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Discussion on Just venting re: 1st hay cut
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Member:
annes
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 11:05 am:
I just had 150 bales put in the barn. The man who cuts/rakes/bales every year said it was the best we'd ever had. (He bales what I need for the horses and rolls the rest for his cattle & ours.) It is grass mix and was green and smelled so good! Now about two weeks later I am cutting into bales and seeing the white smoke of mold spores when I separate the flakes. I am just sick about it. Luckily I have hay left from last year to feed to the horses. So far I have been shaking out the new hay and spreading it on the ground for the cows but I don't like giving it to them either. I am going to sample more bales from different areas of the stack this weekend. I do not want to worry about every bale through next winter and wonder if I will have enough. There is no way to know if all the bales are bad. I would give it away but I doubt even cattle farmers would want it since there is no shortage of hay this year. I will end of having to purchase what I need elsewhere. I plan to call my guy and hope he will at least move it out of my barn. I know the hay did not get wet but he just did not let it cure long enough in the field and rushed getting it to the barn. There was rain in the forecast and I know he knows better even though he is a cattle person and doesn't have horses. Thanks for letting me vent!!!!
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 12:18 pm:
Ann,
The last time I got alfalfa mixed hay, I had mold/dust all winter long. I have NO place to put bad hay, and it was a royal pain in the A$$ not to mention the wasted $$$$ and health risks.
Try calling the guy back, and telling him what happened, and explain you just can't have moldy hay for horses. Ask if he will take it back. My hay guy took some back that was obviously heavy and not dry enough, I toughed it out with the rest as it was all stacked in the barn.
What I needed to get rid off, I gave to a farmer friend for his cattle.
I worry this will be a problem here too, it's been soooo wet, and not very warm.
I think even the best hay guys just some times get it wrong, not on purpose, just the nature of the trade...it's tough to time it correctly, out guess the weather, and do the 100's of other jobs most of these farmers have.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 12:20 pm:
I think it's a tough year for hay growers due to all the rain/moisture in the air. Normally, we worry about getting enough rain. This year we haven't had our normal dry period we usually get in May and June. We've had hay down for a week and even though the storms are going around us except for a sprinkle now and then, there has been so much moisture in the air that the hay has been too wet to bale. We had some wind yesterday and are hoping that by early afternoon, if the sun keeps shining, we'll be able to bale. We got the grass up o.k. and have about 12 tons in the barn off our first cutting. We have about 15 tons of grass alfalfa mix (looks beautiful) lying on the ground, and about 10 tons of straight alfalfa on the ground. The grass alfalfa mix is the most difficult to get right. We just sold all but 1/2 ton of the remainder of our last year's hay, so sure hope we're able to get this new hay up! It makes me anxious! Looking at the weather across the country, I think a lot of growers are going to have problems. We need and love the rain, just wish we could time it right.
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 2:09 pm:
Gee Ann S.......I'm going to be verwy careful here as I was once singled out for "assumed" profanity and don't need that embarrassment again.
A few years ago, I had one of my long term customers sell me some hay that was literally hot between the bales as they unloaded it. I pointed it out and they didn't think much of it however...what I didn't feed in the next 3 days had to go right back where it came from. That hay was so hot, it was literally a fire hazard. Fortunately, when the guy came to pick it up, I broke open two bales and showed him they were ripe with white mold. I have no idea what you do with hay that moldy but I sure as HECK was not going to feed it to my horses...or goats for that matter. Sad too, it was pretty orchard grass hay, they just didn't let it dry near enough.
Last summer, I bought some nice looking hay that was so loaded with thorns I couldn't feed that either. The thorns were so bad I had to wear gloves to handle it and again, there's no way I'm feeding thorns to my horses or goats. Some days, I just don't get it.....was I spoiled by the awesome hay we fed when I was a kid growing up in New Jersey? I think back then most of our hay came in from Pennsylvania. It was beautiful hay.....heavy sigh.......
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Member:
erika
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 2:25 pm:
The fields here are overmature because of so much rain this year. I don't know if anyone has gotten any cut yet.
