# The 2015 hay season is winding down, what will you do different for 2016?



## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Wife and son put in about 12 acres of Ryegrass for early cutting for this past Spring, not again, not enough tonnage and difficult dry down in the early season. Also no more BMR for dry hay, too expensive for the tonnage it made and like FarmerCline said it's too hard to dry down here in NC, even with the stalks completely crushed with roller conditioners. If you wrapped it as Haylage it might do fine.

The plan right now is 40 acres of Winter Oats for hay and combining some of it for ground feed. Eight acres of Cereal Rye for early cutting next Spring, neighbor done really well with his Rye this Spring. Come in behind the Rye with 8 acres RU ready corn for ground feed. I went with her to pick up the Oats seed Friday, $6/bushel for cleaned non-certified Oats. Been buying from the same place for years now and they've always done well. Certified Oats are about $11.50/bushel.

Will most likely get certified Soybeans and Brown Top Millet for 40 acres next Summer for hay. The soybeans bought last year didn't germinate well partially because of so many split beans and partly because of the drought.


----------



## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

Plant some rye grass and clovers on the hay fields, keep applying poultry litter. I applied 3 tons on my Bermuda fields and 16 inches of rain leached it (applied in April) will do it in Feb this year. But the biggest change is as of right now, and I'm 99.9% sure, it's all going to be baleage. Have everything I need to do it except the wrapper and the way that's looking is it's going to be a Vermeer SW5000. Still putting a pencil to it, but I'm tired of wasting a third of my hay from outside storage and late cuttings due to weather. We never have good weather when the cool season grasses are at their prime, so it's time to try something new. We are also going to try some RR Crabgrass to harvest and graze. I know some hate it but the cattle will absolutely stand in one spot and eat it into the ground, don't know about this bred stuff but what is in my garden, dew will make it grow.


----------



## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

Thinking on gambling more on weather, to get 1st crop off earlier, so we can get more 2nd & 3rd crop!

All our production gets put up as dry hay one way or another!

No customer base or equipment for any other option!


----------



## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

TJH said:


> Plant some rye grass and clovers on the hay fields, keep applying poultry litter. I applied 3 tons on my Bermuda fields and 16 inches of rain leached it (applied in April) will do it in Feb this year. But the biggest change is as of right now, and I'm 99.9% sure, it's all going to be baleage. Have everything I need to do it except the wrapper and the way that's looking is it's going to be a Vermeer SW5000. Still putting a pencil to it, but I'm tired of wasting a third of my hay from outside storage and late cuttings due to weather. We never have good weather when the cool season grasses are at their prime, so it's time to try something new. We are also going to try some RR Crabgrass to harvest and graze. I know some hate it but the cattle will absolutely stand in one spot and eat it into the ground, don't know about this bred stuff but what is in my garden, dew will make it grow.


Sounds good. My wife has been eyeing a 3 point dump type wrapper but also thinking about trying to pick up older silage cutter with a direct cut grass head. I didn't know they had RU ready Crabgrass.


----------



## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

Sorry Grateful, that's Red River Crabgrass.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Grateful11 said:


> Sounds good. My wife has been eyeing a 3 point dump type wrapper but also thinking about trying to pick up older silage cutter with a direct cut grass head. I didn't know they had RU ready Crabgrass.


Red River Crabgrass...

Roundup Ready Crabgrass?? Someone at Monsanto just had a heart attack at the mere thought... LOL

Later! OL JR


----------



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

I'll be trading one 5 acre field that was getting too weedy for hay for 5 acres that has been in corn for the last two years. I plan on putting in some teff in the spring to see how that does and then plow that under next August and seed the field into timothy/birdsfoot. This will let me play around with the teff and see how it does while hopefully getting some hay off the field and not have any loss of production acres for the hay.

