Haying for dummies

cowboydoc · May 19, 2005

I'm not sure where the fun of haying comes from? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Unless you like sweating your tail off in the 90 degree days with 90% humidity working like a dog putting bales, getting residue all over your sweaty body and itching for days on end, trying to put together equipment, new or old because it all breaks, without adequate parts or knowledge or a book. Trying to find parts. Busting your head, knuckles, back, etc getting it fixed. Watching the rain come and ruin your hay because you broke down and couldn't get fixed. Or not even breaking down and getting your hay ruined from the weather. Haying is tough all the way around.

I don't mean to sound sarcastic but there are alot funner and cheaper things to do than haying. And no offense but in 5 years if you buy used equipment you're probably going to have to buy more used equipment in 5 years. Either that or put alot of money into the equipment you have to keep it going.

Egon · May 19, 2005

The " Fun of Haying " comes when the haying seasons is over. One just gets cleaned up, all the rashes gone and the back is feeling better and -- Wahmo - everything has to be done in reverse.

Then comes the "Fun of Feeding Hay "

I do like the evening smell of fresh mown hay and did enjoy sitting on a horse pulled dump rake daydreaming. Playing in the haymow jumping down on fresh hay was fun too.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

gabby · May 19, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm not sure where the fun of haying comes from? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Unless you like sweating your tail off in the 90 degree days with 90% humidity working like a dog putting bales, getting residue all over your sweaty body and itching for days on end, trying to put together equipment, new or old because it all breaks, without adequate parts or knowledge or a book. Trying to find parts. Busting your head, knuckles, back, etc getting it fixed. Watching the rain come and ruin your hay because you broke down and couldn't get fixed. Or not even breaking down and getting your hay ruined from the weather. Haying is tough all the way around.

I don't mean to sound sarcastic but there are alot funner and cheaper things to do than haying. And no offense but in 5 years if you buy used equipment you're probably going to have to buy more used equipment in 5 years. Either that or put alot of money into the equipment you have to keep it going. )</font>

I'm with Cowboy. Been there, done that, ain't going back. I have 75 acres of good hay land and I now lease it all out and buy hay for my 90 mama cows and 20 horses. Costs me about $12,000 - $15,000 per year for hay, and it ain't my problem when the weather or the equipment doesn't cooperate. I buy good hay and it ain't cheap but I still come out ahead. Some of it is grown on my place but most of it is not. I'm free to go out and find the best hay on the market. It's pretty easy to judge hay quality by pulling some out of the bale and looking at and most of all by smelling it.
gabby

Robert_in_NY · May 19, 2005

It all depends on the person. Yeah, I agree there are some times when it isn't as much fun. But to be honest, I love working on the equipment and handling the hay. I want to make things easier still but it won't change things. Now when I get older that might change what I think is fun but hopefully I will have most of the hard labor out of my operation by then so it will still be fun. But working on the equipment each year to get ready for season is one of my favorite things.

But it sucks when the rain comes in early /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Indydirtfarmer · May 19, 2005

About 3 years ago, we decided to increase our hay production just enough to warrent buying a better line of equipment. We do quite a bit of square baled straw. I added around 40 acres of hay to what we already had. That made it economically feasable to buy a new round baler, a BETTER used square baler, and a new disc mower. I look at buying old almost worn out equipment as a terrible investment. By the time it starts to pay for itself, you have to replace it, or spend cubic dollars on repairs. New (or NEWER) equipment at least will be there long enough to make a few nickels... (IF you're lucky)

JoeinTX · May 20, 2005

Well, the hardships of haying could be said of just about any other endeavor one takes today. Equipment, weather, timing, etc....always a pain.

But, I will say that hay-making is one of the ag duties today that is still physical labor intesive..especially square bales.
The last two times I messed with hay, I suffered heat stroke. Of course, it was hot, mid-90s F,and we were working fast to get it all done. The first stroke was rather mild felt like a weak case of the flu. But, the second, boy....put me out of action for a day or two and I've never felt anything quite that bad since.

I'm one of the worst at thinking how much "fun" something will be....then only to have the continuous reality of the small things and details really mucking it up for you.

Indydirtfarmer · May 20, 2005

After being aggrivated numerous times when my "help" didn't show up, or was found out to be worthless, I decided to eliminate (as much as possible) the need for labor IN THE FIELD. (We still rely on hand labor putting hay/straw in the barn) I ran on to a Steffans accumulator at auction 3 years back. It bunches up 10 bales into a neat little square, then drops that behind the baler. A grapple on my loader tractor (96 hp 4020 Deere) picks up the 10 bales, and sets them directly on the wagon. No hand labor... I've been buying up wagons for the past few years. We have several machine sheds on the farm. I back the wagons in the sheds, and leave the hay or straw on them until it's sold, or we get enough help to unload. That requires a large investment in wagons, but I figure we've saved it back in NOT paying out labor cost.

I also, as previously mentioned, trade custom baling for a neighbor, in trade for him and his 2 sons helping me unload wagons.

The cost is still there.... But at the very least, it's predictable this way. AND, I get my hay in ON TIME.

kensfarm · May 20, 2005

"Watching the rain come and ruin your hay"

I saw a couple big alfalfa fields just cut on the way home from work yesterday evening.. it rained all last night.. still raining today.

Kiwibru · May 20, 2005

I agree with most of the previous postings about hard work. Our situation which is now more stable was born of the necessity to get good forage that was worth something. In my part of the country most of the folks who put up hay wait until after the Fourth of July to even consider cutting. So you can imagine the quality of hay that comes out of the balers. Nothing like buying dried straw with seed heads!
We finally got sick of throwing $ at someone elses idea of hay and took the plunge and got our own equipment. Being a small farm we researched for several years and then purchased the equipment we now have and this has worked out quite well. We control the harvest time, the quality and we work our butts off!
It has it's rewards. Just finished a first cutting of grass/clover/vetch haylage on May 13th. We cut, wilt, then bale with a Wolagri R500 round baler (100 lb. 2'X2.5') and within 24 hours wrap small round bales in stretch wrap. This year we dodged rain storms and rapidly growing grass that was just starting to boot but pulled it off with grand style. Our flock just loves the resulting product and we finally have great feed...no more August straw. The other folks in my area have been stuck in a paradigm that we refused to accept...so it can be done with small equipment and in a quality way!