Last year I waited for the "perfect crop". When my farmer called and said he had great hay, I ordered for the year. Then he delivered it in the pouring rain....
I'm glad I'm not a real farmer, though. Every year it seems like either a DrOught or a flood. This year my HOUSE is sprouting mushrooms by the front doorbell! UGH!
Erika
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Member:
annes
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 2:36 pm:
Thanks everyone. It helps to talk to people who have felt the frustration. I do understand that getting a successful hay crop to the barn is a fine balancing act. I did luck up today by seeing an ad in the paper for baled hay. When I called, the man cuts hay 5 miles from my house. He will deliver what I need and said his hay was bone dry when cut earlier this season. He also said he will look at my hay and may be willing to take it off my hands for his cows. So at least I have a plan in place if I decide this weekend that mine is a lost cause. I do know that I am not willing to sniff bales all year. I had a terrible headache this morning (I never have headaches) and I finally realized it was probably from inhaling all the mold spores!
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 3:30 pm:
Thank goodness for cows and sheep! Our farrier has some cows and is always happy to take any hay that I won't feed to the horses, and even with doing our own hay we still get a few bales that aren't good out of each cutting. I'd hate to be making a living out of hay. It's very nerve wracking just the little we do. Imagine those poor farmers with hundreds of acres of hay!
Ann, you should wear a mask when sticking your nose in the hay.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 4:25 pm:
Yea 1st crop is always a little harder to get up dry. I decided not to get any because it is very weedy this year and and with the weeds it takes twice as long to dry.
We just cut our first crop Weds. and from the looks of it it is going to be rained on tonight .
I feed the cows my moldy stuff they seem to like it, and no harm has been done. I think with all there stomachs they handle mold better than horses...I don't give them black moldy stuff, but the white, poofy stuff seems to be fine for them..Thankfully!
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 4:45 pm:
Erika,
So, now you are going to be a mushroom farmer, aye?  My mind is full of all kinds of comments on that, but I'll let it go...ha ha!
My hay guy takes the month of July off to bale and bale and bale...so whatever stage the hay is in, that is what I get. I figure IF it's dry, and as long as he delivers it, helps unload it, and shares a beer with us afterwards, Good ENOUGH!
I saw some alfalfa cut yesterday on the way to town. If we have a good year up here, they do bale the end of June, and even get a 2nd crop.
Maybe my main hay guy will start early and put it in the barn and just deliver later. The 10 day forecast has rain in it since it quit having snow forecast!
Hmmm....daughter has been asking for a goat...Naw.
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Member:
zarr
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 8:03 pm:
Ann, we had 500 bales go to smoke two years ago! It looked sooo good! But the guy sold it again to someone with cows and refunded our money, but did a frantic serach for more hay. In our paper the first cutting is in and very good but it is going to Japan almost all of it, hmmmm! The one good thing is the $$ is a lot less this year!
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Member:
leslie1
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 8:05 pm:
 
Sooo cute!
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 8:24 pm:
We had a small window period right before Memorial Day and we did the 1st cut and got it dry. We literally were closing the barn doors when it began to rain. We usually get four cuts, but last year only three. Seems like I can usually count on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day to be putting up hay. We do a lot ourselves but I still buy some because most of ours has too much alfalfa to suit me for the horses.
Hope you all can get the 2nd cut dry.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 10:50 pm:
Funny my farrier just called and said he just put up some of the best grass hay he has ever done, would I like to buy 200 bales $2 a bale. I didn't plan on any 1st crop and my haybarn is a mess!
Guess a person should take what they can get. I usually buy my hay from him, it is always nice, he said no weeds and very dry
Guess I'll be up at the crack of dawn cleaning the hay barn out. Guess it goes to show procrastination doesn't pay!
Poor hubby's cow hay, it is raining cats and dogs as I type this... he went to bed unhappy They weren't calling for rain today or all weekend...lot of hay getting rained on
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Member:
sodmonst
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Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 11:05 pm:
Bermuda grass hay here runs $15-$17 a bale, and there's only last year's bales available. No one close by grows hay, We could buy a semi load, but where would it go?
