# Western guys, explain roadside or ditch haymaking



## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

Made a roadtrip to see four faces on a mountain last month. I saw a lot of sad crops and feel for all who suffer over this.

A few things I learned: Iowa is not all flat. The 40+ wind turbines I can see from my farm are NOT an oddity. Meckling SD may well be the hay capitol of the universe, as the sign says. Bison bulls make a growl that sounds a lot like a lion. A 28' rv with 3 females can make 10 days seem, well...

Anyway there were a lot of rounds along the roads west of the Miss. Interstate, secondary didn't matter. Some places were very dry and I know the feed would be a blessing. Others seemed like crops were good and there were plenty of bales from previous crops stacked up and going to waste. Both new and old equipment doing the job. On the other side of the fence is more acres than I farm in one field and on this side there is a guy making 3 swaths of hay on either side of a ditch with traffic whizing by.

Is it just a drought year thing? Community service? Paid by the local govt.? Better growth because of water runoff or minerals? Here there would be lots of garbage and my insurance agent would have a cow.

No disrespect. Just curious. TIA.


----------



## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

If you drive across US RTE 6 in Western Ohio out toward Edgerton, you'll see the same thing. It's common for local farmers to mow, rake and bale the berms. They are actually cutting and bailing right now. Don't know the specifics, but it's state owned property they are harvesting.

Been doing that as long as I've been going out that way, at least 30 years.

I see some paper waste intermingled with the windrows but no trash. Maybe Ohioans are litter minded.


----------



## jturbo10 (Feb 28, 2011)

Years ago it was free and by mutual agreement among farmers you baled the highway sides that corresponded with your land. Now most states put it up for bid as people with no dog in the fight complained that farmers were getting free hay on state land. Some of the land is too steep or rocky to be hayed so I guess the state has to mow those areas at great cost with the price of diesel.


----------



## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Here we can put in bids for the most its very low cost to get but the possibility of machines chewing up hazardous waste like discarded car parts etc has keep me from doing this and the thought of a cow choking on a Peta magazine would give me nightmares. Ive seen some areas done that I don't think my gator should drive across and a occasional bale roll on the road. Some of the folks that harvest these areas patrol them pretty intensely others just sell the hay to who ever. Martin


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Never have seen in in Colorado. For the most parts besides state highways and interstates I'm not sure how one would be able to harvest that hay except for by hand.as there are always ditches and such in the way. Other then that the state takes care of mowing. Besides there never is that much to be worth harvesting as it doesn't get irrigation.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Same here on US 6 in Bremen, but some of those shoulders are wide enough and long enough to almost qualify as a field anyways. That's the only place I have seen roadside hay made in Indiana so far. You can always tell what it is when it comes to auction as well. Not sure if you can't make it before a certain date here, but it always seems well past ripe when it does show up at the auctions.


----------



## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

All of the ditches are baled in ND. Even on the highways. We own to the edge ( or maybe the center) and are responsible to bale the ditches. If you don't, then the tax bill the following year will reflect a charge. It also must be removed by Oct. 1st. or another fine. If you own the land next to the ditch, you are the responsible party. There is basically no trash on our roadways. In Va., I am picking up trash twice a week. No one covers their trash when taking it to the landfill and it flies out the back of the pickup. No one seems to give a damn and I have tracked down people that have dumped on my land. Tires seem to be the worst for that. I hate when people litter. I just want to go by their house and unload my debris in their yard.


----------



## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

I talked to the state about doing some nice straight strips on highway 41 in Indiana a few years ago. The deal had to do with that BCAP program for renewable energy. A guy in Carlyle was supposed to buy it but he never got USDA BCAP approved. Also, the insurance was very high to bale along side the road to meet the state requirements. They were real worried about accidents.
The state also wanted a bunch of warning lights and big orange signs purchased to put in the area.

There are places that have lots of clover and grasses along the roads that would make decent hay if people would throw the trash into cans and not out the window. On Indiana highways 29 and 35 there are a few guys that bale some nice straight flat areas in front of their farms. They must walk the area because it is often pretty clean.


----------



## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

I'd have to do all the work @ night....I don't trust about 95% of the idiots that hold a steering wheel any more. Especially now that about 40% have a phone to their ear, and another 40% are looking at the phone to type instead of watchin' where they are _supposed _to be going.


----------



## Canderson012 (Jan 17, 2012)

Thats neat they bale highway medians, hope you guys don't consider me a "treehugger" by any means but recycling is just the right thing to do, especially with plastic bottles and our 2.5 gallon chemical jugs. Our landfills are only so big


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Canderson012 said:


> Thats neat they bale highway medians, hope you guys don't consider me a "treehugger" by any means but recycling is just the right thing to do, especially with plastic bottles and our 2.5 gallon chemical jugs. Our landfills are only so big


 Well....part of that is if people wouldn't buy the cheapest thing they can find (China) it wouldn't go out 2 days after the warranty is up and end up in the landfill.


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

mlappin said:


> Well....part of that is if people wouldn't buy the cheapest thing they can find (China) it wouldn't go out 2 days after the warranty is up and end up in the landfill.


Ain't that the truth, everybody ought to do there part, part of that would be to quit buying JUNK from ROC! Crap hits our shore and within 5years everything that comes in will be in a landfill, repair nothing, replace it, look how cheap it is........I've had it with that bull***, how about a product with a lifespan measured in years rather than hours.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

When we remodeled the kitchen we did a LOT of window shopping at Sears, Menards, Lowes, HHGreg, etc. Made a list of what we liked, then got the Consumer Reports up online and compared products for longevity and service requirements. We didn't buy the cheapest we could find as I don't mind paying extra if the value is there. Ended up paying over twice but not quite three times what we would of if we just bought the cheapest we could find. Will hopefully take a lot of years to find out if it was worth it or not. I don't have any hope it will last as long as the stuff we replaced though. I'm 42 now, mom bought the stove, fridge and dishwasher after getting her CPA certificate when I was in middle school.

If people would demand quality and be willing to pay a little extra for it, then we'd have more choices of quality products.

We have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, mom gave it to my wife when we announced our engagement, Mom had already had it for years and it was a factory refurbished unit when she bought it, bet it has been in the family for 20 years now and is still going strong. It's disappointing that the new ones look identical to ours, but I bet the quality just isn't there like the old ones had.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Canderson012 said:


> Thats neat they bale highway medians, hope you guys don't consider me a "treehugger" by any means but recycling is just the right thing to do, especially with plastic bottles and our 2.5 gallon chemical jugs. Our landfills are only so big


No man....we woouldn't hang that on you(treehugger).....recycling is just using good judgement. My mom has recycled all her life....won't throw a dang thing away.









Regards, Mike


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

How does one mow and bale ditches? I'm trying to figure that out. I know there are some fancy mowers that can stretch out and go down into ditches and such, but how does one make the hay/grass/trash into a windrow for baling out of the ditch?


----------



## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Just by using a sickle mower. That's what we use. Just gotta watch out for the pipes at the approaches. We use a NH and a Rowse. There is hardly any trash to pickup. Now in Va., that's a totally different story. I only mow from the field side. I would not dare mow from the road.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

yes but how do you get the hay out of the ditches and such to be able to bale it? Or is it pitchforks for everyone? Around here the ditches at the edges of the roads are usually about 3 or more feet deep. Kinda hard to get cut grass out of that.


----------



## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

The ditches in ND are very sweeping and wide. No steep dropoffs. They are meant to catch snow blowing across the roads and fill up. So they are moved with a loader tractor. No problem. Mike


----------

