The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Fleecewife on August 21, 2023, 11:34:17 pm
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Through a mixture of me being in and out of hospital this year and the weather being unsympathetic to haymaking, our crop is still lying sodden in the field a week away from the end of August. This will be only the second time in almost 30 years that we have not cropped our hay to feed our sheep. It doesn't really matter this year as we will not be lambing them next spring, so our supplies of last year's hay plus Willow branches will probably be enough, unless it's a particularly severe winter (plus a few judicious sales).
Is anyone else in the same boat? I'm wondering what you do with the fallen grass? One year our neighbour cut his to 'tidy up' between Christmas and New Year :D . I wondered if our Superpowered Hebrideans would manage to eat it off or would it be safer to cut and compost it because of the length?
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Nobody has been able to make any here this year .... it has rained every 2 days since end June .... and grass didnt start growing till July!
My few cows are getting fatter and fatter!
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Nobody has been able to make any here this year .... it has rained every 2 days since end June .... and grass didnt start growing till July!
My few cows are getting fatter and fatter!
Oh well, they'll get thinner and thinner over winter :o :innocent:
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For once we got the biggest hay field shut up earlier, and were ready to make hay in June. But the combination of weather and our contractor didn't happen. By the time he had some space in his schedule, the rains had started, and now the crop is as thick as I've ever seen it here, the ground is moist and soft underneath it, so it'll take at least 3 probably 4 dry days to make hay. (Usually it's quite a thin crop and we can often get it baled - small bales - on the second day.) We had a 2-day window in the weather recently, but the contractor said that small bale haylage wasn't an option either, as with only 2 days drying, the bales would still be too heavy for his baler.
So I am definitely feeling that I don't want to shut up the biggest hay field early again! (I shall go back to lambing in there, and I lamb second half of April, so the field doesn't then get shut up until well into May.)
We've made small bale hay here in September before, but that was with a much thinner crop, so we will be lucky to get any hay this year now. However, I remember one year we managed to make small bale hay in September up on Hadrian's Wall, so I shan't completely give up hope yet! Also, we could make big round bale hay if we had to, which can be baled a bit damper and left to air in the field if necessary. (We can just about manage to use big round bales of hay, although it's a faff, but we don't have enough stock to get through a big round bale of haylage before it goes off - plus we don't feed haylage in the fields as it destroys the soil structure.)
I am fairly confident we should still get some small bale haylage from the smaller field, which was shut up later (expecting to be a second crop, but we've not managed a first crop yet...) So hopefully we'll get the haylage we need for the cattle (who we house over winter.) But I am ruefully expecting to be keeping the bigger hay field as winter forage for the sheep, and buying in hay for the ponies and some for the sheep when they need a bit extra towards the end of winter. Thankfully there's a local farmer makes rough old untreated hay which is perfect for the ponies, and the sheep will eat when they need it - and the farmer always has hay if we need it, he's been a godsend many times! He charges a sensible price too. But it's going to be galling buying in poorer hay for more money than it would have cost to make our own, when we should've had more than plenty of our own...
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We’re still using up 3-yo hay from our first summer here! Just as well as hay harvest has been disastrous so far. Apart from an early cut in June haymakers in Devon are struggling and as a result the quantity and quality will suffer and prices will rise! We have a few bales left that will see us through half the winter but fully expecting to pay high later. Unless we have a fantastic autumn, but even then you need twice the time to make hay than in the summer as temperatures fall and dews make drying slower. We made the decision not to make our own hay due to the investment in machinery required. Consequently we’re prepared to pay if we have to. Fortunately horses don’t require high nutritional value hay and the sheep live on air!
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Ours is on the ground, OH just got back from turning it. Balers are coming tomorrow. It has a lot of 2nd growth and feed value not going to be great but it’ll have to do. It looked cracking in the dry spell in June but we’d spread fertiliser on it so couldn’t cut :gloomy:
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@Forestiens it's interesting what you say about having taken the decision not to make your own hay because of the cost of equipment.
