Rye baled!! Planting DONE!!!

Was able to get the rye baled yesterday. I would have liked to have another day for 100% sure dry down but Mother nature was not going to give us that. There where just a few bales from the real rank spots that maybe a little too high in moisture. I could tell when I was moving them as they where heavier. So I set them aside. I will just feed them up in the next few days.

We mowed the rye Tuesday and then tedded it Wed. morning. It looks real good in the bale. We got 31 bales off the 12 acres. So it did pretty good for as cool of spring we have had.

Oldest was running the baler while I moved the bales off the fields. The middle son ran the planter. We just no-tilled the beans and corn both into the stubble. It is rare that I can no-till anything. I usually have manure to work in. The ground was real mellow so it planted great. There was 5.8 acres of corn in the bottom field and a little over 6 acres of beans on the two strips. The best part is we are now ALL DONE!!!!

I just planted rye on about a third of the corn ground we chopped. The other is in a rented field that is real flat and it gets covered in manure over the winter. So I did not want to spread the manure over the rye. Plus the tractor tracks would have made it a mess.

Sorry no pictures of the baling/planting. I took them but the camera fell out of my pocket some where while we where baling. I had it in my jacket pocket and I think it fell out when I was checking a windrow. It may be in a bale of the rye.

Sorry to lose that camera. I have had it for 7-8 years. It was a simple little cheap camera. I hate having to learn all the bells and whistle they think you need on a new camera. I just want a simple point and shoot camera. I do not need or use all the other features. It seems that no one wants to make anything simple and reliable anymore.

You can hardly find a simple phone anymore either. They make them where they take pictures and talk on the Internet but they will not make phone call unless your standing under a tower. I have a three years old simple flip phone. I can call in my shop. My wife's and son's "smart" phones will not work there. They have to go out side for them to work. So they will do everything but what they are supposed to be for. Thats todays progress!!!

Well have a good holiday!! Think of those that paid the price for our freedom on Monday. It is not the pretty words of politicians or the money grabbers that keep us free. It is the blood, sweat and tears of our soldiers that keep us free!!!!

May God watch over those soldiers that are in harms way so they may return to their families!!!

I"m still waiting on the neighbor to get his 20 acres of rye mowed and baled so I can finish his planting. Got the rest of the planting done on Wednesday.

Isn"t going to happen for a few days because of this rain we got today.

Gary

How many T in that 31 bales?

I have a tough time with cameras too. I like to take it with me snowmobiling and I carry it in the front pocket of my jacket. It seems though that every time I crash the camera takes a beating. Last year the view screen broke, and this year the lens quit going in and out, so I ditched it at the lodge where we stayed that night.

JD, how big are those bales...6x4s? We normally bale 4x4s as we like to wrap them individually and they work better with the wrapper. I have managed to get 12 4x4 bles per acre with 4x4s in harvest planted rye...in permanent grass we can get 12-18 4x4s off 1st cut. Just asking because I thought your crop looked real good...maybe that extra diameter in the bale holds a lot extra grass?....Do you use a chopper baler?
Sam

Maybe you'll get lucky like my son did a few years ago with his cell phone. He lost it in the field while tedding the hay....and found it in a small square bale a few days later while we were transferring the bales from the wagon to my trailer for delivery, and the best part is it still worked!! He used it for a few more years after that.

They where 6 foot tall and five feet wide. I weighted a few this morning and they are weighting right at 1900 lbs. So the 12 acres yielded about 32 ton or 2 2/3 ton per acre.

This is lower than normal. It was so dry here last fall there was very little fall growth. Then it has been so cool this spring the crop was about 2-3 week late. Usually we will get 3-4 ton per acre as dry hay.

I feed one to the calves this morning and they sure liked it. These bales will sure help get us through until first crop is harvested.

As for the camera, BTDT. We use the Flip mino video camera. Was checking windrows for weeds and it fell out of the case in the coastal field. Never did find it, but was able to replace it with the same model.

Don't like the "do everything" phones either. Mine is simple, no apps, and works everywhere.

Is that rye ever tested for RFV or protein? How would it compare to alfalfa as feed? Have you ever sold any? Would you price it like grass hay or alfalfa or in between? Do you plant it in like winter wheat?

I have not had any rye tested for years but it is a fast growing grass so the protein would not be real high. As far as feed I need roughage not protein. Most of my calves/cattle are feed some corn or corn silage in their ration.

As far as price per ton. Some sold this last week at the hay auction and it brought $185 per ton.

My neighbor just bought some of this years fertilized Rye grass hay. It tested 11.2% crude protein and 93 RFV.