I might upgrade my mower this next weekend. There is an auction with a CaseIH 8312 center pivot which would be a nice upgrade from the CaseIH 3309 I'm running right now. There's also a JD 4230, but we'll see how things go. The only other equipment changes are going to be repairs/upgrades to existing stuff. I will probably move the Harvestech system from our old JD336 to the 348. I'm still keeping any eye on the 1038 stacker wagon parked at the local NH dealer, but it's a consignment and the guy is asking way too much. Unfortunately he was at the dealers auction at the end of last month and bid the price up. I'll keep an eye on that for the spring auction.

The biggest change to the operation for next year will be the fact that I finally have a poll barn to use with the bale wagon. We added a lean-to to the side of our existing barn, 20 feet wide and 72 feet long. It should make it a lot easier for me to get hay in when there isn't anyone else around to help drive tractor and it also increases our storage capacity by about 50%.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm going to be farming 150 more acres. I was only farming 190. So a slight change.


----------



## Bonfire (Oct 21, 2012)

TJH said:


> Plant some rye grass and clovers on the hay fields, keep applying poultry litter. I applied 3 tons on my Bermuda fields and 16 inches of rain leached it (applied in April) will do it in Feb this year. But the biggest change is as of right now, and I'm 99.9% sure, it's all going to be baleage. Have everything I need to do it except the wrapper and the way that's looking is it's going to be a Vermeer SW5000. Still putting a pencil to it, but I'm tired of wasting a third of my hay from outside storage and late cuttings due to weather. We never have good weather when the cool season grasses are at their prime, so it's time to try something new. We are also going to try some RR Crabgrass to harvest and graze. I know some hate it but the cattle will absolutely stand in one spot and eat it into the ground, don't know about this bred stuff but what is in my garden, dew will make it grow.


You'll enjoy the wrapping. Wonder why you weren't doing it earlier. Be prepared for some late nights. One thing I like about a single wrapper is you can wrap in the field and move to the stack at your convenience. With an inline, you have to move to the stack/line first. It will add hours to your day unless you have someone hauling while your baling. My wife is pretty good with a bale bed. Guaranteed stops for her is horse feeding time in the early evening. Ugggg.


----------



## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

Teslan said:


> I'm going to be farming 150 more acres. I was only farming 190. So a slight change.


Get after it!! Wish I could!


----------



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Teslan said:


> I'm going to be farming 150 more acres. I was only farming 190. So a slight change.


Man that's where I hope I'm going! Acreage, acreage, acreage. I'm turning old, discarded fields back into hay 5-20 acres at a time. It's a good feeling, but I sometimes wonder "why were they discarded in the first place"?


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> Man that's where I hope I'm going! Acreage, acreage, acreage. I'm turning old, discarded fields back into hay 5-20 acres at a time. It's a good feeling, but I sometimes wonder "why were they discarded in the first place"?


We just had the other 150 acres come off of a lease to another farmer. I've been waiting 3 years to farm it. But at least I had 3 years to prepare and get the right equipment for the job. Funny thing I noticed about tenants. Well not so funny. The first 6 years of the lease they were great. This year was the last and like all tenants they let things slip so now I'm having to do repairs that should have been done by them 2 years ago. Including a $6000 power line that for some reason stopped working a month before the end of the lease. But oh yeah we have had power issues for 2 years, but didn't let you know. That's probably what burned up the pump last year. Then for good measure we will hook up a generator to finish the season and break the disconnect on a 30 year old pump electric panel (then I had to buy a new one). I could have done better things this year with that $6000. If I ever rent it out again I think I'm going to incorporate some sort of damage deposit into the lease. If you can do it with a house why not a farm.


----------



## 3string (Sep 8, 2014)

I may turn a bit of hay ground to pasture and run some more cows and calves. 300 acres of alfalfa is a bit much for one guy to get around. It's wearing me out.


----------



## shortrow (Feb 21, 2012)

If I had any sense I'd quit altogether. Won't happen though.


