What kind of a Hay year are you having?

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Just wondering how the hay crop is looking across the USA. Been pretty good here in Central Va. but I have herd that a lot of the states have had too much rain and have not gotten good hay made.
 
Hit and miss here in NNY. I've got nearly 5000 bales up in between rains. I've still got a ways to go.
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I would say a little better than average here in NH. None rained on yet. If I get done with none rained on I will take a couple bales out and open them in a rain shower in order to appease the rain gods.
 
If we could get enough dry days in a row, it would be pretty good here in the Thumb of Michigan, I plan on cutting the last 22 acres starting tonight, hope i can get it baled before more rain hits. Should have been done at least 2 weeks ago, but have not had the weather, the stuff still standing is declining in quality every day, but it is still not horrible.
 
Miserable in Michigan. No where near done with first cutting. Quantity is massive but the weather is preventing any quality.
 
Not to bad in SW WI. I got first crop done end of May, then did 100 acres of rye. It was cutting it close on the windows to get it baled but going all night did the trick. The second crop is still standing, the weather guessers tell about small chances of rain then we have gushers for the last couple weeks. Hope to get second crop down Saturday, and 40 acres of peas and oats to go with out tearing up the seeding.
 
Wet.

I've made 2 good bales so far out of 25. Mostly just bale the junk to get it out of the way for next cutting.

About 1/2 done with first cutting, supposed to be 1/2 done with that the first week of June around here......

Blah.

Paul
 
I baled 1st crop last week, in central MN. Heavy crop, looked pretty good, a little too mature, but fine for beef cows and horses. Mostly alfalfa/timothy & orchard grass mix. Was a dry week finally, so I got 20 acres mowed last Sunday & Monday, and baled on the 3rd & 4th. 150 squares for the horses, and 80 4x5 round bales for the cows. Horse hay didn't dry down very well since that field has more clover. Had about 6 bales that were too heavy with clover, so they went to the bull. Four acres were planted last year, and alfalfa was very thick there. Tough to mow, plugged up the haybine a few times, plugged up the rake too. But it dried down nice, since it was windy and sunny in the afternoon on the 4th. Checking moisture in the round bales, most were running 12 to 16%.
 
Just finished the first cutting on all but the field we call "the bottom"; it is still a little wet down there.

Nice hay from the other four small fields.

Will start the second cutting next week.

We got rain last week on July 3rd; have a 50% chance of rain today.

Not complaining though; any rain during July in NE Texas is a blessing.
 
Hay crop was pretty bad, the amount of bales coming off the fields was way down. Had a really late start to spring here, snow stayed well into march so stuff didn't start growing until a few weeks later than normal. One of the worst years for 1st cutting I've seen.
 
I had a record number of bales from my one field, other was just normal. Had to sneak it in between the rains. Two different stables came with crews and loaded it all out for a discount, but it was still the most I have charged in a while and way better price for the buyer than retail outlets selling last years bales. I cleared enough from those fields to pay for vacation this year and kept enough for us to get thru the rest of the summer. Customers say it is great and have lined up for second cutting already. Hopefully I will have a good one there too. I think most people push too hard on hay thinking they have to cut it at a certain stage. You have to wait for the right string of days and don't cut more than you can reasonably finish in the time allowed. Better a little lower feed value from late cutting than worthless from mold. For horsey folk anyway...and they is my market.
 
Been a late year for me here in Missouri. Weather guesser keep calling for rain so no hay gets cut. Most years I would be done with the first cutting but not this year
 
I agree with Dave. Some of my neighbors insist regardless of the weather they "have" to cut at certain date, why I have no idea, they typically get about half of their hay off without any rain, I normally get almost all of mine, but it takes me about a month longer...
 
LLOOONNNGGG! Usually already forgot about 1st cut by now. Heading out this morning to cut last 5 acres of 1st cut. Yeilds are great due to the rin, but mostly over mature.
 
