8 Days, 19 Acres, and 1360 bales (2023)
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2023
- The amazing August weather tipped into September this year, with an 8-day stretch that broke about every record I have. If you had told me in June (or even July) that this might turn into my best haying year ever, I would never have believed it... But I guess it ain't over till it's over!
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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 follow 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
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
Looks good. Glad you got it done.
Thanks!!
Excellent video - grass looks good...👍
Thanks!
I remember making hay without a tedder and it was just cut rake and bale. Having a tedder did make a big difference
Nice! Where abouts was that? It's definitely a huge regional difference about tedding vs not. I can't imagine trying it around here without one - just too much ground moisture and short drying windows...
Thanks for tuning in!
Excellent round of haying! Was the 6000+ bales for the complete season? That’s a good accomplishment! My uncle made 12,000 one year with only a 135 tractor and cut with a sickle, that’s always blown my mind. Love the videos!
Thanks so much! Yeah, 6000 for the season at that point. Yields have slowed way down since (understandably), so I may yet hit 6500, we’ll see. That’s amazing re: your uncle, I remember you showing that setup once - was it with the 3 point wheel rake, and 124? (Or an older baler like a 12?). With no kicker, 12,000 is unfathomable! Thanks so much for watching, and right back atcha, video wise!
@@windrowfarm it was a number 12. Said he’d bale in 1st gear high range when the baler was new on first cut hay.
@@khtractors wow!!
Yeah...that was the best stretch of weather we had all summer up here in VT...did some late first and beautiful second cut. Haying was actually fun for the first time all year. It was like July in September! BTW...I have never used a moisture meter and have just relied on the old "feel" method. I have never gotten into trouble that way. Sometimes I think more data is not necessarily a good thing!
So glad you had success in the stretch too! I totally agree, it was the weather we needed in June/July, but instead in August/September.
I totally hear you on the moisture meter. In general I'm glad I have it for some extra assurance (and it makes the "on the cusp batches" usually much easier to make a decision about. But yeah, I think I drive myself a little crazy with it this time of year with the late second/third. I think I just use it as a guide for what to confidently sell right off the wagon versus put in the barn and keep an eye on. But then again, I'm overly cautious by nature.
Does your discbine have a conditioner on it? How do you like the Vermeer overall? This is an excellent well explained video. Keep up the great work
Thanks so much! No conditioner on the mower, which was a choice ($$, horsepower, and in grass hay I have the minority opinion that conditioners aren’t as crucial as people think 😅). I have a video from last year explaining the ins and outs of my reasoning if at all helpful. Thanks so much for tuning in! Do you make hay also?
Oh, and I love the Vermeer! I had to put a narrower tire on the right side due to an edge trampling problem, but after that it’s been an absolute dream.
I'm a retired dairy farmer and I now have a small beef herd of Hereford cows that eat the hay that I don't sell ( that's there job). My main focus on my farming operation is selling hay and I now and starting to delve into becoming a grain farmer as well. I accomplish this with a full time job and a part time job as well. My farm is in Upstate New York so I'm very familiar with this year's weather patterns. I hope you have a successful Fall harvest and I'm looking forward to seeing more videos. Thank you for time today
@@milandjurdjevich3046 oh, that’s great! So glad to hear it. And sorry you were subject to this crazy year too. Hoping you’ve had some luck this August/September too, at least. Thanks again!
My thought process has been this year with the wet weather is that even though it has been frustrating at times, I would still prefer that overall than dealing with a drought which is what it was looking like in May of this year. It's been challenging for sure but I count my blessings that we're lucky enough to get good growth from the hay this year and get work done. Thank you for your time today
I have found that if you just cut the hay on wet ground and tedder late the next day the ground will dry up and the hay will still dry on top of the stuble
Hi there, thanks for watching! I wish I had enough time to let hay sit that long - around here it’s always a scramble and trying to get hay cured as fast as possible. Haying windows are usually 3-4 days long (sometimes just 2-3), and when we get a long one like this video we have to fly through as much acreage as possible. Letting hay sit sadly just isn’t an option. Unfortunately our ground was so incredibly saturated this year from record-breaking rainfall that the ground would not dry out that fast anyhow - All of these wet areas stayed wet even days/weeks after getting the hay off. I always appreciate ideas though, so thank you - where abouts do you hay?
I know all about rain I'm in western WA@@windrowfarm
@@richkramer2777 oh wow, I’ll say! How many drying days does it usually take for you out there? Can you manage many days in a row? The 8 days in this video are super rare here, and when get it it’s necessary to slam out as many batches as possible rather than take our time, unfortunately.
Again, thanks!
4 to5 the ground is always damp . I use a haybob to windrow day before then use haybob to move the hay over on dry ground the day I bale. @@windrowfarm
1360 bales but what do they weigh in our country we go by tons rather than bales
About 40 pounds apiece, give or take. Pretty typical for this region with grass hay. it was also a weird stretch because it had both late first cut as well as good quality second cut. So the yield per acre doesn’t really pencil out anyway 😂. It was just a personal record for me in terms of both acres and bales in a stretch like that 😊
What is your fertilizer plan?
How often do you soil test?
I test fields every two years (in other words I sample half of my fields each year). I put down fertilizer based on the soil tests for each field (the best I can anyway). I apply once in the spring (late April) and then on a rolling basis between first cut and second cut. However, the big field in this video is managed by the draft powered farm that owns it, and they use organic fertility. So they take care of their own soil testing and fertility planning. Great question! Let me know if you have any follow-up on that - thanks for watching and asking!
Yeah, I kinda suspected there really is no such thing as the hay fairy.
Half inch of rain on that cut hay what a disaster
Hey there! I’ll have to dust off my memory, but I don’t think anything from this stretch got wet? Or was this comment supposed to be with a different video? Thanks for watching, regardless!
By the way where did you get the moisture tester from and where is it mounted on the baler please?
Sure! It’s a Delmhorst FX-2000. I ordered it straight from them. Sensor is in the bale chamber on the left side behind the knotter. I have a video from earlier this year showing my installation if helpful. It’s been a game changer on challenging years like this
Thanks for letting me know about this. I sell 95% of the square bales and this will give me a better idea of how much it be moisture wise when I'm baling hay. Thank you for your time today
@@milandjurdjevich3046 absolutely! That’s my same thinking too. You don’t lose the by-feel approach, but it definitely gives you some peace of mind to have numbers to go on too.
I bought a new to me vermeer disc mower this year, and have had problems with it clogging when mowing down hill. Is that a problem you normally have or was it just a one time thing?
Interesting! That’s the first time it happened to me, but also headed downhill. What model do you have? Used to happen a lot on my old mower (a smaller 3 point disc mower) - best I can figure is it’s when thick lodged hay is leaning into the mower’s cut and gets wrapped around the outer drum but not cut by the blades. Having this cutterbar enclosed in a frame seems to mostly prevent that from happening. Is yours 3-point or trailed? Thanks for sharing though, always happy to trade notes on it!
It's a older rc 7120. The previous owner took the condioners out so I figured that might be part of the problem. But it will cut as fast as I can handle on flat ground or uphill. What you said about the lodging makes sense thanks!
@@zanerohrig5583 oh, that’s super interesting! I wonder if there’s something about the grass flow off the cutterbar that gets off-kilter when you’re mowing downhill in that case, since the conditioner isn’t there to grab it? But yeah, if you’re finding it on the outside drum, I think the lodging is the culprit. It’s a pain when you have to mow a section of a field only one direction…