----------



## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I intend to continue to listen to (read) the people on this site and improve the quality of my hay. Horse people's money sure does spend nice. I didn't start reading this site until about ½ way through haying season.

The things that I want to different next year are endless. I've traded for a different second-tractor (really 5th tractor, but 3 of them don't count) and intend to put on an *accumulator*.
I started out this year with @20 acres and will start out next year with 60-70 acres.
More soil tests and proper fertilizer
Hay *accumulator*
The best thing that I did this year that I will try again next year&#8230;I finally decided that the old saying "make hay while the Sun shines" has a lot more merit than the 10 day forecast. I cut my first cut early and got it all put up (without any rain, I might add) before the soggy months followed. I was taking a nice looking second cutting while most others were taking their first and second growth at the same time. There was not too much good hay made around here this year. I concluded, years ago they did not have such a forecast available, and put hay up when it felt right. The year before, I kept waiting for a clear window and the chance of rain always seemed to be a couple of days away, but never happened. First cutting tends to run over-over mature around here. Most rain chances (in my area) for that time of year are for pop-up showers. If it is Sunny and the radar looks good, CUT HAY!

...oh, did I mention *"accumulator"?*
73, Mark


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ifn I wuz u, I think I'd git me won of them accumaler thangs......my .01


----------



## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

4..Plan on going to more large square bales. 
3. Bale wrapper
2.Be more diligent on cutting reed canary grass.
1.Spend more time at home


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Lol, good thought on number 4 Paul....Branten is gonna demand it.

Funny the way it is......once they come along, a different perspective emerges in all of us.....

Won't be long before he's doing chores, those days go by amazingly quick.....enjoy and emmerce yourself in it, there is truly nothing better in life.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

TJH said:


> Sorry Grateful, that's Red River Crabgrass.


Heck fire TJ....thought you might have been spraying your crab grass with roundup to let it die down/dry down a little before mowing since it is so dang hard to cure crabgrass. 

Regards, Mike


----------



## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Changed that numbering dawg, it's funny what becomes most important.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

stack em up said:


> 4..Plan on going to more large square bales.
> 3. Bale wrapper
> 2.Be more diligent on cutting reed canary grass.
> 1.Spend more time at home


 3 and 4 should help will number 1.


----------



## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

> "Ifn I wuz u, I think I'd git me won of them accumaler thangs......my .01"


Whale sheet, Eye thawt eye wuz the ownlee won dat cud rite like eye tawk. Seereusslee, Eye teckst like dat awl da thyme cuz eye caynt wurk muh sell fone two gud&#8230;Eye kant teckst az fass az eerywun else, sew eye slowem down whit dare reeding! Thanks for the chuckle dawg. Now, don't go balking tackwards like ole Archie Cambell on Hee Haw or wheel have a telluva hime.


----------



## covenanthay (Oct 2, 2009)

Selling Steffen 950 accumulator and bought another bale wagon.


----------



## atgreene (May 19, 2013)

TJH said:


> Plant some rye grass and clovers on the hay fields, keep applying poultry litter. I applied 3 tons on my Bermuda fields and 16 inches of rain leached it (applied in April) will do it in Feb this year. But the biggest change is as of right now, and I'm 99.9% sure, it's all going to be baleage. Have everything I need to do it except the wrapper and the way that's looking is it's going to be a Vermeer SW5000. Still putting a pencil to it, but I'm tired of wasting a third of my hay from outside storage and late cuttings due to weather. We never have good weather when the cool season grasses are at their prime, so it's time to try something new.


What be said ^. Manure, manure, manure. I had a major breakdown with my manure spreader last year, between the lack of rain and the lack of manure it cost me dearly. Already done 90 ton or so, another 90 to go, maybe more.

Funny how manure isn't important on the list of things to due until you're mowing the field. It's the ultimate insurance plan, you don't need it until you need it.

