Hay 2023

2smiggy

may as well start it, as the forecast is looking good. if I had any fields with a light crop I would be very tempted

weatherbyfoxer

Going mowing 10 acres of haylage for sheep here in an hour,plan in to bale it a day out from it being fit to bale for hay

Reggie.

Too early for this sort of thing......boooo

Dunedin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120627771#Comment_120627771

Agree.

theangryant

Looks like no rain till June 1st or 2nd at the earliest, I would be tempted too. Could be a great chance to get some light crop hay.

Box09

It's not warm enough and the grass is still too green. I try to make about 40 acres of hay each year, mainly for horses.

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120629489#Comment_120629489

That maybe but when it's seeding out and about a week of fine weather its very tempting.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120629489#Comment_120629489

Yeah it’s not the kind of weather to turn the hay every day. Not a huge amount of wind or sun here yet.

Silverdream

I find May or Early June stuff very grassy and it makes it very hard to make hay, but it is excellent weather to make Haylage out of that stuff, it's the best feeding you can get

bogman_bass

remember we had weather like this last year and a lot of us panicked and made hay early.

2 weeks later we had a heatwave

davidk1394

I cut out 3ac for hay just now 😅

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120643522#Comment_120643522

Absolutely and if anyone else has grass fit to cut then cut,cut, cut

mr.stonewall

Knocked 15 ac last night. It's light and leafy.

Very hard to turn down the chance of getting hay with feeding value.

Danzy

Cutting now, if it is a dry summer, at least I'll have good hay saved and it'll still have a chance to come.

893bet

I have some hay cut in bad land and the contractor started rowing it for silage. He is doing silage in the field next door for me. I forgot to close the gate.

Dunedin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120645129#Comment_120645129

If it’s not baled, can you not get him to shake it out again. If it’s hay you still want?

weatherbyfoxer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120648364#Comment_120648364

If its in 20ft or bigger rows it would be a pure mess trying to shake it out

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120648364#Comment_120648364

I shook it out myself. It was only a round and half of the files so not too bad. I arrived just the right time. 5 mins earlier he wouldn’t have been at the field and I be gone home. 5 mins later it be all done.

kk.man

Anyone know of a cheap effective rake make..I've a lotus for tedding but its ant no rake..

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120648696#Comment_120648696

Just let contractor rake for you.

No point spending money on a rake for a few days in a year that you'll use it.

weatherbyfoxer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120648696#Comment_120648696

@ €12+vat an acre for raking its a no brainer.. I rake around 1000 acres per year for lads for hire who just have tedders..this works well as it frees them up to turn other stuff while we bale the fit stuff

Anto_Meath

See all the lads around here that had fields in GLAS for the last few years have them mowed now to try & make some June hay instead of struggling with wet heavy crops in July...

Reggie.

Yeah it's starting to kick off here aswell.ive 30 acres to sort this week

emaherx

Sure why not.............

roosterman71

^^^ Is that a Procut 800 mower? How do you find it?

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120653242#Comment_120653242

It is.

I bought it second hand 2 years ago when my old mower died in the middle of a field. It's a little rough looking and could do with some tidying but find it great, it was a bit heavy on the 390T but the CX95 is a good bit heavier and handles it better. It would definitely on the short list if I was buying new today.

mr.stonewall

Latest update. Hay is flying. Stuff cut Thursday night is nearly there. Just turned twice. have 25 acres down now and come thinking of knocking another 5 acres

Just find it easier when the weather is on your side to make hay. There has been years where the yard was full of expensive black puddings, it's just too expensive make wraps if not needed

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120653325#Comment_120653325

100%

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120653308#Comment_120653308

Yeah I have one since new for 6 years. Works good and does a good job. But in heavy crops it wraps grass around the outside hat and would stall the tractor, or stall the bed and burn the belts. Have them tightened to the max already. Do you have similar issues on the outside hat?

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120653550#Comment_120653550

Is there a swath wheel or board that might be bent in?

Other than that check that you are using the correct blades.

Make sure the mower is mounted correctly on the arms of the tractor, some of the mowers have a Cat 2 pins for the lift arms, if your tractor has Cat 3 lift arms (the bigger hook type) then the mower can be loose allowing the mower to pivot, While it might only be half an inch of a pivot at the arms it can be 6 inches at the end of the bed. I think you can get shims to mount the mower correctly.

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120654405#Comment_120654405

There's a swatch wheel which is very flimsy. I have it a few inches from the hat but makes no odds if it's close or far away. The blades are direct from Malone and there's no issue with the mounting. There's no play in it and the pins match the balls (snigger)

Sami23

Made a small burst this evening and cut 3 acres.

