Update from The Fixer Upper Farm....hay and holy crap!
Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 6:32 pm
Yes, this is a great "problem" to have, I know.
We have about 3.5 acres dedicated to in fescue hay, no fences just crop.
Bought the farm two years ago. A month after we moved in we offered the neighbor (who is the grandson of the previous/only owner) any hay he could bale for his cows. Horses weren't here yet and no pastures were fenced. Grass was blah.
Last year, spring cutting of the 3.5 acre hay fields yielded 48 square bales...about 40-50 pounds each. Pretty hay but not much of it.
I did what my hay guy told me as far as making the soil happy again. Fall cutting was prolific but had too many weeds in it to feed to horses, so I offered to hay guy to bale for his cows. I continued to do as he advised for soil support.
This week he cut. It looked wonderful to me, but he blew me away when he estimated 200 to 250 bales. I couldn't imagine the increase. Plus that was my estimated max for storage. Fast forward to baling.
DH and I put up 384 bales in about 2 hours one day and six hours the next day!! 384 vs 48......holy crap! And it is gorgeous hay! Finished up at 10pm yesterday. 90 degrees and humid and sunny all week. There is hay shoved all over this place....garage, horse trailer, covered truck bed... I even texted friends last evening to see if anyone wanted to buy out of field....added panic of incoming rain potential. Of course no one was available. And now I am glad that I will have more than enough for a year, and hay guy is prepping me for idea of selling entire fall cutting.
Hay guy aka "Our Guy" is who I have mentioned in other posts. Grew up on our road, tons of family still on our road, used to farm this property for previous owner. Has helped with soooooo many things around here project-wise but also taught me a ton about having my own place.
So now, I have to figured out how to clean out enough space/report enough "stuff" in a very crowded barn bay to at least get the 51 bales out of my horse trailer asap for peace of mind. And it is still 90 and humid and sunny.
But what a great situation to be in.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
We have about 3.5 acres dedicated to in fescue hay, no fences just crop.
Bought the farm two years ago. A month after we moved in we offered the neighbor (who is the grandson of the previous/only owner) any hay he could bale for his cows. Horses weren't here yet and no pastures were fenced. Grass was blah.
Last year, spring cutting of the 3.5 acre hay fields yielded 48 square bales...about 40-50 pounds each. Pretty hay but not much of it.
I did what my hay guy told me as far as making the soil happy again. Fall cutting was prolific but had too many weeds in it to feed to horses, so I offered to hay guy to bale for his cows. I continued to do as he advised for soil support.
This week he cut. It looked wonderful to me, but he blew me away when he estimated 200 to 250 bales. I couldn't imagine the increase. Plus that was my estimated max for storage. Fast forward to baling.
DH and I put up 384 bales in about 2 hours one day and six hours the next day!! 384 vs 48......holy crap! And it is gorgeous hay! Finished up at 10pm yesterday. 90 degrees and humid and sunny all week. There is hay shoved all over this place....garage, horse trailer, covered truck bed... I even texted friends last evening to see if anyone wanted to buy out of field....added panic of incoming rain potential. Of course no one was available. And now I am glad that I will have more than enough for a year, and hay guy is prepping me for idea of selling entire fall cutting.
Hay guy aka "Our Guy" is who I have mentioned in other posts. Grew up on our road, tons of family still on our road, used to farm this property for previous owner. Has helped with soooooo many things around here project-wise but also taught me a ton about having my own place.
So now, I have to figured out how to clean out enough space/report enough "stuff" in a very crowded barn bay to at least get the 51 bales out of my horse trailer asap for peace of mind. And it is still 90 and humid and sunny.
But what a great situation to be in.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)