Best thing I did this year was buying a used Krone kr130. Saved my butt this year. Made over 500 bales from mid august until now, the old gehl 1475 couldn't do 12 w/o a breakdown.

The two rake hitch saved me an amazing amount of time as well. Now it's time to do some major maintainance on the 660 and 640 rakes. I'd love a new V rake, but with a two rake hitch I can get buy for a while longer.


----------



## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

No particular order:

Open new ground for hay fields.
Plant some Teff and maybe try a bit of alfalfa.
Cut earlier and more often - quality hay over quantity.
Add a haybine if I find a deal on one.
Absent a haybine, will ted within 3 or 4 hrs after mowing the hay vs waiting a few days.
More hay wagons, an EZ Trail bale basket if I find a deal on one.
Rig my baler with a bale preservative applicator of some sort.
Maybe pick-up another tractor.

Bill


----------



## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Depends what happens with Peabody Coal Company. I rent 240 acres from them which is all reclaimed land and that is where I have my alfalfa production. They are going to reallocate all of their land and rent to 4 or 5 tenants instead of 16. Probably have 8 to 10,000 acres up for bid. Going to try to acquire what they own in the four sections bordering what I farm plus the section I am already in. If I lose what I have now, hay equipment is for sale, going completely row crops. If I keep what I am in and do not get any thing else, status quo. If I can add several hundred acres of virgin dirt, hay equipment is for sale to buy a bigger planter.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

haybaler101 said:


> Depends what happens with Peabody Coal Company. I rent 240 acres from them which is all reclaimed land and that is where I have my alfalfa production. They are going to reallocate all of their land and rent to 4 or 5 tenants instead of 16. Probably have 8 to 10,000 acres up for bid. Going to try to acquire what they own in the four sections bordering what I farm plus the section I am already in. If I lose what I have now, hay equipment is for sale, going completely row crops. If I keep what I am in and do not get any thing else, status quo. If I can add several hundred acres of virgin dirt, hay equipment is for sale to buy a bigger planter.


Yep, I've thought about getting completely out of hay, but would still need to feed the beef cows, have about 70 head again. If gonna make enough hay to feed 70 head of cows might as well make some more since the equipment is already dirty.


----------



## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

I have 3 steers but they eat corn, and turkeys do not do well on hay. But, I would not know what to do all summer, baled hay since I was 5.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

haybaler101 said:


> I have 3 steers but they eat corn, and turkeys do not do well on hay. But, I would not know what to do all summer, baled hay since I was 5.


Yep, I'd get home from Kindergarten, change clothes then go and "help" make hay by rolling the hay bales across the mow as I couldn't pick em up yet.

I could just get the little silo back in working order and feed nothing but corn silage. Paying property taxes on it anyways, might as well be a point in it.


----------



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Josh in WNY said:


> I'll be trading one 5 acre field that was getting too weedy for hay for 5 acres that has been in corn for the last two years. I plan on putting in some teff in the spring to see how that does and then plow that under next August and seed the field into timothy/birdsfoot. This will let me play around with the teff and see how it does while hopefully getting some hay off the field and not have any loss of production acres for the hay.
> 
> I might upgrade my mower this next weekend. There is an auction with a CaseIH 8312 center pivot which would be a nice upgrade from the CaseIH 3309 I'm running right now. There's also a JD 4230, but we'll see how things go. The only other equipment changes are going to be repairs/upgrades to existing stuff. I will probably move the Harvestech system from our old JD336 to the 348. I'm still keeping any eye on the 1038 stacker wagon parked at the local NH dealer, but it's a consignment and the guy is asking way too much. Unfortunately he was at the dealers auction at the end of last month and bid the price up. I'll keep an eye on that for the spring auction.
> 
> The biggest change to the operation for next year will be the fact that I finally have a poll barn to use with the bale wagon. We added a lean-to to the side of our existing barn, 20 feet wide and 72 feet long. It should make it a lot easier for me to get hay in when there isn't anyone else around to help drive tractor and it also increases our storage capacity by about 50%.