We did manage to get hold of a few fresh bales, but the feed store sold out faster than we could get back there. The poor horses, they got a little good stuff when we started the transition, but then couldn't get more. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they got old hay again.  Even the burros turned their noses up. Ah well, at least mold is rare here.
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 12:25 am:
Ya know, it wouldn't be so bad for us hay growers if the *@#& weatherman wouldn't lie!! We've got 3 and 1/8 fields in and we just can't get in and get that other 7/8 of a field....and it's a BIG cut. The only reason we got the rest in was because we bet against the weatherman that we would get little or no rain the day of cutting...and it just happened to work out. ((WHEW)). We got 3 good drying days and that, along with an extra tedding ( due to the heavy yields this year )got us a great result.
But, this is not our living. If we have a questionable load, we dump it. Once our horses are well taken care of, we sell the rest...however much it comes out to. If I had to depend on haying for a living, I'd have gone nuts long ago. Around here ( NJ ) blueberries are king....you keep their feet wet, and their heads dry, and you harvest when ripe. Lot's of corn, too. When it tossels out and it's ready, you harvest....and cranberries - when they are ready, you flood the bogs and...go to it! Jersey tomatoes!! When ripe, just pick! Doesn't matter if it's raining, horribly humid or what...when they are ready, you get them in. Oh, the luxury! Hay growers need three to four sunny, low humidity days ( plus time for equipment breakdowns ), preferably with a nice breeze. The haybines have to work ( cutters+crimpers ), the tedders...well, they are always dependable, the rakes have to cooperate, and the cantankerous, cranky bullheaded baler has to FUNCTION, and that means the intake, the plungers, the blades, the needles, the knotters and ALL!!!! ahem....and then, and ONLY then, the joyous process of making hay while the sun shines can begin.
All thissss......while the diabolical weathermen plot, and giggle, and plan their dastardly attacks...and this is why, your friendly local hay supplier might sometimes....might appear....ummm....well...not quite right....
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Member:
shirl
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 1:01 am:
I agree with Susie in AZ. Finally, finally in Tucson where I buy a few bales at a time I'm getting good stuff again, but before the junk was horrible and still $15-17 a bale. If you can get it for $2 Diane, grab the broom, clean your hay area and buy it, quick!
Cheers,
Shirl
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Member:
sodmonst
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 2:04 am:
Shirley I am in Tucson, where do you get your hay???? This inquiring mind wants to know!
Lee, your proclamation took me back to an earlier part of my life. Memories of the big gamble. Cut now while it's just right and risk getting wet, or cut later, and miss the perfect stage of growth. Glad I'm not in the hay business, and glad I'm only buying for the pets these days.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 7:27 am:
I wish it was as easy as grabbing a broom, I have broken bales all over the place. BUT the worse part is the last time I went over there to get a couple bales there were FRESH snakes skins on top of my hay....I don't want to go in there!
Rained all night on the cows hay, I guess the bright side of it is we just sprayed it out last year and re seeded this spring, we had so many late freezes it didn't come up well so there isn't much hay there. I sure hope 2nd crop comes in well, it gets expensive buying hay for 40 cows + 40 calves!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 7:30 am:
PS wish I could ship you az people some grass hay cheaply, I wouldn't be able to own horses at the price you guys pay...at the very least they would be very skinny anyway! I find $15-$17 a bale very scary! How big are the bales??? Around here most "kicker bales" weigh around 50#'s
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Member:
dsibley
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 7:48 am:
After spending a year of sniffing questionable bales and worrying about fire hazards and health issues, I invested in a moisture for hubby. He can test the winDrOws before we bale, and also can test bales before we store them. It's already paid for itself.
Unfortunately, there is no need for a moisture meter right now. Wet is wet. We have had about 100 bales on the ground for nearly a week, can't get it dry. Still have one more field to cut, but by the time we get to it, it's gonna be logging, not haying!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 9:23 am:
dieliz, the barn I used to work at got sick of getting moldy hay also. They bought a moisture tester too and loved it...saved them alot of grief.
