The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: dog on February 09, 2016, 12:36:31 pm
-
Hello everyone,
I just came across this great site so thought I'd join up. Live in Rutland and we moved in to our house about 3 years ago with a big garden and a 2 acre paddock. We have a small ride on mower to cut the lawn but it can't cope with the paddock.
We are new to owning any sort of land and looking for some ideas on how best to manage the paddock (not quite ready to venture in to getting any animals on it yet though). During the first summer I flagged down the local farmer and he cut it for hay and took it all away. Last year we left the grass to grow (so it is long!) and this year I am thinking of making hay myself, but not sure how best to give away/sell the bails. Any ideas would be welcome, and look forwards learning...
Cheers
Chris
-
Hi, :wave: Making hay seems a good option, but I have no idea about selling it. I am still recovering from the various bits of machinery that my other half has convinced me we needed for the hay making, but we are planning to keep for our animals.
Big signs outside farms and advertising on facebook seem the most common ways to sell.
-
Thanks, making hay does seem to need alot of equipment, but from what I can see I would probably cut it mechanically then do the rest by hand and produce small bails, as I don't have that much land. I'd hope to be able to give it away or sell for donations at the end of my driveway with a couple of facebook posts like you say. :thinking:
Or that may just turn out to be too much like hard work and I might just end up topping it... ::)
-
Why not drop a message into Melton Mowbray market incase they know of anyone needing hay?
-
Can't help with the hay question but wanted to say Welcome to the TAS forum. :wave:
-
:wave:and from North Lincolnshire
-
Welcome :wave:
Depending on many things, you might expect perhaps 180 small bales from 2 acres. That's properly packed by a baling machine - so there would be many, many more if you are making them by hand.
A 20-25kg bale of good hay would fetch anything from £3 to £4.50. Home-made squishy bales less, of course.
We calculate that it costs us approx. £2.50 per bale to make, if we paid for all the operations and labour.
I'm not sure why you would want to make it yourself if you aren't really looking for a financial return, and don't have livestock to eat it. If your local farmer is happy to take it again, that would seem like the best option. He might even be prepared to give you something in return, depending on how far he's having to travel to do the job.
Otherwise, if you decide to make it and sell it, I'd explore getting the local contractor to do it. Home-made bales aren't particularly appealing - they're difficult to handle because they're not very tightly packed (and that gets worse as they dry and age), take up more space because they're not very tightly packed, and, because they're not very tightly packed, the stack can become unstable and dangerous, and/or fall.
If you decide to have a go yourselves, you need, as a minimum:
There are older pieces of kit I haven't used, like tedders; I'll leave others to tell you about those.
The process is, when you have 4 dry days ahead of you:
- Day 1. Mow when the dew is off the grass.
- Later Day 1 or Day 2 when the dew is off - turn and spread
- Later Day 2 or Day 3 when the dew is off - turn and spread again
- Possibly turn and spread a few more times until dry
- Row up, into lines for the baler
- Bale and stack
For us, here in Cumbria, we'd always need 4 or 5 dry days, and really need a 'killing' (very dry, hot) day for baling. In some places further south, less days are needed, and the hay can't be worked so many times or it becomes dry and dusty. (But doesn't need to be worked so many times, as it dries better in the warmer, drier conditions.)
-
Hi All,
Thank you all, and Sally, for your great and detailed advice. The question you posed at the start is a good one: why bother. I ask myself the same.
It looks like if I were to do this myself I'd need to invest in some kit (even second hand isn't cheap) and if I'm lucky could make £500-600 each year, for a weeks hard work. Or, get someone to do it for me and make £100-£200 for little effort.
The farmer option is good but I don't know them. The landowner is based miles away, the people who farm it are employed by the landowner and I don't know them either and I have only ever seen anyone in the fields a couple of times in the 3 years I've lived here (that includes the time they were cutting their own fields for hay). So it is pot luck if I happen to see them in the fields - hence the consideration of doing it myself as at least I know what I'm doing then. Exploring the Melton market is a good idea.
The other option for the paddock is to top it a few times a year and not bother with hay at all - but this requires different kit so once I've decided on a path it will be expensive to change.
Cheers all,
Chris
-
I don't know their name but the farm that grazes sheep on Burghley might be interested as they also have cattle - I imagine if you rang burghley they could put you in touch? They may also know of horse owners etc interested?
-
Thanks I will do that, that is a good tip.
Cheers
Chris
-
Hello everyone,
I just came across this great site so thought I'd join up. Live in Rutland and we moved in to our house about 3 years ago with a big garden and a 2 acre paddock. We have a small ride on mower to cut the lawn but it can't cope with the paddock.
We are new to owning any sort of land and looking for some ideas on how best to manage the paddock (not quite ready to venture in to getting any animals on it yet though). During the first summer I flagged down the local farmer and he cut it for hay and took it all away. Last year we left the grass to grow (so it is long!) and this year I am thinking of making hay myself, but not sure how best to give away/sell the bails. Any ideas would be welcome, and look forwards learning...
Cheers
Chris
You can take your hay and sell it in Melton Mowbray Market or give it to me to feed my rabbits as I'm not far from you lol
-
Hi and welcome to the forum Chris! :wave: If you have any questions then ask all you like and we will be very happy to answer as best we can.
-
Hi from a Coalville lad dog, is your surname bone?