# Who Bales Terraced Land?



## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

How many here have to deal with terraces in the fields they bale?

Reading some discussions on mowing or raking tactics has made me realize that a lot of members only have to deal with the shape of a fields and not the contour.

Our area is rolling. The land had agriculture terraces put in years ago to fight erosion. Even on hay ground where those terraces are not needed. Many land owners will not have them taken down in case the land ever returns to row crops.

We have removed ours for the most part. Some are just not as steep as they once were. Even on those places we have to follow the contour of the land, which means the outline of the terraces. Terraces are usually closer together at the ends and wider in the middle, Makes for some figuring on how to rake and bale the middles on each terrace. Each terrace is like it's own little field.

When I go farther south, west or north I see large flat land and think how nice it would be to be able to make long straight windrows.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Gee Tim, Now I would have thought that you had long, flat, fields. Shows you what I know about Alabama!


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## CockrellHillFarms (Aug 30, 2011)

I have ground that has terraces. I just rake it and bale. I just make sure my windrow isnt on top of the terrace so the pickup doesnt bottom out. Really no different than normal, flat ground. Now if I'm square baling it, it does create a little bit of a head ache with my accumulator because the bales slide side ways on the holescher. So I bale everything and then rake the hay to the bottom of the terrace and square bale it.


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## CockrellHillFarms (Aug 30, 2011)

The one thing people dont think of when it comes to terraces......terraces are the best ground out of the whole field. Because that was all the best top soil that was pushed to make the terraces.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

NDVA HAYMAN said:


> Gee Tim, Now I would have thought that you had long, flat, fields. Shows you what I know about Alabama!


South of us, from Montgomery to the Gulf, there are flat fields. In the Black Belt there are large flat fields that are several hundred acres. A lot of corn, beans cotton and peanuts are grown there.

I am north of Birmingham where the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains taper off. Birmingham was once the Pittsburgh of the south. Iron and coal is what brought people here.

Our land is not steep, just rolling. We have nice rich fertile top soil.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I would think if it's just rolling and not steep, once the terraces are out and if it went back to row crops no-till might work very well so erosion wouldn't be a problem.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Must tell y'all Kansas is not as flat as you might think. CRP field wiwith terraces suck!


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## terraceridge (Jul 21, 2011)

Our land had terraces put in to fight erosion as well. Sometimes it is difficult to bale, but usually I am able to drive over them normally because they are not very steep - just rolling.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Most all of my land is gently rolling except 1 16 acre field which is pretty steep. We have no terraces and bale hay on it every year just fine. We have had to work on one gully for years but that one is under control for now. I am 100% no-till and that's how it will stay.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Most of the fields I started out with had huge terraces that you could not cross. The land is pretty rolling but I did not see the need for the quantity and size of the terraces so I disked them down to where they were minimized enough to be able to run equipment over them but I did not want to completely eliminate them as I will occasionally work the ground for a new hay seeding or to incorporate some lime but most of the time it will be in grass or no tilled. They tell me that the terraces were made back in the 40s when it used to be a corn farm. I do have a couple fields that I have considered putting in a few small terraces as they have a couple natural wet weather wash out places that washed a bit last winter with all the rain we had.


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

Hello to all. This is my first post. I have to contend with terraces as the land here is rolling and was mostly cotton back in the day. The closer you get to the Savannah River it gets down right hilly. Nothing like round baling a hilly terraced field.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Welcome Troy!

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Glad to have you on haytalk Troy, I hate terraces, purty flat here.....have one field that has em....


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## clowers (Feb 11, 2011)

Terraces are awful


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## Willyd3588 (May 30, 2013)

They do take extra time but they are there for a reason, to keep the dirt on the hill and not in the creeks and rivers


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

We have broad based farmable terraces.Farm over them.Have a tile intake to go around .


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Welcome Troy


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