One more hay cutting that is. Second cutting is finally off of the field and the water is up and running again.
This year sure has been a struggle compared to last year. Between wind storms and rain storms our second cutting is definitely not the nice quality we got last year. There wasn't a lot of moisture when it was baled, so the flakes don't hold together like they should. But the choice was either let it get rained on in the windrow or get it baled and let it rain on the bales...we took the second option as the lesser of two evils.
These are some pretty happy alfalfa plants getting
a good drink of water. It hasn't been watered since July 26.
Cindy Sue rode shotgun with me again in the semi
when we picked up the big bales out of the field.
My Man works a full time job in town, so we've been out every night this week until way after dark getting bales off the field and setting up irrigation. Thank goodness for the The Crockpot Lady...dinner at 10 PM for the past few nights out of the slow cooker was wonderful!
Now that I can run the backhoe to load the big bales,
I got the task of running 2 loads over to the scales.
Then I unloaded the trailer and put them in
the big stack. Getting the top 2 bales in the
stack at 5 high is a little tricky :~0
Second cutting usually doesn't make dairy quality because of the short growing period. So, we have some 2 string bales done for ourselves. A couple of friends wanted some too, so we had 10 ton baled in the 2 string.
Hay Man Rudy and My Man prepare to unload the second stack.
Without the long poles, the stacks would have fallen.
The precariously stacked hay made me awful nervous.
Part of our barn makeover is to raise the floor level so we don't get flooded out inside the barn anymore. A friend came by with his laser and shot the grade for us a couple of weeks ago. My Man's been hard at work getting the hay floor finished so we could get the hay into the barn when it was ready.
The wood floor is 12x24 for the hay area. Then we'll put down
rock to raise up the center isle and stalls to the top of the wood
floor. Rubber mats will go down the whole center isle.
The stalls already have rubber mats.
NO MORE DUST!!!
Ahhhh...alfalfa in the barn. Now we need to finish filling
the barn up with grass hay from another grower.
Hay in the barn is a wonderful feeling...but it
also means Fall is just around the corner!!
as to fall.... last nite we had lots of rain and it was 40 degrees this am....... I noticed the horses are slipping a bit of summer hair, that means winter hair is coming soon.
ReplyDeleteI love the feeling of having hay for the winter. We bought about 10T of nice triticale hay, I have a little soft meadow hay for the old mare and will buy big bales of filler hay as needed. We don't have a barn but have it all tarped, the cats like it they think its a barn as the stack is quite high.
Great progress on the new floor, and now I have rubber mat envy.... sigh, at least another year before we even approach a barn. Maybe by winter I'll have a tackroom tho. Fingers crossed.
It feels good to have the hay put up for the winter. Alas I still buy mine every 2-3 weeks all winter ((sigh)) I am lucky to have my supplier just a mile down the road. Its a bummer when he runs out of grass in late winter though, and I have to feed some alfalfa. They get goofy on alfalfa LOL
ReplyDeleteSecond cut here will be in September and sometimes we have freeze dried hay. The August/State Fair rains have just started so the hay is looking really good.
ReplyDeleteDo you have your stall mats for your alleyway? Oregon Rubber in Portland has the best price on mats. I bought three 5x7 mats when I came down last September to get my new-to-me trailer and seven sheep.
Cowgirl Rae~Everything about life is a "work in progress" isn't it? LOL No matter where you are, there's always something to fix up or get. I'll cross my fingers with ya!
ReplyDeleteReddunappy~I've always been a grass hay person my self. It's cheaper to bale some of our own and then I usually feed 1/2 and 1/2. I'm buying enough grass hay to feed my fatties strictly grass hay. Colt really needs the alfalfa and thankfully he doesn't get silly on it...but again, I don't feed it alone.
AKPonyGirl~I've not checked out the prices there...but I will. Les Schwab (the tire store) is usually where we've gotten them in the past. And, now the lumber store that My Man works at carries them. So, with his discount, we might be better off to get them there. The fuel to Portland is definitely a consideration though...15 hours there and back!
I can really appreciate the long hours of work and weather worry when it comes to getting your own hay watered, cut and baled, and FINALLY in a dry barn....and we only had about 5 acres and one cutting of grass to fret about. Kind of like harvesting a garden, but with the risk of rain ruining the whole crop. Water, can't live without it, but it sure can cause havoc to a hay crop. Good luck with the third cutting!
ReplyDeleteCute photo of Cindy Sue, but she looked a little worried...maybe she was wondering how you could be driving that BIG truck and taking her picture at the same time? ;o)
Nothing like good hay! Alfalfa burns the tar out of my nose! Your stack in the barn looks great! We were rushing a storm and ended up stacking twice as the first one came down with about 6 bales to go! hehe! Always something! My man works full time in town also. Makes for alot of late nights. I'm headed to The Crockpot Lady!
ReplyDeleteBlessings~
P.
I LOVE the close up picture of Cindy Sue - her and Cloud have such similar facial structures. And yes, Fall will be here before we know it. That picture of the hay stacked up real high reminded me of jenga, lol! :-)
ReplyDeletemj~My Man talked with another grower just down the road from us and the prices for hay are going down, down, down...I just hope we clear our expenses and make the payments that the hay is supposed to cover...it's a gamble.
ReplyDeletePaula~I've never heard of alfalfa burning like that before, but I know that I'm very sensitive to Timothy. It's a bummer to have hay allergies with horses!
Kat~I agree...Cloud and Cindy Sue are very similar in that respect. OK...I'm really out of it. I had to Google Jenga LOL...but now I agree on that point too!
Oh heck yea! Nothing like looking at the barn and seeing wall to wall floor to ceiling hay!! I love the feeling of Fall...just not the winter that follows!
ReplyDeleteOh heck yea! Nothing like looking at the barn and seeing wall to wall floor to ceiling hay!! I love the feeling of Fall...just not the winter that follows!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was gutsy enough to run the equipment you are willing to run. I hate running the case tractor that the brakes don't work worth a 3$$%@#$%! I curse my hubby everytime he wants me to use it. I would rather use the 1066 international than that thing!!
ReplyDeleteA farmers work is never finished but I am happy to see your barn filling with hay. Please don't mention fall just yet though! I am just not ready for that yet :)
ReplyDeleteSo do you think it will be and early winter this year??? I'm in Phoenix Az and it hit 104f today, they said here is was a mild day. Bunch of lizards live here..:-)
ReplyDelete