Light stuff so should be easy got hopefully.

Decided to cut it as it wasn't gonna grow much in next 10 days with no rain anyway.

Dunedin

Knocked 4 acres around 4 pm today and tedded it out afterwards. Light ish in spots but very green so will need the week. Had actually planned it for silage but couldn’t let the weather go when we have it.

DBK1

Baled the first bit of hay for a few customers this eve, lovely dry green hay. Should be another 25 acres or so fit tomorrow. A lot of lads still mowing for hay too, should be all got going by the forecast.

Packrat

Mine is still 3 or 4 weeks away from cutting.

Very annoying because it'll undoubtedly be raining by then.

If I'm wrong and it's still dry, then the silage which was closed later won't grow and I'll be just as bad.

Can't fecking win with these bloody dry spring/summers.

I got ate without salt here a fortnight ago for saying it would be dry until at least the 10th of June.

I'm here right now at this time of night, filling half barrels for cattle after a half hour watering the vegetables earlier. 4.45 start this morning and 6 tomorrow.

God but we love the hardship.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656099#Comment_120656099

Why were you so late closing your meadows? If the last few years have thought us anything weather wise it’s that you should be aiming for silage to be cut in early to mid May as the weather could do absolutely anything after that!

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656139#Comment_120656139

Sheep here as well as cows. The hay ground was closed mid March after being grazed with in lamb ewes. Silage ground closed May 5th after they had lambed there.

Organic so slurry only. No bags.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656163#Comment_120656163

Being organic makes it that bit more difficult alright. The only thing is generally organic meadows will save quicker so if you get any sort of a short weather window you should get the hay.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656416#Comment_120656416

Yes I was thinking that. It's grown very well and could be cut now without disgrace, but it'd be nice to have something worthwhile out of it after the hassle.

Anyone any idea how hay works out in bales per acre compared to the same crop wrapped for silage?

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120653550#Comment_120653550

Not particularly, maybe in a sharp turn. Maybe my crops might not be as heavy though, as I've only FYM/Slurry on the silage ground. But when you say belts, have you 4 individual belts or 1 wide belt with 4 ribs on it?

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656899#Comment_120656899

Can't rightly remember but I think it's the wide one. Been a long time since I looked in there. I've usually only slurry on the ground too. Very little, if any bagged stuff. Seems to happen me depending on the way the grass is lying. This year I could cruise down the field at 10km/h but swing at the end to come back and the mower would be blocked after 5 yards!

Lime Tree Farm

"I got ate without salt"

It's been a long time since I heard that expression, "they'd ate you without salt"

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120657050#Comment_120657050

Funny enough that's sounds like exactly the issue I had with my last mower.

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120657050#Comment_120657050

Sounds like you've slippage someplace when it blocks on the "restart" of a turn.

Check belts if they are worn or old they may be tight when cold but stretch when in use.

Tractor pto could be slipping or underpowered. Slipping would be a more common issue on a lower hp tractor as the PTO clutch plates are lighter.

Conversations 3

Has anyone fields in the schemes that can't be cut until July 1st?

Have one we take hay from every year, not sure will the weather hold out that long.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120657830#Comment_120657830

That's one of the reasons I don't sign up for some of those schemes. On heavy ground being able to go when you get the opportunity is key as you will have less damage to the soil. This current spell is too good to let go. We have enough calender farming at the moment, without adding another layer

Sun and wind is reducing the diesel spend on this hay

Conversations 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120657901#Comment_120657901

I know what you mean but it is what it is now.

Luckily I only bale it for a few horse's so not a major dependency on it.

Just have to hope we get a few days in July

mr.stonewall

Once a reserve of fodder is built on any farm the focus has to switch to quality fodder. Supplementing with meal or grain in the winter is a big expense that can be saved by cutting a few weeks earlier

Sami23

Would most people only turn Hay every second day in this weather ?

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120660089#Comment_120660089

Oh god yeah, that's what I'm at. The wind from the east and the sun, let it do the work. Few small exceptions,

one very grassy ryegrass paddock.

Some spots of the back swarths

An an odd heavy patch in a field

What's was cut on Thursday night got it's first toss on Saturday, following by Sunday and every second day. It's nearly all fit to bale tomorrow. Left up to the contractor to bale tomorrow or Thursday.

Just finished knocking another 7 acres of grass starting to go strong on grazing ground.😡 Hard to turn down the chance with the forecast being given

morphy87

How much a bale is hay making this year?