I find at this point I can pick up a bale of hay and know if it's dry. The ones with too much moisture content are usually much heavier than they should be.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 10:25 am:
Hey Lee,
When are the blueberries ripe? I LOVE them, and they are sooo expensive! Coffee and blueberry muffins at Lee's house, lol!
Diane,
Was hay $3 a bale there last year? I asked my hay guy already on the price he said $3 again, but I am going to say "Hey, in other states it went back down to $2..." Of course I did tell him it was more in MN...me and my big mouth!
Question for those of you that bale: Is there a bale counter device that you can mount on the elevator? I always wonder if any of us really are counting correctly, lol!
Thanks
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 10:25 am:
You folks in AZ should come up here to UT for your hay. If you can afford to buy it by the ton it would really be worth your time. We just sold the remainder of last year's hay, an alfalfa grass mix, for $3/bale. The bales were light, 50 lbs or so each, but the hay was still very good quality, just getting dry. This time of year when people are cutting, you can get this year's hay pretty inexpensively. There would be enough of a difference in price to pay for your fuel and the drive.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 10:36 am:
Angie, last year I got 1st cut for $1.75...2nd cut was $3 It really depends on the growing year around here, $3 a bale is enough to send me to the poor farm.
I just went over to clean up my hay barn, and saw 5 snakes right off the bat...I'm back home again and the barn is still needs cleaning...what's up with snakes in the hay...it gives me the creeps and I can't go back over there!!!!
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 10:56 am:
Angie (Diane? ) We have a counter on the baler, I don't know about one on the elevator. Also, we know how many bales the bale wagon holds and how many pounds a bale weighs, so just do the math that way.
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 11:17 am:
LOLOL Lee.........now I know I was singled out to be embarrassed.
Grass hay in Virginia was $7.00/bale last year....still working on that load, no idea what this year's is running. Left over from last year is $6.00/bale and for my easy keepers, it works great.
But I gotta say....I miss Jersey hay, tomatoes, corn and milk! Oh and Sorento's Italian subs....I've lived all over this country and no one makes them like they do, coast to coast.}
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Member:
leslie1
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 11:21 am:
DianeI hear ya about the snakes...EWWWWW. I bought a few bales from my neighbor and the very next morning I went to grab a bale and the darn bale came alive!!! What the heck?! OMGSH! a tiny snake... I grabbed a shovel and killed it...Ewwwww.
BTW...dont care if it was poisonous or not.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 12:37 pm:
Diane, snakes are mouse hunting in the hay! My husband swears if the cattle/hogs are around the hay barn, there will be no snakes. He thinks they don't want to get trampled. Also keeping the grass/weeds mowed helps discourage snake population. I have lived on this farm ten years and have not seen a snake once. Not around the grain bins, barns, hay, pastures, waterways, house, etc. The farmstead of 14 acres surrounded by pretty flat fields has few trees; however, the south farm has a 100 acre wood with ravines, swampy areas, and no livestock (or house or people) on it. There are snakes over there!
Where is your hay barn situated on the property? is it close to that ravine/creek?
Ewwwww. I know snakes are necessary, but I don't like them!
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 12:39 pm:
I paid $5.00 square bale for 3rd cut grass/alfalfa mix this winter when I ran short. And that was considered cheap...supply and demand.
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Member:
shirl
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 1:31 pm:
Susie,
The last 3 bales I bought (small storage area) I got from OK Feed, corner of Dodge and Ft. Lowell. Several other people at the same barn got larger amounts and it was still the fresh hay. Hope it lasts.
Cheers,
Shirl
PS. The bales are large, probably 100#s.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 6:11 am:
Vicki we rent a barn down the road. An old couple lives there and don't keep the place up as well as they used to, plenty of weeds, wood piles and tarps (snakes love those)
I got the barn clean and de-snaked (was lots of fun)
Now he funnest part today, putting hay in the barn and stacking it!!!At least it isn't going to be 100 degrees and humid like it usually is.