Compared to last year, we had some good June weather, and earlier, so there was a lot more opportunities to produce some quality hay, hopefully people took advantage of it, last year was a complete wash out, first cut was way too late, so depending on ones needs, say for horses, was not a good year, this one seems to be much better and 2nd cut ought to be nice with the timely rains, it typically dries out late July, into August, from memory, so if you got the first in, good chance you may get subsequent cuttings, all weather dependent, but that is how its gone in the past lately.
 
Lost about 30 acres of first cutting, and just started second, and it looks like we're gonna be running between fronts. On the other hand- corn looks fantastic......
 
Where in central VA are you. I am in western Hanover, mine was OK first cutting, but it has been dry since. Looks like it only rains when I cut hay!
 
Never seen fields look so good, but, between the rain and the ridiculously high humidity, it ain't been an easy year so far. We're starting to dry out though. Ground is dry. Humidity today is under 35%, which is rare here. I've got about all I can handle at one time laying on the ground now. Gonna be busy the next few days.
 
Not the greatest yield wise, but I'd take another year like this ANY TIME.

We got a late start because winter didn't want to leave, but after that we've had a lot of DRY weather.

Perfect drying conditions - something we don't get often enough here in Mass. Sunny, windy, dry air.
 
I agree, also in MA, but I'd say in general my yield is up over previous years on most fields. The weather has been great for drying, and the timing for good weekends has helped me out this year too.
 
(quoted from post at 20:00:52 07/09/14) Well, I got stuck while mowing today...

Much drier than usual here despite the late snow but I almost always need the FWA when mowing in various areas. And doesn't the mower pull the 96 horses down when the discs are spinning in water!!!
 
my hay here in NE Wyoming is doing very well for the start we had, mine is running 1 1/2-2 1/2 ton per acre in my grass/alfalfa mix, the grain hay will be in the 3 ton per acre range, it is very good this year, hard to tell the height from the pics, the grain is 4' tall or better
cnt
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My first cutting went great in mid michigan. I was one of the few lucky ones that got it off a little early though. Lots of other people are still working on first and I've got 2nd half done. Can't get the weather to finish it up though. I only have 20 acres of hay.I'm willing to bet good quality hay will be a premium this year.
 
Best year ever. More hay on the places I've cut before (over twice on one place) and picked up enough more acres to nearly double what I cover most years.
 
(quoted from post at 11:17:52 07/09/14) Just wondering how the hay crop is looking across the USA. Been pretty good here in Central Va. but I have herd that a lot of the states have had too much rain and have not gotten good hay made.

Horrible here in east TN. Between a late winter and a drought at the beginning of spring there isn't much hay. People here are panicking and already trying to buy hay. I took this pic yesterday. It hadn't been mowed yet and thats all there was. Not even worth the fuel to bale it. Most yields around here are around 1/3 of normal.

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Just finished 1st cut July 4th weekend. (Would normally be doing 2nd cutting on July 4th weekend).

Has been a crazy year rain wise with simply not enough consecutive days of no rain to accomplish hay in my region. (Memorial weekend was only other 4 day window of no rain regardless of weekday or weekend inclusion).

Lots of others were doing first cutting same time frame as me. Others that tried put up hay up sooner, put up rained on hay, damp square bales in barns (which I absolutely refuse to do), or lastly simply big rolled rained on hay.

All in all, my yield was about what I expected and the crop turned out well (smelled wonderful) for being a tad more mature than I would have ideally preferred.

Cut a little taller than I normally would which I am hoping will be less of a crop stunt and maybe provide a 2nd cutting sooner than if I would have cut at my usual lower cut height. Only time and weather will tell if that was a wise decision....
 
Pretty bad so far. Crop looked good and thick but haven't even started cutting it yet so now the quality is really going downhill. Been raining 3 or 4 times a week and there is standing water in many places. Have a few places where the crop is dieing because its underwater.....
 

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