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Hay field

grandpa Love

grandpa Love

Well-known Member
Went and looked at the 40 acres that I
mentioned last week. It hasn't been cut
for hay in 5-6 years. Had 9 horses on it
until last summer. Owner says he will
bush hog it this week or next. Told me if
I want to cut and bale I'm welcome to. If
not , no big deal , he will just bush hog
it a couple times a year. Said I could do
as little or as much as I want. All the
hay is mine. He doesn't want anything.
May be fun. No pressure. Ain't no where
near 40 acres......got some trees in
patches and several small paddocks fenced
off. Picture of big field. 4.5 miles
from home!
cvphoto8056.jpg


cvphoto8057.jpg

Owner is a friend from a church we went
to a couple years ago..... .
 
You really don't want him to bush hog it this spring.All the mowed grass from the bush hog won't rot down before it is time to cut for hay and it will clog up your mower. Guaranteed. Much better to leave it stand, and mow it. And if you are using a sickle bar type mower or haybine, you are still going to have trouble,but nowhere as bad if it gets bush hogged now. Good luck,how ever you do it. Mark.
 
The hay if that's what you want to call it would be worth a crap I guess its mostly weeds I wouldn't touch it but if just looking to have something to do go for it.
 
It looks pretty rough to me, sorry. The hills and trees are gonna be a nuisance. Likely to be rocks and ruts all over that will cause you grief. I hay some tough ground too,and don't want to discourage you too much but go into it knowing it could be frustrating, especially the first year. Free is good. Weeds? How about old fencing and wire? BTDT
 
Just mixed grass. Cow and goat hay. If it goes good this year we will fertilize and weed spray for next year. Mainly going to bush hog tops off broom sage and blackberry bushes. ... Won't be great hay this year. But something to try. Hard work don't scare us. Even if I sell it for 2-3 bucks a bale for construction erosion control it would be worth it.
 
Also have another church friend that doesn't want to cut his 4 acres of nice grass. Flat lawn. He is battling cancer and it's too much. He asked if I wanted to bale it. Plan to go look in next few days. 15 miles from home. Maybe a better plan? Also all free hay.
 
I do hate to discourage, but looks like there is a reason for no cash rent nor baling on shares. Nothing is ever truly free. Good luck.
 
Does Blue Stem or Switch grass grow in your area? It'll grow on poor acid soil and makes pretty good hay if cut before it gets mature,can get several cuttings a year.Cows love it.if you have
access to a pasture or sod drill that'd be perfect to put it or any other grass in with.If not broadcasting and rolling it will do pretty good.Keep cutting the weeds grass will come.
 
It looks like there are lots of down tree branches, maybe roots, rocks and other obstacles too. You may want to check that every slip clutch and shear pin on your equipment is free and working. Maybe loosen the slip clutches a bit to prevent damage to equipment. I would walk the field before it starts growing to find and remove as many problems as possible before they become hidden in tall grass.
 
I took hay off a field in about that condition , I had to go slow with the haybine and choose the best spots , I did end up with a good wagon load of square bales , it consumed more time than working a good field , but it was close to home. I walked it first to check for branches, big rocks etc. If you have the time and want to putter at it you will get some hay. I understand most comments that your time and effort might not pay off , but give it a try if you want, next year it will be better , scatter some 18-18-18 and it may surprise you in the second and third year.
 
2-3 bucks a bale for construction hay is not worth it. Just to replace the fertilizer value you are removing will be close to a dollar a bale by the time you get it applied.
 
You know, I don't think I would have him bush hog it. Instead, I would go in there with a harrow. By harrowing it you will see first hand what the field is like, with an implement that does not get damaged if you snag an old wire or tree branch. It will also knock down gopher mounds and ant hills. Not going to hurt anything if there is some rocks sticking up.
 
Horses are some of the hardest animals on pasture. They can overgraze it so quickly. If you're really interested in cutting it, you might consider letting it lay out this year and "recover" so to speak. I would also suggest that you fertilize it if you can, and maybe spray a little 2,4-D to kill the broadleaf weeds. I don't know what your fert cost is, but locally it's ~ $350/ ton. Chicken litter is much cheaper if you can get it there. The chemical isn't too expensive either: $40 for 2.5 gallons and the makes a lot of spray when mixed right. Bottom line though, do you want to invest the money and time into making it worth cutting? I personally might not, but if it's close enough to home and you deem it worthwhile, go for it.

Mac
 
Reason for free to cut hay is they spend a great deal of time out of town and have other things to do rather than cut grass when home
 
This sure aint home on the range is it? - where seldom is heard a discouraging word. Sheesh. If we only ever did easy stuff, half of this country would still be brambles and bushes.
 
(quoted from post at 08:57:50 03/11/20)Even if I sell it for 2-3 bucks a bale for construction erosion control it would be worth it.
Click to expand...

No offense but dream on. We can't even get 2-3 bucks a bale for premium second cutting alfalfa mix hay. You'll be looking at more like 2-3 BALES for a dollar.
 