Hope the snakes don't move in again! I am afraid that would be enough to make me build some type of hay barn here and we can't afford one....but where there is a will there is a way...If anything could encourage me to save money it would be snakes!(or ticks)
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Member:
npo33901
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 6:53 am:
Ann, my hart goes out for you . I did have this experience last year - the whole stack was smoking in my barn.......And the work with it - to get out , looking for dry bales - opening them.....
AM.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 8:46 am:
Diane, I totally understand that situation! Many times we "keep up" property, waterways, mowing, remove fences, etc. for our landlords. Just easier.. . We bought a farm up the road a few years ago from an elderly couple (who were like grandparents to my husband). The junk we took out of the barns after they passed away was amazing...a real haven for coons, opossums, snakes, etc.! Uneven damp dirt floor...perfect for burrowing critters. Yow! It creeped me out until it was about half empty. I wore "big" boots, gloves, etc. Ick. We kept round bales in those barns which are moved with skidloader so no real handling. I wouldn't keep my square bales for the horses in there because it was too icky! I hate snakes. I can handle a rat better than a snake. ? I'm sure it's hard for the older folks. Although we have a neighboring elderly couple whose place was never tidy even when they were young!
Would they be offended if you mowed around the hay barn and the lane? Maybe you should relocate a couple of barn cats! Maybe you need that bunny that was on YouTube chasing the snake away.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 11:26 am:
The "weather man" is going to be even more unreliable I fear, as the number of weather stations is being greatly cut back. Our closest one will be almost 300 mi. away! We'll get better info watching the catapillers and trying to figure out the clouds!
It was so cool this spring all the hay around here was late starting to grow. I hope we have a warm fall so we can get extra cuttings to make up for the late start.
Vicki, what is a square bale? How heavy/big are they? We don't have them around here. We very seldom see round bales, either. We do have those big rectangular bales that weigh about half a ton each. Those go down to So. Calif. for the dairy cows.
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Member:
leslie1
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 11:42 am:
Squares bales are 2 string, rectangular bales usually 50lbs. (atleast thats what they are here in KY). In Az they were usually 3 string, 100lbs.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 11:52 am:
Like Leslie stated, they are rectangular two string or wire, but layman's term around here is square bale--perhaps to differeniate from the huge round bales. We use the huge round bales in round hay feeders for the elk to supplement their pasture grass which gets pretty thin or when we are rotating pastures. We sow oats in the spring and don't put them on it until late June. I'm glad we have the 50# bales rather than 100# bales!
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 12:09 pm:
Thanks. Most of our bales our 90# which I can handle. Heavier than that and I have to call in someone with muscle if they actually have to be lifted. I can drag them around and manuver them into the feed cart, but that's it. I hate the 135# we used to get from northern CA when we lived in Truckee. They took MUSCLE! I usually just broke them open and broke off flakes to put in the cart.
Vicki, do you raise elk for resale for meat (like cows) or what? How are they to be around? Guess I should start another thread; I'm bad about "hijacking!"
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 2:29 pm:
Sara W, I posted Elk Babies in the images thread.
We have a herd of 50. Husband started out wanting to "watch antlers grow"...not sure what he's doing with them. We have slaughtered a few culled females. I don't care for venison, but I like elk meat and LOVE moose meat.
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Member:
cjlewyn
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 4:10 pm:
BTW Vicki, did you know that now they are selling antlers for dog treats?
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 14, 2009 - 8:57 pm:
Cindy L, I did not know that! Maybe we'll make some $ yet from husband's expensive hobby money pit...
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 12:05 am:
SARA!!! Did you say 90#??? Man, I've got to be the whimpiest whiner going....I told my husband...."NOTHING over 50.....after all, I might break a nail...." And PattyB, PattyB! I'm a born and raised NOAWTH Joisey girl, and yeah, there's nothing like a Jersey tomato, but what I miss most ( once out of the N.Jersey, NYC area), is a good Hard Roll. There's good rolls down here in S.Jersey, but they are really soft Kaisers, not those crusty, fresh, hot, soft-on-the-inside hard rolls. Oh, yeah, about the embarrassment? Fagedda'boud it. It don't exist in Joisey....we're way too oblivious and superficial.
