Baling More 2-day Hay! (2024)
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Deja vu all over again! (This time with some nicer sun.)
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(We are a 53-acre haying operation in Conway, MA - making all small square bales for the local food, fiber, and livestock community. Learn more about our farm at windrowfarmconway.com, or connect with us on instagram @windrow.farm)
Equipment List:
Massey Ferguson 275 Tractor
Massey Ferguson 165 Tractor
Massey Ferguson 135 Tractor
Vermeer TM610 disc mower
Vicon RS410T Tedder
Kuhn GA4101 GTH rotary rake
New Holland 256 hay rake
Massey Ferguson 124 baler (with New Holland 70 bale thrower)
Four kicker wagons
Delmhorst FX-2000 Hay Moisture Meter
Sundown Fertilizer Spreader
love them old Massey ferguson tractors ..thanks for sharing
@@lordmetal3842 Me too! thanks for watching!
Impressive windrows and yield…😎
@@HumbleHaymakers thanks! Yields really went nuts this year. Sorry you’re dealing with dryness around you - if it’s not one extreme it’s the other, it seems…
Always a great feeling to have the hay in the barn. My second cutting got rained on last Wednesday but then dried nicely those same 2 days. 6/27-6/28. Here in North East Ohio.
Thanks! And ugh, but glad you got it dried back out! Salvageable?
Yes. It’s still pretty decent hay
I knew from the start that you were not going to like hay being thrown against that uncut edge! Some of that grass was really tall...is that field fertilized?
😆 yep, should have seen that coming. And yep, fertilized this spring - the previous hay farmers took excellent care of it too, it yields like crazy. Thanks for following along, as always!
how much tedding is too much? Is it true that you should try with as little tedding as possible, so that the leaves don't fall from the hay? Have you seen any quality difference?
Great question! In my experience that has become an exaggeration when talking about grass hay. I have never done alfalfa, so I can’t speak for that. But I think that’s where all of the tedding fear generally comes from, as far as I can tell. Clover too, to a certain extent. But in my experience so long as you’re not going out there in dry hay and running the tedder at full steam, I really don’t notice leaf shatter problems in grass. And with my climate, I tend to have so much yield and enough wet ground that I would always rather get it adequately dry even if I’m sacrificing a little.
I feel like the Tedder really is a Swiss Army knife for grass hay at at least. I run it harder when the hay is green and wet, and each time I work it, I slow the tedder down and start to shift up gears on the tractor to just move it gently. People have other opinions, just my experience! 😊
Thanks for asking (and watching!)
@@windrowfarm That make sense. Thanks for the info!
@@BloodHoundDiesel of course! Thanks for asking!
@@windrowfarm I've watched a lot of tedding videos, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone get closer to perfecting the match of ground speed and PTO speed to just shake out the hay enough, but not too much. I cringe watching some people kicking the hay to death! I guess that's one of the things you've learned over ten years of making hay. I "discovered" your channel when YT suggested your video explaining your rationale for not using a mower conditioner, a video I also liked. That is one that will be debated until the cows come home (sorry for the pun, if it's a pun), but I feel conditioning is best avoided if you can, and maybe something that's easier to accomplish for a smaller producer. For someone doing hundreds of acres all season long and running big equipment, I can see how they prefer MC's. I'm just always looking for valid reasons why not to use a conditioner. Keep up the good work.
@@johnmccarthy6767 Hey there - thanks so much! That means a ton. I definitely take pride in trying to be as diligent with rpm/ground speed in tedding as I can, and I'm right with you re: cringing when others are giving it "full berries" when the hay is starting to dry. Ditto on the conditioner discussion, I'm right with you too! Sounds like you do hay also - where abouts? What do you have for a mower?
Thanks so much for watching / following along - always glad to connect with and hear from others in the hay world.
When stacking in the barn do you Stack in the edge? I ways stack first layer on edge then stack normal from there ,any benefit to stacking all on edge? I know if you had an accumulator and a grapple they’re going to get stacked on edge anyway
That’s a good question! I always stack on edge just out of habit. It’s how I grew up doing it, and I like being able to grab bales by the twine from the side later on. Also, if there’s any moisture iffyness, I think on edge (especially with cut-side up) can allow them to sweat out better. But in a second story hay loft I think it’s pretty arbitrary and just comes down to personal preference
How many acres of hay do you make each year I thought about it doing it myself just wondering how many acres do you need to make it pay
Hi there! I have 53 acres lined up this year - though I would say that's not the key to making haying profitable. There are so many variables, maybe chief among them is what region you're in and what the market is like, and also what your overhead costs are. I'm lucky to be in an area where dry small squares are in high demand, and fields are so small, hilly, and tucked up in the hills that I have free lease on the ground I cover (it helps the owners keep their fields managed, without a competing use to drive up rent prices). I run a lot of numbers on equipment investments and try to keep my overall expenses each year as low as I can (while keeping everything in good repair and not skimping on field fertility). So there are unfortunately a lot of factors, and not sure I would coach anyone by saying "once you get to X acres, it becomes profitable". That said, this is what has worked for me, as part of my livelihood (I also work half-time for a nonprofit with very flexible work from home hours, which I feel very lucky for).
Sounds like maybe making a video about this might be helpful to folks - thanks so much for asking! Where abouts are you located?
@@windrowfarm Central Wisconsin
@@fullers1966 Oh, that's a beautiful area! I wish I knew more about the hay marketing / demand in that area to advise anything. A decent first step could be to see how much hay is going for (in whatever type of bale you're interested in). Around here, perusing FB marketplace and Craigslist can give a snapshot, though mid-summer it can really depend what sort of season your area is having. Hope that helps!
@@windrowfarm generally you get three crops a year this year it's hard to get one all it's doing is raining add small squares in my ear you're going between$6 to $8 a bale we have a lot of horses and goats in my area
@@fullers1966 Nice, that's similar to here with pricing. Sorry to hear it's so wet - that was our year last year. It's always something...