# Saw guys out raking and baling today- December 1st!



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

So I'm out running some equipment around today and I'm driving past a field and here's a big Deere with a big rake and another Deere with a 4x4 square baler baling up right behind him! 
I was pretty surprised to see they had cut down maybe 10-12" tall grass with lot of tree leaves in it and baled it right on up. 100' between windrows, so it was a real light cutting. 
I couldn't believe there would be any money to be made. Low grade hay and lots of fuel for a very modest harvest. 
It's mid 20's at night and high 30's during the day. Can't imagine how it could be dry enough or clean enough for anything but mushroom hay, but I have to admit, it kind of made me think if I should have done the same thing????


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Lol maybe they are really short on hay and to cheap to buy it


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

Perhaps, for some reason, they were unable to get their last cutting done earlier. At least this way the fields are cleaned off for the winter.

Gary.


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## LaneFarms (Apr 10, 2010)

I was baling today also. I cut it down wednesday just before our first frost thursday. Hopefully I can finish it up tuesday where I can clean the equipment up and get ready to start planting oats.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Seen a couple guys baleing stalks today.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> So I'm out running some equipment around today and I'm driving past a field and here's a big Deere with a big rake and another Deere with a 4x4 square baler baling up right behind him!
> I was pretty surprised to see they had cut down maybe 10-12" tall grass with lot of tree leaves in it and baled it right on up. 100' between windrows, so it was a real light cutting.
> I couldn't believe there would be any money to be made. Low grade hay and lots of fuel for a very modest harvest.
> It's mid 20's at night and high 30's during the day. Can't imagine how it could be dry enough or clean enough for anything but mushroom hay, but I have to admit, it kind of made me think if I should have done the same thing????


If it's an operation with full time employees, as long as it makes some money it's better paying them to make hay than paying them to sit around and twiddle their thumbs. Or maybe they just understand that in farming you need to take whatever income presents itself


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Yeah, but you're in Florida...
The fields were previously cut in late September, there was only about 10-12" of growth.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Around here the only thing that could be baled is snow. Already had a full winters supply and under another heavy snowfall warning.

Now about being dry enough to bale. Hay is less likely to heat up when baled just above freezing. Works like a fridge. Cooler temps less micro activity. If below freezing it can be baled quite wet and be fine as long as it does not thaw.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

8-10 inches of snow on top of mud here. I'd be bailing if i could to save feed lol


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

hog987 said:


> Around here the only thing that could be baled is snow. Already had a full winters supply and under another heavy snowfall warning.
> 
> Now about being dry enough to bale. Hay is less likely to heat up when baled just above freezing. Works like a fridge. Cooler temps less micro activity. If below freezing it can be baled quite wet and be fine as long as it does not thaw.


Wrong! Had a client bale ryegrass in January a couple of years ago. Plan was to make balage in October/November but field conditions did not permit. Finally froze hard in January, so they mowed and baled to make balage. Baled at 10 deg F and temps were to stay below freezing indefinitely so they decided to forgo plastic wrap. With in 3 days, bales were so hot you could not stick your hand in them.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

haybaler101 said:


> Wrong! Had a client bale ryegrass in January a couple of years ago. Plan was to make balage in October/November but field conditions did not permit. Finally froze hard in January, so they mowed and baled to make balage. Baled at 10 deg F and temps were to stay below freezing indefinitely so they decided to forgo plastic wrap. With in 3 days, bales were so hot you could not stick your hand in them.


Obviously you can't get away with baleage level moisture and hope for it not to heat.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

haybaler101 said:


> Wrong! Had a client bale ryegrass in January a couple of years ago. Plan was to make balage in October/November but field conditions did not permit. Finally froze hard in January, so they mowed and baled to make balage. Baled at 10 deg F and temps were to stay below freezing indefinitely so they decided to forgo plastic wrap. With in 3 days, bales were so hot you could not stick your hand in them.


Should have lowered the pressure on the baler. Made loose slopy bales. I should have also mentioned that pressure melts snow and ice and than you have water. Than the water is insulated inside the bale so it wont freeze again.. Therefore causing heat. It can be done in frozen temps but like most things in life there are tricks to doing it. I have done it with wet straw and been alright. When the straw was just wet those bales heated but once froze those bales were fine. And I dont mean damp straw I mean wet. Dripping wet.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

These guys were making mushroom hay, so what was gathered up and what the moisture levels were are pretty much meaningless. Those bales will be stacked up and sold for $100/ton to grow shiitake mushrooms.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> These guys were making mushroom hay, so what was gathered up and what the moisture levels were are pretty much meaningless. Those bales will be stacked up and sold for $100/ton to grow shiitake mushrooms.


Only 100 for big squares?


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

8350HiTech said:


> Only 100 for big squares?


Low grade hay full of leaves. I cant beleive its worth that. If guys baled junk like that around here they would buy a lotto ticket if they got $50/ton. Jd is lucky to have a market like that. Around here the mushroom guys want horse crap not crappy hay.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

ontario hay man said:


> Low grade hay full of leaves. I cant beleive its worth that. If guys baled junk like that around here they would buy a lotto ticket if they got $50/ton. Jd is lucky to have a market like that. Around here the mushroom guys want horse crap not crappy hay.


