

Here is the grapple and accumulator Hay Buddy Systems

 

[blueriver]

How far South East are you... I'm in South Central Oklahoma, just a few miles north of the Red River.

Atoka County

 

[blueriver]

Sorry, just read your MOM (congrats by the way). I see that also grow Prairie grass, but I don't believe that is cool either.

Thanks for the congrats ... the praire grass is warm