Well, I didn't get the mower at the auction, but I did pick up the 4230 (had a separate post about this in the Machine forum). Another guy at the auction also talked to me about a 8312 mower that he is interested in getting rid of, so I may still be able to have a new-to-me mower for next year. I gotta start selling some hay before I spend any more money, though.

The barn addition is pretty much as complete as it will be for this year. There is still some landscaping work that needs to be done, but that will have to wait until next spring and summer. I know the gravel is going to settle in some spots, so I'm going to plan on another few loads of gravel next year for that as well as to help fill in more of the driveway. I don't want to try and do the driveway this fall and have a mud pit deal with all winter.





































































Update: Forgot to add a pic of the new tractor.


----------



## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

With the exception of haybaler 101, you guys seem to know what you're going to do months in advance. Guess i better get planning. I was enjoying a break after harvest but now i feel guilty. Finally renewed some land leases so i can start thinking ahead.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Quick way to bring the old barn down on the BIL's place in Indiana...

Later! OL JR


----------



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Hate to see old barns come down, but that one needed it. I love the way the newer barn in the background is "revealed" in the second video.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Josh in WNY said:


> Hate to see old barns come down, but that one needed it. I love the way the newer barn in the background is "revealed" in the second video.


Yeah, he's wanted it gone and off the tax rolls for a couple years already, and had plenty of "volunteers" come by wanting "barn lumber" and stuff to "decorate" with, but then they'd never show up...

Finally had a guy was was a roofer that had worked with an Amish guy and went independent, and he was taking old barns down for whatever he could get out of them, free of charge... then he'd turn around and sell the "barn lumber" and even the old rusty tin to various "decorators" and contractors that want it for projects...

He pulled most of the tin off, and the siding off the ends, and turns out the beams weren't the type of wood that's in high demand, so he was ready for a little "help" with pulling it down to ground level... he didn't even have a ladder-- we drove by one day and he was up on the roof pulling off tin-- he chipped a hole in the cedar stave shingles and stepped out on the purlins and was ripping off tin and cedar stave shingles, walking on those old ratty purlins... he had guts I'll say that!

Someone he was selling the tin to was getting four dollars a SQUARE FOOT for old rusty tin! Course he didn't get anywhere near that much selling it to them...

He didn't want to wrestle with trying to get the siding out from under the old sliding door railings... too hard to get the hardware out... so he was content to have us pull it down with a haywire and then he'll scrounge what's left that he wants...

The rest will get burned and buried, and then the concrete broken up and buried in the same hole...

Later! OL JR


----------



## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

luke strawwalker said:


> Yeah, he's wanted it gone and off the tax rolls for a couple years already, and had plenty of "volunteers" come by wanting "barn lumber" and stuff to "decorate" with, but then they'd never show up...
> 
> Finally had a guy was was a roofer that had worked with an Amish guy and went independent, and he was taking old barns down for whatever he could get out of them, free of charge... then he'd turn around and sell the "barn lumber" and even the old rusty tin to various "decorators" and contractors that want it for projects...
> 
> ...


Hey Luke we've been watching this show on the DIY Network. These guys are good. They're based out of WV and disassemble log cabins and barns and rebuild them up and down the east coast. Good clean show, "Barnwood Builders". You can watch it online at this link.

http://www.diynetwork.com/shows/barnwood-builders/episodes/200/peeling-layers-off-a-covered-log-home-in-virginia

BTW: I believe that barn you linked could have been pulled down with a riding lawn mower from the looks of it.


----------



## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Getting back 37 acres of the home farm. 20 of it already in hay. Try to have more hay to sell during the winter.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Grateful11 said:


> Hey Luke we've been watching this show on the DIY Network. These guys are good. They're based out of WV and disassemble log cabins and barns and rebuild them up and down the east coast. Good clean show, "Barnwood Builders". You can watch it online at this link.
> 
> http://www.diynetwork.com/shows/barnwood-builders/episodes/200/peeling-layers-off-a-covered-log-home-in-virginia
> 
> BTW: I believe that barn you linked could have been pulled down with a riding lawn mower from the looks of it.