(quoted from post at 11:38:02 03/11/20) I should come buy a truck load from you
then.........
Click to expand...

Probably. All we get are flakes who claim they want it all but then never show up, or want to be put on a payment plan, or take one look at it and turn their noses up at it because it's not good enough for their GOATS...
 
That looks really poor, anything can be good with enough chemicals and seed. Are you sure it is worth putting the money up front for those inputs?
 
That is not the greatest looking hay, but then I don't know where it is or what kind of grass is there. It is not my experience that you are going to sell 40 acres of erosion bales for 2-3 bucks a bale. I have dumped poor hay for cattle feed in a pinch, but those people usually want it for next to nothing. You can do some testing if you want and inputs if you want, but I would wait and see what grows this Spring and go from there. Get a feel for what the mix is like. That will tell you a lot about what to use, if anything, as inputs. Hay is hard work and I would think twice before I started boosting yield unless I had help lined up. Expect your help to be "unavailable" on the day you bale, so watch the weather because your "no pressure" hay project can become a pressure cooker in a hurry. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Let it grow, cut it down and bale it. Count your bales and balance that with the work and what you get per bale and then decide if you want to do more. Remember the biscuits? There really isn't a recipe! :)
 
Does the owner have any idea of what type of grasses that field has?? Hard to tell this time of year how good or bad it might be. My hay filed is a mix of 3 or 4 different types of grass and clovers
 
Grandpa.,

Do you have some good way to move your equipment? I don't. I've done some custom baling at a place that is about 3 miles away from me. I won't do it again. Moving a tractor, sickle bar mower, tedder, rake, baler, and hay wagon is just too much for me.

Tom in TN
 
As my father would say about high cash rent, ?The only thing that looks like is exercise...?
As others have asked, are you gonna road your equipment or haul it. Every time I load my 1086, 756 w/disc mower, pull rake, fuel/tool trailer and round baler I think about my time, depreciation, and diesel to pull it all. Now throw in hay hauling, trips to town to get parts, tires, insurance for $2/bale??? Thus ain?t no romantic venture.
 
Almost hate to add any more discouraging words to what all has been said but you want to think long and hard before getting involved in this venture. Would be a bit more attractive if it were next door or even a mile or so down the road but four miles would be a deal killer for me if it were good hay ground. Back in '73 when we first started milking we were short of hay and took on a similar project 3 1/2 miles away. It went well enough but not to where I felt it was worth doing a second time. Having to haul the hay that distance limited how much I dared to cut at a time, so it took substantially longer to cover the ground. That said, if you decide to go for it be certain to spend the time to walk it, pick up the tree branches and stick a brightly painted T-post next to any stones you happen across; might save a few guards & sections.
 
I started out hay farming on the neighbors 15 acres for free + I bush hogged 10 more swampy acres 1x per year. It was a good way to start and it was right next to moms place and she had a barn, tractors and horses to eat it. Eventually I moved and we kept haying there until the neighbors sold out. We would haul in the rake, tedder and 3 wagons 2x per year. I had a baler and haybine at moms farm and A baler & haybine at our place. I had tons of energy back then. But, if you go for it, do your best to grow and bale good hay and get good prices.
 
Hate to discourage you but we would call that ranch land here. Any fences and water on it? If so you might be better to put a few head on it for the summer?
 
Grandpa, if your of a mind to, just go for it. Take pictures along the way and post them. We might be surprised what you come up with. If your happy we ought to be happy.
Andy
 
You gotta start somewhere, I?d say give it a try. I?ve sold a lot of ?goat hay? at $2-3 per bale. It adds up. Give it a try, the owner can always bush hog the field and you?ll find out how good or bad your equipment is.

Good luck,
Bill
 
If you could locate a Matthews Corp Rotary Scythe it'd be just the thing to cut that field for hay,as they are slow but will cut anything with its heavy flails.Neighbor had an old pasture about 20 acres that had fescue and small cedars some a little over head high.Went and bush hogged the field went around and picked up the large pieces of cedars the first year then hogged it again in the Fall,next year cut it with the Rotary Scythe, it cut the grass and knocked out the cedar stumps.Baled it with the big round baler so the stumps didn't matter made hay the cows did fine on,from then on I could cut it with the NH mower.
 
Cant believe the guys here whining about haveing to travel 4 miles from home for hay let alone 15.

90% of the hay I make is 6+ miles from home and some as far away as 20. On bad years when I've been hungry for hay I've traveled 45 miles.
 
Four miles is certainly no big deal if you're using more modern equipment. It is quite another when using old tired iron; there is a huge difference between a more modern tractor that will cruise down the road with a load of hay at 20mph plus, and an old, likely underpowered rig that will struggle to maintain 10mph on a grade.
The fact that it doesn't matter to his livelihood makes it a free choice, but awareness of the drawbacks is not a bad thing.....
 

When I was covering 95 acres It was nearly all in a North south line on or just off a moderate traffic state highway. The furthest was around four miles. Now our town has that state road then another which has much more traffic with hill crests. I nearly always turned down ground that required driving on that road.
 
