The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: FiB on June 22, 2012, 10:48:22 am
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Hay ready to cut... and then this rain and wind! Its all now lying down - my question is could it pop back up given a nice few days. or is that it, ruined? Blimmin weather! On the plus side my reseeded pig field is looking great!
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It will come back (weather permitting)
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Ours is bouncing back OK - had a bit of sun and light wind this afternoon.
Sue
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Assuming better weather, it'll recover. And be careful now about when to cut - the ground will take longer to dry out than the grass, which depending on where you are and your ground may make (a) travelling difficult for the contractor's machinery and (b) it more difficult to get the crop dried as it will be lying on wet ground.
Around here we sometimes have to leave the grass in its cut rows, not spread out, while the wind dries the ground between the rows, then spread and row up again in the in-between spaces to let the wind dry where the rows were last time. ::)
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Yep - here too ::) In fact if it's windy but not sunny, we sometimes do a lot of the drying with the hay in windrows, nice and tall so the wind blows through, and turned still in windrows onto the gap between rows, then we hope for at least a little sun to be able to spread and finish it off.
It's starting to look worrying for ever getting a hay crop - but too early to panic :gloomy: :o :o :gloomy:
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Hmmm - hadn't though of the ground being wet when we do (eventually :fc: ) get to cut - will keep that in mind!
BTW - on a completely different note: My 'insert quote' facility doesn't seem to work ??? I'm using Chrome...
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Around here we sometimes have to leave the grass in its cut rows, not spread out, while the wind dries the ground between the rows, then spread and row up again in the in-between spaces to let the wind dry where the rows were last time. ::)
Yep - here too ::) In fact if it's windy but not sunny, we sometimes do a lot of the drying with the hay in windrows, nice and tall so the wind blows through, and turned still in windrows onto the gap between rows, then we hope for at least a little sun to be able to spread and finish it off.
thank you, thank you, thank you :D When I suggested that to our contractor he just said 'we don't do it that way' >:( >:( . Result - 2 acres of rotted hay. I wish we had our own equipment...
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Oh, sorry to hear that Bramblecott :bouquet: Your contractor has probably never done it that way - you're in sunny southerly Dorset and the kind of weather we've all been having is usually only found north of Preston. Shame he wasn't prepared to listen, though.
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i think it will take a good full dry week to fix this the grain is only half with a month left .iff not sorted by the last week of august its to wet in the mornings to get going to cut .4 weeks left grass barley and chicks.