Any Hillside Farmers Out There?

Suffolk1 · Nov 24, 2013

Now that the crops are all harvested, snow has started, and winter is setting in, been thinking about how different the farming practices must be in other areas. I'm in the west and most of the farm ground around here is flat. For those of you who farm in hill country, how do your farm practices differ from those used by us flatlanders? Specifically thinking about cutting hay on slopes, using round balers on slopes, harvesting small grains with combines on slopes, tillage to reduce erosion, etc. Not thinking of the steeper wheat fields of eastern Washington (which would give a flatlander white knuckles) but more moderate to moderately steep slopes. Photos, if you have some, would be of interest also. Thanks for helping to answer my curiosity.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 24, 2013

I am farming in the central Ky. area (Lexington). The land is still showing scars from the grain farming done during world war I and II. After that most farms were sowed in grass and livestock and Tobacco became more the norm. Now grain farming is coming back but with NO-Til and better practices I hope for a better result. Most farmers pasture the hillsides and crop the flatter fields.

Bruce from Can. · Nov 24, 2013

Most of our land is more or less flat also, but on the less flat areas ,all I can tell you is there can be a bit of butt pucker.

2 Old 2 care · Nov 24, 2013

I'm in Central Kentucky, not too far from Bardstown. We have flat ground, just that it's vertical. Just about any crop ground here is no till, which yields better for us anyway. There's a lot of pasture land. Ky has more standing beef than any state east of the Mississippi River. So of course, there's plenty of hay baled here too. You have to get the tractor headed just right before you dump a round bale, else you gotta go to the next county to find it.

There actually is some flat land here. Just not a lot of it.

rrlund · Nov 24, 2013

Yep,like the guys from Ky say,yu have to be careful where and how you spit round bales out. Crop rotation makes it best to keep some of this ground in Michigan in hay as much as possible. tillage tools are smaller than they would be behind the same horsepower on flatland because they might pull easy on flat ground,different story on the hills.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 24, 2013

Here in southern Indiana some of the farms are sew steep that you can only farm with one hand, the other hand is used to hold on so you don't fall oot of the field. It ain't too bad to fall out of your field if its only once, but several times in one day takes up two much time.
Our cows grow legs on one side longer so they can walk around the field.
When I go to the flat land I walk with a limp, cause one leg is shorter than the other one.

Dan in Ohio · Nov 24, 2013

I live on the edge of the glaciated area in Ohio (west side). Our ground is what most would consider gently rolling with some flat ground with hard black clay, muck, nnalert, or whatever you call it in your area. When I was a kid the farmers that had this clay liked to plow in the fall so the clay could break up over winter.

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These larger headers are rare but 8 and 6 rows are more common. This field is several hundred acres running the full length of the block and completely across the block with woods filling in the voids.

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This has been a dairy / beef operation over the 30 yrs. I have lived here. Don't think I have seen them use a round baler but have seen them pump liquid manure several hundred yards to the fields around the buildings.

the tractor vet · Nov 24, 2013

We farm some hills that will give ya a pucker factor . There is hay ground that would make most you flatlanders quizzy . I shelled corn on one field that the only way to shell it was with the cab on the uphill side and unload on each pass . The field had a twist to it that you could not see with the corn standing . I took off the twelve rows around the field and was going to split it down the middle i had about 2/3rds a bin full and just knew i could make the other end where the wagons and truck were . Started off well but about a thrid of the way thru the combine just stopped moving forward , yea it was on a pretty good tilt . I could not for the life of me figure out why it stopped moving till i hit the left brake and it lunged forward and started to tilt more . i was lucky that i was able to turn it and get the cab on the uphill side even though i did run down a bunch of corn . Same with making hay on the one field , the ground best be dry and you make your turns slowly and you still get shoved while making them.

donjr · Nov 24, 2013

I'm in the piedmont rise in northern Maryland. We have some fairly nice hills around here- not mountains, but steep enough to be unworkable at times. We use no-till as our primary planting method, and try to keep some hay on ground in a rotation to hold the ground. Some farms are still contoured, but that isn't as necessary without plowing the ground up. Crop rotations are still practiced, and cows are still a good factor on some of the ground that can't be worked as easily.

jm. · Nov 24, 2013

Photo is of hay field that is steep. Between the river bottom where the tractor is and the hay field is the Cumberland river. Have to be very careful where you roll out the roll or it goes in the river.

tomstractorsandtoys · Nov 24, 2013

We have some flat and some steep slopes as well on our farm. The steeper ground is layed out in strips on the contour.We are still wide row so our strips are either 24 or 32 rows wide.We try to keep hay fields between the corn strips.We try not to plant headlands as end rows running up and down the hill will start a ditch.With baling you have to sometimes back up and turn your baler before you kick out a bale.When chopping silage you have to pay attention to how full you fill the wagons and on which side you fill them.When shelling corn I prefer to keep the unloading auger up the hill and in steep areas I will leave it full of corn as a counter weight.You have to unload your bin alot more and sometimes shell only one direction.The steepest slopes we harvest as ear corn with a pull type picker.It takes extra time but yeilds are good and soil loss is very little if farmed carefully.We do some no-till and use rye for cover crop as well.

