| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Nick |
Best weather.I've got to make hay at some point soon. Have a good guy ready to do it whenever I make the call, but he is insisting that *I* make the call on when to do it. I'm assuming we need, what, 4/5/6 days without rain if possible?So, who gives the most accurate, reliable weather forecast for up to ten days in the future, please? Not a disaster if we get it wrong, but I'd rather have a good, saleable crop than some damp grass. |
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| Bernie66 |
metcheck are the most accurate in my experience. Famous last words.
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| Nick |
Thank you for sharing the responsibility.
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| Bernie66 |
Ah, best of luck anyway. Whenabouts were you thinking of? | ||||
| Nick |
Are you sure its any good?
Currently, it's predicting that it will remain dry for both Glastonbury *AND* Wimbledon? Sounds most unlikely... 
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| Nick |
Oh, dunno. They've harvested all their own, so the machines are idle now. Any time from now onwards, really. |
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| lettucewoman |
No weather forecast can be very accurate up to 10 days ahead...our weather just isnt that predictable!
Generally. However the weather models do seem to show that apart from a bit of a thundery breakdown over the weekend there's a better than even chance that next week *could* be pretty hot and sunny... 
The model discussions on uk weatherworld and TWO (the weather outlook) using model predictions are usually fairly indicative of what might happen... |
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| Cathryn |
BBC according to my expert. Only he says he looks at the weather maps himself and makes a judgement. If there is a high coming in from the Azores... (Good grief  )
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| lettucewoman |
The BBC use data from the met office but often seem to interpret it a bit peculiarly...often being totally different from the meto prediction for the same day!
An azores high does usually guarantee several days of fine warm dry weather, but it can also kick off convective T storms, and if you get a Spanish plume developing....well.....
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| Treacodactyl |
I agree with this. Recently I'd been checking the weather before making a long trip and in the week before both Met Office and BBC said it would be fine. The day arrived and they suddenly changed their minds to pouring with rain which I could have found out by looking out the window. If I'd looked at the charts I would have realised there was a reasonable chance of rain and the forecasters were predicting it would miss so said it would be sunny.
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| gil |
For hay, you need dry days mainly after, when tedding out the hay. During cutting is even better.
10 days fine sounds a lot to me - folk up here cut [silage] if it looks like 2-3 days fine, though yes, hay takes longer. Have a look at Deano's haymaking by hand article for times required to make hay [by any method] |
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| vegplot |
You can make hay in 3-4 days especially if there's a gentle breeze. | ||||
| Bernie66 |
today, better still yesterday! | ||||
| orangepippin |
I have been told that if you predict the weather tomorrow will be the same as today, you will, on average, be more accurate than the Met Office and the BBC. I used to have a consumer weather station - Davis Instruments I think. It had a forecasting capability based on what it was measuring - not what the BBC studios 50 miles away were measuring. No supercomputer, but amazingly accurate. |
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| yummersetter |
We're 20 miles from Glastonbury and we're forecasted to have rain Friday/Sat on Metcheck. No surprise there. Isn't there a farming forecast on the BBC at some time on Sundays? |
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| catbaffler |
Isn't there one on Countryfile? (Which has been moved from the morning slot and is now on at about 6.30pm or thereabouts) | ||||
| mihto |
If you want to be a bit daring....
www.yr.no You can have it in English as well and it is rather good. Sometimes there is more actual wind than in the warnings. According to this forecast Hereford is expecting a nice day tomorrow and a rainy afternoon on Sunday. Why don't you hang your hay on a rack? |
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| crofter |
Wait until your neighbour is busy doing his own hay. That is when you should be doing yours (or the day before) Get him over asap after he cuts his own grass and you will be fine. | ||||
| Nick |
He rang to say he couldn't do mine on Thursday, as he was rushing to collect and stack his bales. And on Friday, it rained heavily. Early next week is already looking good, tho.
Because he is a commercial farmer, and the profit or cost of his hay determine if the business survives, or goes into debt, and I just bugger about, and if I had to buy everything, it wouldn't be the end of the world, I'm happy with his prioritisation. It's just the daily thrill of watching metcheck that I was unprepared for...
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| lettucewoman |
..........sarky? or junior weather geek?
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| Pilsbury |
when I have wanted to know the weather i have asked lettucewoman, and she has been accurate both times I must say
P.S when could you predict Borth on the west welsh coast, 24th - 26th july? I need to know to take shorts or an umberella 
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| Jamanda |
Spooky - it's chucking down here, yet neither the BBC or the Met office seem to believe it! | ||||
| Pilsbury |
thunder and lightening have just struck east London 
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| alison |
Your cloud is just coming over here. |
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| Nick |
Well, well over half of it was cut this eveing, until I interupted him, with a beer. The rest tomorrow. We shall see! From now on, it's in the hands of the gods, I suspect, and they have a dismal record, overall... | ||||
| mihto |
So, what happened? Are you and the gods still on speaking terms? |
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| Nick |
Baled 105 bales today. Sitting in the field, dry and fluffy. Going into the barn in a few days. | ||||
| Mutton |
Yay. Hay is so rewarding.
Into the barn in a few days? Our farming neighbour who also cuts our hay, instantly puts his small bales in a tight packed stack in the barn and leaves the doors open. Says the best way to store hay is when you have one big close packed stack and effectively it cooks to perfection. (I believe you mustn't do that with wet bales (rain or very lush grass) or it can self ignite with the extra heat.) For future reference, in terms of cutting, it varies a bit on 1. How dry the ground is - if you've got dry soil then the cut hay dries out faster than on damp soil. (So ideally a couple of dry days before you cut, then two to three days to process depending on breeze and sun. Can be done on damp soil if you are pushed for time, will just need to turn it more often.) 2. How lush and fertilised the grass is. So an old fashioned unfertilised mixed plant meadow like ours can produce hay that can go from cutting to baling faster than lush and manured, so we get less per acre, but are more likely to fit it into three days and have good quality bales. (We, the mixed finch flock and our little Soay sheep all like the flowers and seed heads too. )
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