# Record Keeping



## DLCC2 (Jul 12, 2016)

I'm trying to figure out a way to label rolls of hay so I can keep better records. Personally, I feel like the only way to improve is to have well kept records to show hay quality, profit/loss and other weaknesses in my operation. I'd like to number my rolls as they go in barn so I know where they came from (ie. rolls #1-150/ field 1) and then know how each cutting analysis looks compared to different cuttings/fields. At first I thought spray paint would be the go to BUT with having a twine wrap baler I feel like a big spray painted number on my hay would raise the eyebrows of my customers regardless of the quality of the hay. Am i thinking in the right direction or am I more or less p*ssing in the wind.

Tyler


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

DLCC2 said:


> I'm trying to figure out a way to label rolls of hay so I can keep better records. Personally, I feel like the only way to improve is to have well kept records to show hay quality, profit/loss and other weaknesses in my operation. I'd like to number my rolls as they go in barn so I know where they came from (ie. rolls #1-150/ field 1) and then know how each cutting analysis looks compared to different cuttings/fields. At first I thought spray paint would be the go to BUT with having a twine wrap baler I feel like a big spray painted number on my hay would raise the eyebrows of my customers regardless of the quality of the hay. Am i thinking in the right direction or am I more or less p*ssing in the wind.
> 
> Tyler


Pretty simple just use different colors of plastic twine.If you have double twine feed you can also use different color combinations.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I paint every other bale with field ID and cutting number, e.g., K1.

I track field ID w cutting number, cutting date, baling date, number of bales, bale type, bale weight, storage location, average moisture and number bales lost in the pond or woods on a spreadsheet.

Then I track date sold, buyer, price and number of bales from each storage location and cutting ID. I treat my horses and cattle as buyers.

Ralph


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## ozarkian (Dec 11, 2010)

I spray paint the hay type and cutting number on each bale. No complaints from customer so far, in fact they like the idea. They get what they pay for. I have even thought about bar coding each bale to keep my inventory straight.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I use survey flags with info written on the flag with a sharpie.

Regards, Mike


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## NebTrac (Aug 12, 2014)

I paint a bar code on every bale... if'n I ever get ahead I can afford a code reader. 

I usually turn mine flat out for one cutting and round out for the next and so on. Leave a distinctive gap between cuttings/rows also helps.

That said, I do plan on painting my bales this year.

Troy


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

I just group my hay in the stacks from each field and try to remember, sometimes tough by year end.


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## Northeast PA hay and beef (Jan 29, 2017)

Wouldn't paint them. Sounds like you're putting in a barn, where outside of bale would be eaten. I wouldn't want to feed paint to my cows, everything else is so strictly monitored that we feed. Why intoduce it. If inside why not legal pad with big marker, tuck page in twine. Simple cheap and for picky customers no paint on hay. Obviously outside storage this wouldnt work.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

I paint my round bales, with date baled, field and weight (started last July with weight). I don't mark cutting anymore, found a waste of time/paint. I know if it was baled on 7-10-16 it was 2nd cutting or baled on 9-2-16 it was fourth cutting. I do use cheap 99 cent cans of paint, get about 20-30 bales painted per can (around 425-450 bales a year painted). No customer complaints, just ask what the numbers are for and I tell them.

Larry

PS like Ralph, I have a spreadsheet that I track my production, field by field, by year.


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## DLCC2 (Jul 12, 2016)

Vol said:


> I use survey flags with info written on the flag with a sharpie.
> 
> Regards, Mike





Northeast PA hay and beef said:


> Wouldn't paint them. Sounds like you're putting in a barn, where outside of bale would be eaten. I wouldn't want to feed paint to my cows, everything else is so strictly monitored that we feed. Why intoduce it. If inside why not legal pad with big marker, tuck page in twine. Simple cheap and for picky customers no paint on hay. Obviously outside storage this wouldnt work.


This is sort of what I was thinking. I know at work to keep track of the parts from different jobs we use small cards and wire. Seems like the same card with a piece of string is going to be the best route. I was just trying to get an idea of how y'all do it.

Thanks

Tyler


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Throwing this out there for those interested...