Yeah. I understand what mulch hay is. It had been at least $125. That's why I asked.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

8350HiTech said:


> Yeah. I understand what mulch hay is. It had been at least $125. That's why I asked.


Im paying $120/ ton for prime time hay right now.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

Years ago I baled after Christmas. Well past the first freeze. Grass was dormant and weeds dead. The guy wanted if for construction hay. I helped pay the Christmas bills. We did our last cut in Nov this year. We got about 12.5 60# bales per acre.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I drove by again today, windrows had a lot of leaves in them. This would not be anything fed to livestock. 
Still got me jacked up to go out and cut some. These long fall/winter/spring months are just too much to take.


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## CockrellHillFarms (Aug 30, 2011)

We have baled late in the fall/early winter in the past. Obviously not the ideal thing to do but it can be done. Doesnt have to be as dry in the winter compared to haying in the summer. Wont be as good of hay but hay none the less. You can also feed liquid feed etc. to help out. If its gonna be fed quickly, as long as its half way dry its fine.


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

I've got some bermuda grass hay that I wasn't able to cut and we're looking at about 5 days with no rain and max temps in lo 70s. Do ya think I could bale decent squares with that drying time? Im in TExas near HOuston The relative hum is gonna be between 55-75.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Sounds like its go time to me


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Ya give er lol and if it doesnt work dont blame us lol


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

davang said:


> I've got some bermuda grass hay that I wasn't able to cut and we're looking at about 5 days with no rain and max temps in lo 70s. Do ya think I could bale decent squares with that drying time? Im in TExas near HOuston The relative hum is gonna be between 55-75.


I bet you would be good to go....stack separately with good air flow and I bet it will be primo.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

davang said:


> I've got some bermuda grass hay that I wasn't able to cut and we're looking at about 5 days with no rain and max temps in lo 70s. Do ya think I could bale decent squares with that drying time? Im in TExas near HOuston The relative hum is gonna be between 55-75.


Whaddare ya waiting for???? 
I should have done same thing back in November!!


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

I wish we could hay right now. Its 5ºf feels like -25ºf with a wonderful east wind here today.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

ontario hay man said:


> I wish we could hay right now. Its 5ºf feels like -25ºf with a wonderful east wind here today.


heck, color the ice green and bale it-some one will like it


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## davang (Apr 7, 2010)

Its cut! and now they're calling for rain on baling day. Go figure. The forecast was clear thru the weekend. Prob will change again by morning I bet!


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

well, if it's any consolation, this isn't the first time in 2013 that the forecast has changed immediately after cutting hay. Don't know if its a calendar year thing that will change come January or a 'hay year' timing


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Get used to that lol. If everybody cut by the forecast 0 hay would ever be cut. I gave up on those dummies and went and bought a barometer. I check that thing a few times a day and know what to do by that. When it starts dropping get cutting if it starts rising leave it parked. Seems to work almost all the time.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

ontario hay man said:


> Get used to that lol. If everybody cut by the forecast 0 hay would ever be cut. I gave up on those dummies and went and bought a barometer. I check that thing a few times a day and know what to do by that. When it starts dropping get cutting if it starts rising leave it parked. Seems to work almost all the time.


I am puzzled by your methodology?

A falling barometer in the U.S. means that unsettled/bad weather is on the way....a rising barometer means fairer conditions are on the horizon.

Regards, Mike


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Vol said:


> I am puzzled by your methodology?
> 
> A falling barometer in the U.S. means that unsettled/bad weather is on the way....a rising barometer means fairer conditions are on the horizon.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Lol ya I wrote it backwards. Thats what happens when I write things when im half awake. I meant cut when it starts to rise lol. My bad.


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

Gotta love Arizona. We just got done with a greenchop cutting, and my neighbors are all swathing, raking and baling right now. I've been watching and they are at least a week behind the swather. Raking, tedding, turning and trying to get it dry. Greenchop is the only way to do it this time of the year.

We will start gearing up for our first dairy cutting now. Should be coming off the first week of March, then it's back to the grind. Hope to get 9-10 cuttings again next year.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

LeadFarmer said:


> Gotta love Arizona. We just got done with a greenchop cutting, and my neighbors are all swathing, raking and baling right now. I've been watching and they are at least a week behind the swather. Raking, tedding, turning and trying to get it dry. Greenchop is the only way to do it this time of the year.
> 
> We will start gearing up for our first dairy cutting now. Should be coming off the first week of March, then it's back to the grind. Hope to get 9-10 cuttings again next year.


DISLIKE because you make me jealous. I haven't even saw grass in 3 months.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Don't know if I would enjoy hay as much if I had to deal with 9-10 cuttings.....the paydays would be pretty nice though.... .

Regards, Mike


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

ontario hay man said:


> DISLIKE because you make me jealous. I haven't even saw grass in 3 months.