And Angie?? We're still waiting on the Blueberries but they're com'in soon. And....like Sara says, the counter is on the baler. WHAT??? You expect ME to keep count?? Sheesh! I'm already driving equipment and trying to keep track of my iced, Evian water, my sunscreen SPF 8trillion+, my hat and my personal mister...all while keeping my field lines straight and minding the PTO. THEN...while I'm unloading the hay from the stacker, I gotta work all those stupid levers ( in the right order, mind you ), while trying to stop my eye-makeup from smearing and making sure my gold chains and bracelets don't get snagged in the motor on the hay elevator. The evening is spent pulling hay splinters from my forearms with my eyebrow tweezers. Hayin' ain't easy for a Jersey girl.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 12:54 am:
Happiness is:
and there's more in the hay loft.
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Member:
hpyhaulr
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 5:35 am:
Oh Lee, I am misty eyed....here's how our priorities have skued...Walt is in Jersey delivering today Whtehouse Station and Branchburg (the latter does NOT exist on any map) and this morning's conversation went something like this...
"well, so you'll just DrOp him off, go get the manure spreader and head home"
"Bull^&#*, I will DrOp him off, go get a Bacon Egg & cheese on a forREAL hard roll, take a powernap...pick up the manure spreader, get a slice and THEN head home"
And Yes Sara, if there is no BEC to be had, that picture IS happiness. I can just imagine your kids standing lined up at the fence looking at that sight, soaking up the joy and comfort of it all. Happiness is a full green hay barn! We are still here on last year's hay here and they are starting to waste a lot of it. The annual 'but its past its expiration date' protest.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 7:27 am:
I got my horse hay in the barn yesterday, it was the nicest hay I have seen in quite awhile. When I was throwing it off the wagon, hubby said I am surprised you took this bale...I said why? I figured it was "tough"...NO there was a snake hanging out of it!!! And I had touched it ECCK good thing I had gloves on!
I got those #100 bales one year and that was enough, it about killed me moving it and stacking it. We now only get what are called kicker bales in these parts #50 and I am still sore from stacking it!!!
The cow hay is still in the field awaiting 3 more days of rain
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 8:30 am:
Lee your version of a Jersey girl haying is hilarious.
Happiness is a full hay barn. And let's add clean horses--that last longer than a day.
Diane, you are creeping me out with the snake stories. I'm going to be jittery pulling hay down if you don't stop it! Ick, ick, ick! Maybe I'm a Jersery girl living in Indiana?
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 8:42 am:
Leslie, OMG, I just saw the goat pictures...Ohhhh...so CUTE!!! I will not show my daughter...geez, in the last week she's asked for a baby raccoon, a goat, and more cats! (better than a boyfriend at 15!)
Lee,
 , The last time I helped bale hay on the wagons I was worried about my make up too! And hoped my shorts and halter top were making the right impression on the 2 hormonal teenaged boys unloading! Oh ya, BTW, I was a teenager then too!
Yes, I know counters are on balers, but I don't know all the guys we buy hay from that well, and have wondered if what they say they've got on the trailer is what we are getting. I am sure it's close and if it's not 100% accurate, it's not intential. BUT, the higher the cost per bale, the more I want to get every bale I am paying for.
Happiness is a full barn of GOOD fresh hay, AND lush green pastures! I don't care if the horses are clean, just well fed! Oh, and it's all paid for, for another year.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 8:46 am:
Angie, your description of teen haying gave me my first belly laugh of the day. Thanks!
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Member:
erika
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 9:03 am:
Cyndy, we've got "Branchville" up the road, but I've never heard of Branchburg. But then, there are SO many little NJ towns, they aren't on maps because the state is small and there's no room. Why, half our property is in one town, the other half in another, and we're only 20 acres! But the tomatoes are on the vine in both towns.
Holly, I think baby snakes are very cute!
I just saw the goat too! Adorable. Is that a hint that if we had goats we'd buy less hay?