Dan T in MO · Nov 24, 2013

My farm is only 24 acres, but it's all hills. Up on top of the ridge is where the field crops are. About where the ridgetop breaks to hillside is where I put the hog pens. The rest is woods. Down in the bottoms, the ground alternates between soggy and gravel. We don't have enough grass to justify a baler, nor enough row crop to justify a combine. So most of the planting and harvest is done by hand.

omahagreg · Nov 24, 2013

Friend farms by Red Oak Iowa-has most of his in terraces! Must be 12 years ago-he has since gotten a Kinze 12-30 with interplant units-he had a JD 8-38 planter that his cousin had put a hinge in the middle so he could go 4 rows up onto his terraces! We were at the Iowa State Fair and he mentioned his 'custom, split' planter and another farmer freaked out asking why would you ever have need for such a thing!

60 acre hillside · Nov 24, 2013

I guess my name says it all

sms · Nov 24, 2013

We are in NYS Catskill Mts and some places are quite steep you ever see one of those round bales get loose and go....thru the fence, thru the woods. Sometimes dang kids give them a push to watch the fun.

samn40 · Nov 24, 2013

In Northern Ireland our ground is very undulating due to being formed by glacial action....We know the southern part of the country,Counties Armagh and Co.Down as a basket of eggs topography, because that is just how it looks. the galcial action formed short very steep hills where the ice met hard ground and had to go up over it then tailed off into a gradual slope. We work it all....Although we have a wet climate we never get the real torrential downpours that I have experienced in America, so erosion is not a real problem. We have become adept to mowing and lifting grass on these hills, but we are not as good as those in Switzerland. Flat land is nearly non existant in the Alpine regions and they make hay everywhere right up to the snow line. Go to Utube to see pedestrain operated 9 foot mowing machines and swathers, just because the ground is too steep for tractors. The crops of grass are not that heavy but they can rake it to flatter areas for collecting or baling.
Sam

Frank 41 · Nov 24, 2013

I worked for my brother in the early 60s north of Goldfield, IA. There was a ditch that cut the farm. From the edge of the ditch to the higher and more level ground, was a pretty good incline. I was cultivating with a US B and a 4 row cultivator. I could keep the front 4 on the row but the back scratchers would cover or dig out the corn. The most of the farm was as flat as it is here in central IL.

Pair-a-dice farm · Nov 24, 2013

My farm is literally on the first hills in the eastern Ozarks and is moderately rolling hills and about 1/2 river bottom. Up until 5 years ago the river bottom was planted in soybeans and corn. I converted to an all cattle operation and planted it in bermuda grass for grazing and hay. The hillsides would have a terrible erosion problem if it were tilled. As has been mentioned when baling on the hillside you better be careful when kicking out a round bale or it might roll through a fence or into the river.

4020deereboy · Nov 24, 2013

Pic

Brian806 · Nov 24, 2013

My dad and i farm in west central pa! We have some fields that will max are side hill combine out but you take your time you wont roll! We had a old hay field we plowed with a 6 bottom that goin across the bottom side you could only hold 4 bottoms in! Have a pasture at a rented farm that i was mowing with my farmall 806 gas turned up hill and it died cause it wouldnt push the gas to the carburator carburator was higher than the gas tank! But were i really sharpened up on running hill sides is doin reclaimation work on coal mines! Ran ford tw35s you wieght them down enough they will just slide off they wont roll! Then the boss switched to new john deeres in 2007 you get them leaning to hard with.the.right side on the bottom they stop moving! It use to be a contest who would go.the steepest planting trees cause if we couldnt get a tractor acrossed we had to hand plant it.and nobody wanted to do.that!

wolfman · Nov 24, 2013

Here in south-west PA, I have a half dozen fields where the square bales roll away; Really a pain, have to stop each round and move bales by hand back where they belong-but have to place them long-wise up and down the hill.

TomA in CA · Nov 25, 2013

Our ranch is all side hill. Not enough flat land to park a tractor. No round bales possible here, square bales roll to the bottom. All work done with wide gauge Caterpillar tractors. The worst part is we have to pick up the bales by hand onto a sled or low trailer. A side hill combine would be good to have. I had a couple but the salt air ate them up. We used to plant peas on 26" rows and cultivate with D2 tractor and pull type steerable cultivator.

showcrop · Nov 25, 2013

Striking difference here between this thread and some in the past where the safety police tell you that if a basket ball could roll down your hill you have no place working across it. Something that I have noticed that someone who works flatter ground may not do, is that when mowing, in order to get a full swath you have to come 6-12 inches closer to the standing hay going on the side where the mower is on the uphill side than you do coming back with it on your downhill side.

John_PA · Nov 26, 2013

I'll get you photos. I talked to New Holland about a new combine. They bragged about 17 degrees, I think, of tilt.

I showed them my fields, they said go to hillco.

We had a sidehill roll in this area.

I only do 90 foot strips, no bigger. Any bigger and the wash is huge. My back hurts. That is what it is like going on hillsides.

What do you want to know about them?

It's so bad around here, I let a lot of fields just be trees. Without horses, you can't farm this ground. duals make no difference when the engine can't get oil. No big tractors today can run a hill around here. duals give a false sense of security.

I will show pictures soon. snow covers everything right now.

Any Hillside Farmers Out There?

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