When we came here nearly 30 years ago, our housewarming present from a brother in law was a rather the worse for wear David Brown tractor, which had been in a crash! My husband is skilled with mechanics, so we gradually bought lots of last-legs machinery in the local sales and he did them up. They included a small square baler. Since then we have learnt how to make hay and how to do it in Scotland where it's a constant battle against the rain and, in our area anyway, there's no such thing as a second cut! All the grotty old machinery has lasted the course apart from a hay bob which had to be replaced a few years ago - with a NEW one :yippee:
I have noticed that quite a lot of folk on TAS get contractors in to make their hay so I thought that I would mention that it is possible to buy second (5th) hand machinery if you can do the repairs yourself. Not only does this save money but it ensures that yours is the only crop being cut at the time ie your contractor isn't trying to cut several other peoples' crops that day. We never thought we would be able to buy a baler but it cost only £500! Not much spread out over 30 years!
So for people new to smallholding, it is possible to do things yourself, especially if you take the long view.
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Got mine made 2 weeks ago, about half the yield of last year and the weather window was a few hours too short for the second field so that had to be wrapped.
It's easy to see why most people here wrap, it must save a lot of nerves!
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@Forestiens it's interesting what you say about having taken the decision not to make your own hay because of the cost of equipment.
[member=4333]Fleecewife[/member] cost of equipment is not the only reason. We rarely have more than 6 acres available to make hay and the risk of ending up with a load of rubbish with limited storage facilities is such that we’d rather buy what little we need in and let others take the risk! We don’t like relying on contractors either, I’d hate to be one, especially this year! We’re fortunate that we can keep the animals out all year without them making much mess! So the hay is really just bulk fibre for the horses and the sheep get any duff or dusty bales to eat/ bounce on!
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Nobody has been able to make any here this year .... it has rained every 2 days since end June .... and grass didnt start growing till July!
We did!!
Grass grew well this spring and we made hay in mid June when the weather was perfect. Then the intermittent rain and sunshine since has meant the grass has kept growing amazing - even into August when it normally slows right down.
We are in the middle of Yorkshire, so don't have a unique climate. So I can't understand why so many people have been unable to get a hay crop. June hay is the most nutritious. You might get more in July (weather permitting) but it is more stemmy and has lost digestibility. So to me - any time after the end of May if the weather is right then we cut it. As they say - make hay when the sun shines! No good waiting for a heavier crop and good weather in a few weeks because (as this year), it may never happen.
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We are in the middle of Yorkshire, so don't have a unique climate. So I can't understand why so many people have been unable to get a hay crop.
For once we got the biggest hay field shut up earlier, and were ready to make hay in June. But the combination of weather and our contractor didn't happen. By the time he had some space in his schedule, the rains had started.
Is why.
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We are in the middle of Yorkshire, so don't have a unique climate. So I can't understand why so many people have been unable to get a hay crop.
We spread fertiliser in late April/early may which thanks to the drought didn’t soak in properly, so when we wanted to cut, we couldn’t.
Our hay got wet last night and today, it’s a sore subject in our house :rant:
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Nobody has been able to make any here this year .... it has rained every 2 days since end June .... and grass didnt start growing till July!
We did!!
Grass grew well this spring and we made hay in mid June when the weather was perfect. Then the intermittent rain and sunshine since has meant the grass has kept growing amazing - even into August when it normally slows right down.
We are in the middle of Yorkshire, so don't have a unique climate. So I can't understand why so many people have been unable to get a hay crop. June hay is the most nutritious. You might get more in July (weather permitting) but it is more stemmy and has lost digestibility. So to me - any time after the end of May if the weather is right then we cut it. As they say - make hay when the sun shines! No good waiting for a heavier crop and good weather in a few weeks because (as this year), it may never happen.
Ah yes, I lived in Yorkshire for a while - tropical :sunshine: Here, there was NO rain in spring so by June the grass was perhaps 3-4 inches long, so nothing to cut, not just that we wanted to wait for more. In fact in our part of Scotland we rarely cut hay before late July anyway. It poured for the rest of the year and there is still no sign in the forecast of more than a dry day or two together. We're still hopeful :farmer:
So if we need to buy in hay, Yorkshire's the place to come?
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Nobody has been able to make any here this year .... it has rained every 2 days since end June .... and grass didnt start growing till July!
. So I can't understand why so many people have been unable to get a hay crop. June hay is the most nutritious.
Lucky you!!
We had a spring drought alongside some very cold winds ... there was no grass to graze never mind cut here in June!
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We could have done it in June but our horses were still on the field and by the time we got their summer field ready (it’s our first year here and the place had not been well kept for a while) it was too late.
Their summer field is in a worse state than the winter field ever was !
