[Fleecewife]

Has anyone north of the border got their hay in yet?  I'm starting to panic a bit, not so much because it's late July, as we often haven't got in in by this time.  It's more looking at the forecast, pressure charts etc, that there seems to be a never ending succession of low pressure systems heading our way, with their accompanying rain and clouds, and no prospect of change.  We had a boiling day on Tuesday, followed by the best thunderstorm we've had for years on Wed morning.  Spectacular to see, but not much good for haymaking.
So how's it going for everyone else? 

[sabrina]

Having Shetlands I prefer to buy hay made the year before. I keep a stock and in the Spring buy another load. If no good hay I buy haylage. Its always touch and go for good hay in Scotland.

[CarolineJ]

We cut two fields yesterday, but are hedging our bets and have kept the large one standing just in case we don't get these in.  I only need about 150 bales and the guy cutting it for me reckons I'll get at least 100 off the smaller of the two done yesterday, so if it all comes in I might actually have some to sell as well, which would be great in my first year of having it off my own fields.

[lord flynn]

the guy I buy from baled some back in late May and he's busy doing it now. I'm buying barn-stored hay from 2014 from him for my horses though-this is around Carmichael. Not sure if my other hay guy has cut yet-he's Pentlands way-I usually get small bale off him and small bale haylage as a back up.

[Fleecewife]

Thanks everyone - so at least I'm not alone 

<<<'there's a day for everything and everything has its day, you just need some patience'>>>
Scarlet.dragon - we have a lovely neighbour like that, so laid back and he never panics.

Ours is meadow hay too, so it didn't get flattened even during the enormous thunderstorm, and it dries out to the ground quite quickly.
We do have 44 bales left over from last year, and it's good, but I'd rather have more than that, although we won't be breeding and I don't know how many sheep we will have to overwinter.  We like to help out a few friends locally if they don't have enough hay, and if the worst came to the worst we could buy some in at an exorbitant price.

I'll just sit back and wait then for some    Ohm Ohm 

[SallyintNorth]

I'm just south of the Border, as you know.

Last year we didn't manage to get any small bale hay at all; just never had that window of predictable 4 dry days. We got some big round bales, and plenty of silage/haulage, so feed wasn't an issue per se - it's the difficulty of getting the forage to the outside stock.  Needs a trailer to feed any quantity of animals, or several trips with rolls of hay strapped to the back of the quad - very laborious.

BH got so miserable as the wet winter rolled on, and the ground got more and more mashed by him going out with his quad and trailer.  He's almost agreed with me now that he should buy in small bale hay if he can't make any, just to use for the outside livestock, so he can do it with just the quad when the ground's wet.  It galls him though, passionate as he is about making hay, and grass being the only crop this farm grows.

So far this year we have cut twice, and both times not had that bit of luck.  In both fields he risked a few bales as hay, the rest wrapped for safety.  But we've had no chance of making small bale hay.

We have made small bales in August, and even once on Sept 1st, but it gets harder as the days get shorter and the evening and morning dew shortens the hay-working day even further.

That barn-drying system sounds very interesting, Scarlet.Dragon.  Do you know any more about it?

[CarolineJ]

I was reading somewhere (and annoyingly I can't remember where - I think it might have been a book about a year in the life of a meadow or similar) about a chap who cut his hay by scythe, a bit at a time, brought it inside almost straight away, laid it on frames to dry and then stacked loose.  I must try and find it again.

(Current hay sit-rep, it's rained a bit this morning and it seems the baler has seized up at some point in the last six months - now applying large amounts of WD40 and grease!)

[SallyintNorth]

(Current hay sit-rep, it's rained a bit this morning and it seems the baler has seized up at some point in the last six months - now applying large amounts of WD40 and grease!)

What BH usually tries to do is get the outside of one of the earlier fields to be cut processed (by himself) into small bales.  It gives the baler its first run-out of the year, and lets him get it sorted and running smoothly before it's needed to do a whole field in an afternoon.  And if he struggles with it, he can just get the contractor that's baling the bulk of the field to do the outside too.

Great strategy, but several years in the last 7 he's never even got the baler out of the shed

[oor wullie]

Still waiting for a chance to cut my hay. 
I work away from home so when the weather window does come I only have a 50% chance of being able to use it....

On holiday in the Dolomites (NE Italy) in June I watched the farmers mow their meadows on Wednesday morning and by tea time on Thursday it was all dried and stored in barns.  Made me a bit jealous.

[lord flynn]

On holiday in the Dolomites (NE Italy) in June I watched the farmers mow their meadows on Wednesday morning and by tea time on Thursday it was all dried and stored in barns.  Made me a bit jealous.

ha, yes-like when you go to Canada, see their enormous hay fields and in their summer heat, they dont have to turn it at all.

There is a hay supplier at Ratho who barn dries his hay with a grain drier. It is quite the luminous green! Lovely stuff but a bit too much for my ponies. Its about £6.50 a bale and very loosely (obvs by necessity) baled.

[SallyintNorth]

On holiday in the Dolomites (NE Italy) in June I watched the farmers mow their meadows on Wednesday morning and by tea time on Thursday it was all dried and stored in barns.  Made me a bit jealous.

Where I'm moving to baled yesterday (Thursday), and were asking folk to give a hand getting the bales under cover.  One was offering to help on Monday or Tuesday.  Brought it home to me - I cannot remember ever having more than a day to get it all put away; usually we've had to bale because rain is forecast, so we've left it as late as we dared so it's as dry as possible, and then we're all flat out trying to get it under cover before the rain ruins it all, often working to midnight and beyond,

[Fleecewife]

The big difference I've noticed between here and warmer climes ie mostly meaning the south of England as I haven't been anywhere else since we lived here, is that there is no rush about haymaking.  People don't seem to be watching the met reports with eagle eyes, then doing the making as quickly and efficiently as possible, whilst watching the skies every minute.

In fact there's only been one year in the 21 we've been here that we lost the crop completely, and that was because we were relying on someone else to do the work for us, but of course they had to get their own in first.  After that we got our own equipment.  In some years we will cut our hay knowing that there will be rain that night or the next day.  But even wet it still starts to wilt, so once the promised high pressure comes we've got a headstart.  Rain at the end when the hay is nearly ready is much more of a problem.
Here we really need five good days. Once, but only once, the hay was made in three wonderful sunny, breezy days.   Mmmm that was the year 

[Rupert the bear]

50/ 50  cut half and still waiting to bale  , rest is still standing 

[Rupert the bear]

still rainy on and off , cut stuff on the ground too long to become haylage  standing stuff getting too "woody"   

so all the kit back in the shed , call the tractor club so they can play and buy it in this year 
 

[Fleecewife]

We're still hoping  but it's not looking promising, with an endless stream of low pressure systems holding the Azores High at bay.  The store is all cleaned out, ready and waiting.....
We have enough of last year's hay to maybe last the winter, given our very reduced numbers, but we would far rather have fresh, and not have rotting grass all over the hay field.
We have made hay as late as mid August, but really the days are shortening fast by then, and usually the heat is beginning to go out of the sun.
We need to be decisive like you Rupert the bear 

I noted in my diary back in June, when we had a heatwave " does this mean it will be wet at haymaking?"  The answer to that is "YES"