Erika
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 9:13 am:
Vicki,
The best part? My girlfriend and I were working for her neighbor. The 2 boys they hired were from our class, so we knew them, but didn't hang out with them. They were feeling pretty macho and like all males, were showing off and anxious to "rescue us" when we got tired.
By days end, they were the ones p*ssy and beat! They had bragged they could keep up with us unloading as fast as we could, and they would keep up stacking the bales.
Now before any males says that wasn't fair, we were pulling them out of a kicker wagon, and that is not always easy.
Brings back memories, now all I need is a cold bottle of Miller Beer, lol!
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 11:53 am:
Never hurts once in awhile Angie
to take testosterone down a peg...(and no doubt visa versa...)
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 12:28 pm:
Cyndy, I doubt they've even noticed the new hay.
Love the discriptions of haying! I guess we're pretty tame around here. I'm certainly no fashion plate. Not much make-up, a baseball cap, and dirty jeans with boots about does it! It would probably be easier to find help if we had some of you ladies driving the tractor!
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 5:33 pm:
What a view Sara W! My part of NC Indiana is FLAT. Very FLAT.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jun 15, 2009 - 10:35 pm:
We're a little over 6000' in a high desert valley surrounded by mountains. I think anything east of the Rockies is pretty flat!
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Member:
dsibley
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 - 8:39 pm:
OK, so if you want to control snakes, (and rodents as well), get a chihuahua. Really!! they were originally bred to scuttle down rodent holes. I have two long-hairs, who preceded buying our farm, btw, and one of them is a snake-killing machine. The other one is a prince and above menial tasks....!!
Unfortunately, I have to keep a close eye on the wa-was, due to coyotes and hawks. But again, they were here before the farm, so they are my 'cross to bear'. And so durned cute!
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Member:
morg1
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 - 11:40 am:
We haven't even cut our hay yet. Can you say mature? We just keep getting rain, and now it is so humid that it will take more than a week to dry. Most of the farmers in the area who took a chance and cut their hay 2 weeks ago got more than 3 inches of rain on it. One baled round bales and I can't believe they weren't wet when he did them, and another just took a brush mower down his winDrOws. It has been frustrating.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 - 6:52 pm:
Karen, many around here have not had the first cut either! Way tall, way wet...
We got lucky and cut before Memorial Day. It was a little early, but we did it anyway. We don't do that many hay acres which probably made a big difference also.
More rain forecast here for tomorrow and Friday. It rained all day yesterday and was blisteringly hot and humid today. 88-90 next two days...ick.
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 - 1:00 am:
OH! Shoot Karen! Please!! Keep your weather there! It keeps coming my way......yesterday, the northern part of my state had 4 to 6 inches of pea to golfball size hail - they were shoveling in their shorts and sandals. A radio broadcaster said "Thank heaven for global warming...can you imagine how cold it would be without it?" Right now, in S. Jersey, it's 59 degrees!
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Member:
morg1
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 - 8:13 am:
I can't believe how wide spread this moisture is. Some farmers don't have all their fields planted yet. We did get enough dry for them to sneak in most of their corn about 3 weeks ago, but.... We just got another 1 and a half or so last night. We have places in the hay field where water is standing, so unless that dries up it is no use cutting the hay no matter what the weather does. Everybody has been complaining about the cool, wet weather. Other than the fact I want to get my hay up I'm not complaining. I hate the heat and humidity of this area, but the same people who have been wanting it to warm up were sitting in their air conditioning yesterday complaining about how hot it was. I don't get it.
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Member:
stek
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 - 3:47 pm:
You guys are really starting to make me jealous. We haven't had any rain in a month, which is a new record for this time of year in the pacific northwest. My pastures are dry, crusty, and dusty, when this should be their peak season. The only thing thriving are the weeds. And usually from July through October we don't get rain at all anyway.
At least in the eastern part of the state where most of our hay is grown they got up first cutting early and fast. We will need it .. in another couple weeks if we don't get any rain our grass will be done for the year.
Those of you with pasture .. count your blessings!
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