Yeah, it'd been losing tin into the neighbor's yard for a couple years now with each passing storm with strong winds... good thing they're drinking buddies... LOL

Like I said, guy had some guts... no way I'd be walking around on those rotten purlins pulling off tin and stave shingles...

But then again, there's a reason you don't see too many 300 pound roofers... LOL

Later! OL JR


----------



## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

Barnwood just took one down up the street from me.

Glad the KR130 is work ATGreene. I"m up in the air on a double and side delivery rakes or fix the rotary that's been sitting in a field since the end of july. I"ve been raking with the neighbors NH 256. My brother and father are both running doublers. I could have picked one up and filled it with good rakes for less than I have in the rotary.


----------



## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

One thing we may do differently and we're not 100% sure yet but we're thinking about switching to Roundup Ready alfalfa. The market for Mix Hay is strong here so we would probably add orchard grass to the Roundup Ready stand about a year down the road


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I do the same here endrow. Makes for xtra clean stands. I usually go straight alfalfa for 3 years then mix in Orchard. This allows me to get rid of even the tough nuisance weeds and grasses.

Regards, Mike


----------



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

Might have picked up some more hay ground for next year. One of my round bale customers was picking up his last few bales and mentioned that he may be looking for someone to take care of about 17 or so acres at his place, which is about 5 miles away. He just bought the place recently and is in the process of getting things set up for some beef cows. He had a handshake deal with a neighbor to bale it this year, but the guy never showed up. He'll want a few bales for himself, but I would get the extra. Still have the details to work out.

I'm going to go check it out and see what it looks like. It was supposedly reseeded a couple years ago with some timothy/clover/birdsfoot mix but since it hasn't been properly maintained, there might be a lot of weeds in it.


----------



## Holte-Hoff (Jul 31, 2015)

Get a twin hitch for the rakes, and an H&S or Anderson wrapper, inline. But over all I didn't think I did to bad for the first year doing 150 acres instead of the 20 I have done the last three years. Only one way to got for this 23 year old and its up!


----------



## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

Go to the beach more.


----------



## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I put a new set of dentures on my NH269 today. The baler USED TO fit in around these parts...a bunch of missing or broken teeth. It is probably the only thing in this county which has all of its teeth. Uncle helped me change em and speculated that I would be able to cut back on fertilizer next year and realize the same yield as this might pick up all that has been cut! 

Today I also tried out my new (to me) grapple. I had to rearrange some hay to allow access to some that is sold. Had to throw it down and arrange by hand, but then stacked on wagon with grapple. Once other hay is sold, will be able to restack with grapple. Honestly, I coulda got to the other hay without restacking, but kids will be kids and I wanted to play!!! 

REALLY looking forward to first cutting!!!

73, Mark


----------



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

glasswrongsize said:


> I put a new set of dentures on my NH269 today. The baler USED TO fit in around these parts...a bunch of missing or broken teeth. It is probably the only thing in this county which has all of its teeth. Uncle helped me change em and speculated that I would be able to cut back on fertilizer next year and realize the same yield as this might pick up all that has been cut!
> 
> Today I also tried out my new (to me) grapple. I had to rearrange some hay to allow access to some that is sold. Had to throw it down and arrange by hand, but then stacked on wagon with grapple. Once other hay is sold, will be able to restack with grapple. Honestly, I coulda got to the other hay without restacking, but kids will be kids and I wanted to play!!!
> 
> ...


It's always fun using new equipment for the first time! After using a grapple for the first time this summer, I hope to never use the elevator for anything but loading van trailers... and I'm trying to figure out how to eliminate that too.


----------