I'm glad to hear the draw backs. 99% have
already been discussed around the dinner
table. We are ready....
 

I'm not going to pass judgement on the quality or quantity of what the 40 acres will do for you. But will say if you decide to do it there is some good advice here on walking the land, cutting and picking up brush, looking for old fence wire, etc.. Be careful if you put steel posts by rocks. If you miss seeing one you may have more damage than the rock would have done. We got into a place someone had done that, but left the posts green. hard to see those in heavy grass taller than the post. I would suggest round fiberglass fence stakes with some bright colored flagging taped to them.

We do some remote parcels so here are some thoughts. How you can organize and handle remote fields can make a difference. Move your tractors and equipment there once and keep them there until that location is finished. Haul the bales out by truck/trailer, not a wagon behind a tractor, its safer and quicker. If you had a baler with a kicker and a fleet of kicker wagons, I'd say different.

If you are going to have a lack of storage problem for the bales, look into getting an older, but roadworthy, box trailer (depending on the size bale you make a 53'/102 wide will hold 450-600 bales) and find someone to move it for you. You can use a chute to feed bales onto the 4 wheel wagon as you bale, pull up and unload into the box trailer, then go right back to baling. Your hay is under cover in one handling, and you didn't have to pick individual bales off the ground. If it takes several days or weeks to fill it, the product is protected while it sets there.

If you are not sure about leaving tractors in the field, talk to a neighbor near the field and see if you can make a deal to park them where they can see and watch them.

Everyone will have different ideas and have their way that works for them. It all comes down to finding out what works for you. The less energy, fuel, and time you expend to produce the product the better the return, just like most any business. JMHO
 

Not sure about you state but here we can take soil samples to our local conservation office and they send them to a lab for analysis, that will tell you what the condition of the field is, to low on potash and it won't grow much hay but will have plenty of weeds.

I cut hay on 6 farms totaling around 235 acres, 15-45 acres each farm over a 9 mile distance but within 6 miles of my place, the hay is divided between my place and MIL's farm 6 miles from me so no hay is hauled more than 3 miles, all is rolled into 4x5 rounds for cow feed.
A few years ago we were low on hay so I cut some that was nearly 20 miles away, by the time we had transported equipment there and back, did the work and hauled the hay back to my place I had travelled over 700 miles moving hay and equipment with my truck, in the end it didn't pencil out, I was offered that ground the next year and turned it down.

Good advice on looking the fields over now before grass gets tall, remove or mark anything that will plug or damage equipment, this will also give you a lay of the land to make note of areas to avoid, you don't want to be mowing along and drop your tractor into a gully or sinkhole you don't see till to late.

I'd start off cutting 5-10 acres to see how everything works out, I'd cut the first part early so the grass hasn't matured to much should you decide to cut more and have a market to support it.

Ask your friend when the ground was last fertilized, if it's been a while I'd put 250 lbs per acre of 19-19-19 on that 5-10 acres I was going the start with, that will show you how the field will respond and what yield you can expect. Or you just cut it and see what you get, hopefully it'll have some grass worth feeding and not be a bunch of weeds to dump in a ditch, but that's were soil testing comes in, it'll give you a idea if you should expect a decent cutting or total failure.
 
(quoted from post at 09:47:45 03/13/20)
Not sure about you state but here we can take soil samples to our local conservation office and they send them to a lab for analysis, that will tell you what the condition of the field is, to low on potash and it won't grow much hay but will have plenty of weeds.

I cut hay on 6 farms totaling around 235 acres, 15-45 acres each farm over a 9 mile distance but within 6 miles of my place, the hay is divided between my place and MIL's farm 6 miles from me so no hay is hauled more than 3 miles, all is rolled into 4x5 rounds for cow feed.
A few years ago we were low on hay so I cut some that was nearly 20 miles away, by the time we had transported equipment there and back, did the work and hauled the hay back to my place I had travelled over 700 miles moving hay and equipment with my truck, in the end it didn't pencil out, I was offered that ground the next year and turned it down.

Good advice on looking the fields over now before grass gets tall, remove or mark anything that will plug or damage equipment, this will also give you a lay of the land to make note of areas to avoid, you don't want to be mowing along and drop your tractor into a gully or sinkhole you don't see till to late.

I'd start off cutting 5-10 acres to see how everything works out, I'd cut the first part early so the grass hasn't matured to much should you decide to cut more and have a market to support it.

Ask your friend when the ground was last fertilized, if it's been a while I'd put 250 lbs per acre of 19-19-19 on that 5-10 acres I was going the start with, that will show you how the field will respond and what yield you can expect. Or you just cut it and see what you get, hopefully it'll have some grass worth feeding and not be a bunch of weeds to dump in a ditch, but that's were soil testing comes in, it'll give you a idea if you should expect a decent cutting or total failure.
Click to expand...


Destroked, that is a lot more than any of my tests ever called for!
 
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