The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[dodge man]

Buckeye, that almost doesn’t look photoshopped.

 

[Hay Dude]

Did you get your dash replaced?

Yes. Awaiting for the shock of the invoice for it.
I still have some tweaks to make to the reverser programming.

 

[Hay Dude]

Some steep hillside hay mowing today….

Below: The stuff you see across the valley by the red barn was all ruined by rain.

 

[Hay Dude]

Got into a very nice, 16 acre, clean field today. I’m hoping to make some solid feed hay from this field for my “organic” feed hay customers. I advertise it as “natural” hay in case some chit-head with bad breath wants to sue me for calling it “organic”

Same field about 30 minutes later.

Got to use the new to me Claas tedder today. Worked great.

 

[LouNY]

Some decent looking mature grass, should make good quality hay for beef cows. For dairy animals most people like it before it gets headed out as it has higher protein and digestibility for lactating cows.

 

[hayden]

Got into a very nice, 16 acre, clean field today. I’m hoping to make some solid feed hay from this field for my organic feed hay customers.

What's involved in PA to make the hay "organic"? Is there some sort of certification process? Also, what do they do to replenish neutrients? Spread manure? I ask because I just switched my fields over to a farmer with an organic dairy farm, and there was a variety of paperwork involved in certifying the fields as "organic". Most had to do with certifying that no pesticides or other chemicals had been used in the past three years either on the fields or within 15 feet. And he is now spreading manure to fertilize.

 

[Doorman63]

Question for Hay Dude….or other hay gurus!

We have a couple “ex” hay fields. Haven’t been harvested in about 5 years.

I alternate mowing/letting them grow. Makes for great wildflowers/butterfly habitats

Walking with our dogs they specifically pick out certain grass to nibble on.

Anyone know which grass and why?

Neither dog is ever sick.

 

[Hay Dude]

The first 2 pics were barely thick enough to cut.
The 3rd, tedder pic was me practicing on some rained on hay thats going to be mushroom hay.

Here’s me tedding some nice green hay.
I’m really liking the Claas Tedder.
Big improvement (so far) over the Pequea.

 

[Hay Dude]

Got some baling done today. It was one of those days where you could bale till 8PM. And we did.

Below: Here we go with a full 4x4x8 @ 1,834LBS.

Below: Here’s a feed bale…its 4x4x5’ @ 1,080LBS

 

[Tx Jim]

Why don't you rake a larger windrow? I would have raked at least 2/ maybe 3 of those windrows together for my rd baler & I would guess a large sq baler could easily handle a larger windrow.