Down in cotton country, they make some kind of spray paint for painting farm names/numbers on cotton modules so they can be identified on the gin yard... Don't know exactly what kind of paint it is or who makes it, but it's supposed to be safe for marking on cotton modules, so I'd think it'd be safe for hay for livestock (since cottonseed goes into feed after it's ginned and pressed for oil as cattle cake.) The paint won't harm the fiber or go with it through the process, or it washes out in processing or something so it doesn't ruin the finished product...

Something like that would probably be good for marking bales...

Later! OL J R


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Northeast PA hay and beef said:


> Wouldn't paint them. .... I wouldn't want to feed paint to my cows, everything else is so strictly monitored that we feed.


I paint on the net wrap--and only every other bale--90% comes off with wrap.

Ralph


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## DLCC2 (Jul 12, 2016)

luke strawwalker said:


> Throwing this out there for those interested...
> 
> Down in cotton country, they make some kind of spray paint for painting farm names/numbers on cotton modules so they can be identified on the gin yard... Don't know exactly what kind of paint it is or who makes it, but it's supposed to be safe for marking on cotton modules, so I'd think it'd be safe for hay for livestock (since cottonseed goes into feed after it's ginned and pressed for oil as cattle cake.) The paint won't harm the fiber or go with it through the process, or it washes out in processing or something so it doesn't ruin the finished product...
> 
> ...


Never thought about that!! My brother is the production manager for a fertilizer distributor that has a few gins. Sounds like I need to give big brother a call.

Thanks

Tyler


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Course there IS another solution... "gin tags" like we used to have to fill out and put on the trailers when we hauled cotton into the gin. The scale gal would write the weight on it then hand us the tag to fill out the rest and then tie it onto the front of the trailer...

Get a mess of tags and fill them out and tie them onto the edge of the net wrap (or twine if your old fashioned like me...)

If I were numbering them, I'd come up with a "VIN number" for bales that I could interpret... it's easy enough to come up with a system. I nearly did the same thing with my pesticide records when I still had my pesticide license...

First, each field would be assigned a letter or number, so you could identify where the hay (or pesticide application) was made. The date is already numeric-- I'd do it military style with the day number first, abbreviated month, then the year number, followed by the field letter (or number), followed by the cut number, and then any "notes numbers"... by "notes numbers" I mean you could make a list of information you wanted to encode for each bale, assign them a number, and then put that number last on the bale... for instance, a "00" might denote "no note code", "01" might be "heavy dew", "02" could be "light rain after cutting", "03" could be "rained on while curing", etc. Listed in a notebook that you could interpret easily (and will memorize easily with use). Such a "VIN code" would look something like this-- 5JUN2017B101. Baled 5 June 2017 off "field B", first cut, heavy dew. Later season code might look like this-- 21AUG2017D302. Baled 21 August 2017 off "Field D", third cut, received light rain after cutting.

Since the TX DOA allows us to keep pesticide records in any format we chose, I was seriously thinking of reducing it to a simple "barcode" type number for each application, sort of a "VIN number" that would occupy one line in a notebook... it would be encoded with the date in the previous format, the field number, the pesticide registration number, wind speed in mph, and all the other required information in alphanumeric coded form. Such a code might look like this... 5APR2017110013001045E114926782D6106...Any of the inspectors wanting to see the records could then "interpret" the coded information using a "key" with each piece of required information having the different "options" (say A, B, C, or D for a given piece of information, like the field numbers) listed on the key. That way they could look up "field 1" and see it was the northernmost field on the place, or "field D" being the southernmost on the west side, etc). "6" would be the wind speed in mph... In this case, application made 5 April 2017 start time 1100hrs, finish time 1300hrs, FSA farm # 1045,"E" for EPA Registration number 114926782 (EPA chemical number on the label), applied to field "D", 6 mph wind speed, 10 gallons per acre, 6mph application speed, etc...

Easy as pie.

Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

DLCC2 said:


> Never thought about that!! My brother is the production manager for a fertilizer distributor that has a few gins. Sounds like I need to give big brother a call.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Tyler


You're welcome.

Ask him what's in it... I'd be interested to know myself. May just be "carbon black" or something in a carrier solvent in a pressurized can. I dunno... we never did modules; they were just starting to come in big time about the time we quit farming cotton, but I saw a lot of them around the gin yards...

Later! OL J R


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