Just curious from a guy that drinks himself into a coma if there are three cuttings big enough to drag the baler out of the shed- are you doing alfalfa, bermuda or something else and all told what do you gross and what do you net an acre?


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

I had a grandfather that would cut hay according to the barometer and how the train sounded when it went through in the morning about 2 miles away, he'd say those educated weather guys ain't got a clue


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Train horns sound the same every time to me lol.


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## covenanthay (Oct 2, 2009)

The nearest tracks to me is five miles and if I can hear the trains it is guaranteed to rain within 24 hours.


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## mshayfarm (Jul 17, 2011)

Well I rolled out some rounds and turned them into squares last week if that counts for baling in Jan. 22.6 squares to 1 round, all the money in squares.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

mshayfarm said:


> Well I rolled out some rounds and turned them into squares last week if that counts for baling in Jan. 22.6 squares to 1 round, all the money in squares.


What did you use to roll out the rounds?


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

Hayman1 said:


> Just curious from a guy that drinks himself into a coma if there are three cuttings big enough to drag the baler out of the shed- are you doing alfalfa, bermuda or something else and all told what do you gross and what do you net an acre?


We are primarily only haying alfalfa. We have some acres in Bermuda, but it is contracted and normally harvested for seed.

At the end of the year I want to see yields anywhere from 10-14 tons per acre. Our first and last cuttings are really just a little "clipping" where we will be happy to get .75 TPA. During the summer months (June, July) it is not uncommon to make 2 TPA, or a little more, 2.25 or so. By the time most of you guys are able to make your first cutting I have made at least 2 dairy cuttings and will probably be starting on my third.

It gets extremely tiring haying all year long, that is for sure. But this year we had 4 cuttings greenchopped and that sure was a Cadillac deal.


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## kidbalehook (Mar 19, 2013)

My Dad baled up some hay once after Thanksgiving here in NW Ohio a few years ago... cut it mid-October and rolled it on windy days. Grass/Alfalfa mix. I think we had 3 neighbors end up with neck injuries that weekend watching us bale hay as they were driving past!  I was completely surprised how nice that stuff looked in the bale. Never even got it home... sold it right off the wagons.


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

I am about 75% of the way through my first cutting of 2014. It has been somewhat frustrating so far. One of my rake drivers seems to be turning the hay completely differently every day now. We were fine through the first couple days of raking/turning/baling. But yesterday he put us about 45 acres behind by not properly turning the windrow. Earlier in the day I had seen what he was doing, corrected him, and left to get on the baler. Evidently as soon as I left he went back to doing it his way. Very, very frustrating. And now it has put me in a jam. We couldn't bale today because of overcast and no wind, the hay would not dry. The forecast tomorrow is for sun and a little breeze, but I'm afraid I won't have a big enough window to bale everything before Thursday, when the rain is supposed to come. It is very, very, very frustrating to have that sort of issue (negligent employee) set me back.

On the bright side, buyers are talking numbers in the $240-260 range, depending on test results.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

He'd be replaced real fast if that was me


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Bgriffin856 said:


> He'd be replaced real fast if that was me


You haven't been through enough help yet. Not to say that you are wrong. But sometimes (all too often) the next guy is worse than the last guy.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Sometimes training the f up is much easier than replacing.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

deadmoose said:


> Sometimes training the f up is much easier than replacing.


from my experience, you can always do a lot worse than what you already have regardless of how bad they are. At least you know how bad they are. Not very comforting but it is what it is.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

another 12-15 tomorrow night into Monday followed by single digits-seriously-in March and in Virginia? Used to March snowfalls when I was a kid, usually deep and heavy but at 32 degrees and gone quick. When will this ever end so we're motivated to pull out the hay equipment and start spring checkups?


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

If I wasn't calving right now I'd offer to come down and help for a while. Most of us northerners are entirely fed up with these temps that just seem to stay between 20F above and 20F below. A good week of hay making would be a great vacation about now!


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

barnrope said:


> If I wasn't calving right now I'd offer to come down and help for a while. Most of us northerners are entirely fed up with these temps that just seem to stay between 20F above and 20F below. A good week of hay making would be a great vacation about now!


Come on down barnrope....we are at the fert spreading, spraying, grass planting stage...still cool mornings....upper 20's lower 30's but it warms nicely into the upper 50's and 60's here now.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

12" snow tomorrow night. 5 degree temps.
Global warming at its finest.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

I envy you guys with such warm temps. The last couple of day there are places here in Alberta that have been the coldest places on Earth. I was checking some records and it looks like Feb 2014 is going to be close to the coldest month on record ever for the area.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Wait, I thought the earth was warming?


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

JD3430 said:


> Wait, I thought the earth was warming?


Haven't you heard? Now it's called climate change, not global warming! They still say its "us" that is doing it. I guess that is the philosophy you get when your religion is science based secularism. Sorry to get off topic!


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

It has regularly been 85-90 during the day here, down in the 40-50s at night. Absolutely gorgeous!

Sold first cutting of alfalfa for $240 last week. Pretty darn happy with that!


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