hay??

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hay??

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VSS

Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2845
Location: Llyn Peninsula, North Wales

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 07 6:22 pm Post subject: hay??
has anyone been able to make hay this year? We have 6 acres to mow and simply have not had a suitable window of weather to do it. Beginning to think we will have to try and graze it and then top. www.viableselfsufficiency.co.uk

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 07 6:26 pm Post subject:
I am quite worried here as no-one in this area has been able to make anything decent. My neighbour was hoping to this week and then deliver my usual amount - but it has just started to rain heavily. What has been made is really dreadful quality and going black already because it all had to be baled so quickly.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 07 8:03 pm Post subject:

we hav emore than 6 acres here - enough we have been told to make 800 bales bur can't find anybody who will come and do it for us

it is so very frustrtating....

all the farmers with equipment are busy on their own land and those that contract out are all busy on the pipeline...

hay this year is going to be very expensive i am afraid

next year we hope to have a tractor and our own equipment so that at leat we won't be waiting for someone else....

Green Man

Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5272
Location: Rural Scotland.

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 07 8:12 pm Post subject:
Have managed mine now, but cheated. I got a farmer to big round bale it. It should be safe to 'cure' in the orchard now, and I shall roll them under cover on a dry day. I think the nutritious value will be low, but that does not matter with my two 'good-doers' but I shall add pony nuts and a forage balancer this winter. I hope it will not be dusty hay.

Bebo

Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 12590
Location: East Sussex

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 07 8:39 pm Post subject:
Been dry for nearly two weeks around here and it seems that everyone has been frantically working to get the hay in. We don't have enough land for hay ourselves, but our neighbour reckons he's managed to bale more than he'll need for the winter.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 12:32 pm Post subject:
Perfect fortnight of weather here, ended by a some rain overnight, just after finishing 83 bales of very nice stuff.

@Calli

Joined: 03 Jul 2005
Posts: 1682
Location: Galway

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 1:24 pm Post subject:
Been a terrible summer over here. Its been too wet even for silage - the bales are just too heavy for the tractors( still small scale fields and tractors here) Prices and availabilty is going to be worrying this winter.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45426
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 1:30 pm Post subject:
Our Rich has been haymaking as weather permits for 4 weeks or so, not doing too bad as far as I know

Mary-Jane

Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 18397
Location: The Fishing Strumpet is from Ceredigion in West Wales

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 1:52 pm Post subject:
We've given up on the idea of getting any silage off our paddocks this year for the first time. The weather, coupled with over-stocking this year has meant it's simply not worth the time, effort and financial outlay. So we've kept ours topped and we're just going to buy in silage this winter. At least we'll know where we are financially.

Vanessa

Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 8324

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 7:47 pm Post subject:
It's been a dreadful year for hay in France too. By the time they started cutting the first lot, they'd normally have done two cuts. the quality is very poor, as it had been "standing" too long before they could cut it - very low nutritional value. It is certainly going to be an expensive winter!

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 7:47 pm Post subject:
the longer it goes on before we can get anybody the less likely it is that we will have any at all we have had some on order for about a week and it hasn't showed up only about 10 bales left at the moment only 800 sitting in the field

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45426
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 07 9:06 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Our Rich has been haymaking as weather permits for 4 weeks or so, not doing too bad as far as I know

Spoke to him this evening, jhe reckons he's only done half of last years total, only got 16 acres to go. Not happy

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