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The discussions on hay never cease to amaze me, I remember as a kid, everyone used to brag about how much they put away that year, as most of us were the labor ! We used to have a Ford dealership and back then we were running early & later 4000's and later 5000's with 2 532 balers, forgot what model mower conditioner, I used to rake with a M-F side delivery rake, and bale when I got older with the 64 4000 S-0-S. We did a few thousand a year, never remember buying hay, had enough to last a year for horses. Handling was a joy, kicker that eventually got removed, kept breaking bales, but the 532 baler and mower were kept up and did not have any more of the usual problems associated with baling. We had lamco wagons ( if I recall correctly ) and an elevator the loft or mow as it's called. In this area haying was very popular years ago, we did alfalfa, sometimes oats - baled the straw. I always marveled at the impressive growth and some of the great quality hay, even a field without much care, but baled every year would always provide a decent yield, of what seemed to be good quality hay, the ones that were really kept were even better, there are plenty of large fields around here, but many are rolling hills, we used to hang on the side of the wagons for ballast, stand on tongue and pass bales up to be stacked from the chute. Reading the posts on accumulators and all the other labor saving methods out today have been interesting, first time I saw a round baler, I was shocked ! Being around the horse business, the thoroughbred show types, seeing the money some of these people have to spend on this industry is shocking. Many do fit the image, can be little snobbish etc. high society, when it comes to hay, some, not all well... (no need to start bashing), but I suppose, can be hard to deal with. I've always highly appreciated un rained on good green dry hay, knowing what goes into making it, be it first cutting earlier the better, or the more preferrably the less stalky 2nd or 3rd cuttings. In the last year I've been involved with buying for 25 horses, ( glad that all but 4 are in Fla. right now ! ) and with the wet summer weather, and so much acreage lost to developments, it's hard to find a large quantities of the best green unrained on hay. Being a reasonable sort, and knowing that mold is really the worst enemy here, if it was rained on, dried, tan on that side, green or some green underneath, no problem, especially if it's a well cared for field, the hay has a good nutrient value to start with, one side rained takes some out of it, but not all, anything along those lines will work, its is funny when people turn their noses at it. I've seen the prices of some of the best at $8.00/ bale localy from a feed supplier, but they have to store and deliver, lot of handling. My good friend who just sold out, had been baling near the house here, some really great stuff, 2nd cut @ $2.75/bale delivered, I bought all of it, the price was too cheap, I told him, but he insisted, he's been planting our place since before we owned it 40 years ago, nothing doing, been friends a long time, although hiring him to haul sawdust 40 yds per trip, allowed me to pay him better there ! Locally, we can grow some good hay, the soils seem to allow for this, even if it gets dry, takes awhile to put a dent in the growth, some of the alfalfa fields were evidence of that, especially bottom fields. My friend Lenny re-planted over 60 acres 2 years ago for a neighbor, the property owner passed away since, and the wife sold all the equipment, unbeknownst to the nephew who would have bought it, he did the baling anyways, went out to get started on it and it was gone ! I was in these fields and boy were they thick, plenty of timothy in it. Lenny sure knows how to make hay grow after 50 + years, it all was left standing. 30 miles away near our other place with the horses, ironically, I see one guy baling some of the worst, I call it weeds, in mid aug. 1st cut, golden rod you name it it's in there. Good stuff goes to waste and weeds get baled up ! One of our suppliers up there, bales em tight and packed, sometimes right over a wet area, ( needed a load in a pinch last year ) and he sent a wagon over, 26 wet bales mixed in, I was not happy, so I checked the entire lot, pulled and opened the 26, let em dry, some of the crap in there " I said you call this hay ??? LOL this is shite !! LOL Oh well, most dried out and was fed, but I no longer buy 3000 bales from him. His theory is to make em like bricks, heavy bales, pack them into the mow, and let the drier ones absorb moisture, hard to believe fire is not a problem, the 26 I found were hot ! You can tell his fields are not good, lot of worthless fluff in there, near my house it's quality still, fields taken care of. This also explains the brick like molded ones I find in the winter and probably a few cases of the colic last year. Lenny my neighbor bales them loose, and they are a little harder to handle, stack, but always dry for the most part, these bricks on the other hand could be dumped without breaking the twine I'll bet. Have another guy who brings some great stuff right to the barn, soon as he is done, I take most of it, loose bales, but what's inside is a treat for these harse's ! have to wait 2 weeks to feed, but seeing your haystack is full is one less worry no matter what ! Ideally I've been trying to get as much green as possible, stockpile it, boy it's a treat for these guys, fattens them up, by winter the good stuff is hard to find so, you do your best, right now they are eating some tan stuff, but along with grain, it's no problem, as long as no bales are dusty or molded, they'll pick through it, making the stalls harder to clean and choking up my compost which is a money maker. Obviously the best is the green, they eat every last bit and the compost has less strands to break down. If I could bale my own, own/maintain the equipment, manicure the fields, pay the taxes here ( ouch !) order perfect haying weather and find some help to put it up, we'd have green all year, but I highly respect the people who do put it up it ain't no easy chore ! One end user of small squares here, - upstate NY area and a bit lengthy, off today !
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