We have a friendly farmer who was going to do the hay. He took the grass off the summer fields for silage before the horses went on. He came around the other day and was very pessimistic about getting it off now so he’ll take it for haylage and will give us hay as he has plenty.
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We got a good crop in June while we had a dry fortnight and for us the wet weather since has been a bonus as the regrowth has been superb. Last year we got an early June crop made just in time before the drought hit and ended up feeding hay from July right through to the winter. Fortunately it was leftover crop from 2021 so we still have plenty left in the barn from last year and now this year.
Sounds like a good deal with your friendly farmer KirinChris.
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Ah yes, I lived in Yorkshire for a while - tropical :sunshine: Here, there was NO rain in spring so by June the grass was perhaps 3-4 inches long, so nothing to cut, not just that we wanted to wait for more. In fact in our part of Scotland we rarely cut hay before late July anyway. It poured for the rest of the year and there is still no sign in the forecast of more than a dry day or two together. We're still hopeful :farmer:
So if we need to buy in hay, Yorkshire's the place to come?
It would seem so! :fc: :thumbsup:
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In west yorkshire. Came back off holiday yesterday 2.30 and was getting the hay crop in at 5.30. The weather has been cruel and my grass is a late growing mix, so when the june heatwave was on, it was 6" tall. When it was cut 10 days ago it was much better, having over come the blasted yellow rattle as well
The yield was rubbish, but I was getting to the stage that I thought I would never get any,
however, calender says it was the same time last year, but much better weather and yield
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We cut ours in the south of Scotland two days ago. There is a High Pressure system building which is almost certainly going to be our only chance of getting a hay crop in so :fc:
Negatives are that the grass was a bit wet, and the ground too when we cut. Also that we had a bulky amount of second growth coming through the first grass. It's actually looking quite good though :farmer:
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If the forecast holds, we'll be mowing tomorrow.... Keep your fingers crossed for us please!
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:fc: :fc: :fc:
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We got ours off yesterday but it will go for silage not hay.
The downside to being reliant on someone else for cutting and baling. It probably would have dried this week but the chap who does it for us isn't going to have time later so he had to take it while he could.
We don't need the silage so he will take it all, but he has hay from earlier in the year and will let us have as much as we need through the winter.
We got 42 large bales from our top field (it's about 4.5 acres). Hopefully next year we'll get hay and have some excess to sell.
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It's noticeably cooler and damper overnight now than in our usual haymaking time of June/July, so the dew hasn't burnt off until lunchtime. It's still nailbiting stuff - will we get it or will we not? :tired: We're hoping for Wednesday, but now the three point has started playing up. :fc: we can bring the crop in without needing to use the 3point too much :fc:
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Tenant cut our field yesterday, I believe he got a crop off other fields in June, but due to no rent payment, I wouldn't let him on my fields, he suddenly turned up with money yesterday :) . Hopefully weather will be kind and he gets a good crop.
Hope everyone is managing to get theirs in. :fc:
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Well, we baled, carted and stacked ours yesterday and actually got a lovely, sweet-smelling, good-sized crop. I'm amazed as I never expected grass which had been rained on most days since July to make so well. It took a week, with a bit of rain early on.
I'm so pleased we got it in yesterday as today is overcast and humid, with no more good dry days to come. Serendipity ;D :farmer: (and the 3point linkage held up)
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We got our biggest crop ever on Wednesday. It was nailbiting here too, possibility of rain Weds overnight meant we had to go for Weds but our contractor thought it needed till Friday to be hay... so it was decisions minute by minute, and needed all community members to give it their all to get it in and stacked under cover before midnight, but we did it. And a lot of it is hay, with a enough haylage for the cows for this winter and a bit towards next.
:relief:
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That's a situation where a community must be a huge help :D . I'm glad you got a crop too, now you can relax :relief:
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Looks like some good stuff off our fields, been a lot of dew, but he has been turning it on afternoons, baled yesterday.
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It’s certainly been a pretty tough year for haymakers. Our neighbours crop was cut on 22 August and was baled in a sea fog on 8 September! I can’t imagine it will be fed to anything apart from a biomass boiler. If only they’d held their nerve and waited it might have been a half decent crop after last week’s glorious weather.
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Our august cut stuff that got wet was round baled in the end after 16 days and made some gut fill for the cows this winter. We managed to make some small bales last week to much relief, it had a shower on it but the sun came out and managed to bale it before the thunderstorms. Thank god :thumbsup: