Hay 2021

Mitchells33

Weather looking good from Sunday onwards, hoping to knock some on Saturday or Sunday, anyone else going for it?

Sami23

Mitchells33 wrote: »

Weather looking good from Sunday onwards, hoping to knock some on Saturday or Sunday, anyone else going for it?

Yeah gonna knock a couple of fields here as soon as weather permits after today's rain.
Wonder how far into next week we'll get ?

DBK1

JohnChadwick wrote: »

Can you cut LIPP in GLAS? Does it have to be hay, or is silage OK?

LIPP is Low Input Permanent Pasture. The key is in the name, permanent pasture. It can’t be mowed for hay or silage at any time of the year. You are permitted to top it after the 1st July.

Traditional hay meadow can be mowed after 1st July. Ideally it’s supposed to be for hay but most around here bale it and wrap it.

JohnChadwick

DBK1 wrote: »

LIPP is Low Input Permanent Pasture. The key is in the name, permanent pasture. It can’t be mowed for hay or silage at any time of the year. You are permitted to top it after the 1st July.

What's the penalty if you are caught cutting it for hay/silage?

Mitchells33

Sami23 wrote: »

Yeah gonna knock a couple of fields here as soon as weather permits after today's rain.
Wonder how far into next week we'll get ?

It is hard to figure out, weather forecast changes every hour, I am hoping we get till next Wednesday anyway

Asus1

Mitchells33 wrote: »

Weather looking good from Sunday onwards, hoping to knock some on Saturday or Sunday, anyone else going for it?

Hopefully knock around 10acres this evening or tomorrow here in Kildare.Grass has gotten fierce heavy over a 2 week period and the bit of rain we got has some of the grass lodging so it has to be cut.
Looking good around Midlands till next week so hopefully will get good hay.

Too_Old_Boots

JohnChadwick wrote: »

What's the penalty if you are caught cutting it for hay/silage?

They can fine you the amount the option is worth right up to kicking you out of the scheme and looking for all the payments to be repaid.
Never heard of anyone getting caught, but they were supposed to be moving to full satellite monitoring soon but idk if the software AI is in place yet.

Sami23

Tileman wrote: »

Unfortunately mine is in Glas which doesn’t permit until 1st July which is next Thursday .

Wonder do many lads chance it a few days early when the weather is there to get hay

BENDYBINN

Question for the experts...A field that produces 50 silage bales(baled after 2days down) will produce how many hay bales?

Sami23

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Question for the experts...A field that produces 50 silage bales(baled after 2days down) will produce how many hay bales?

I'd guess 40

tanko

30-35 i reckon.

Tileman

Sami23 wrote: »

Wonder do many lads chance it a few days early when the weather is there to get hay

Yea it will be fairly tempting when the weather is good. Wouldn’t expect them to grant an amnesty as they would need Brussels to sign off on that. But if they just looked away for a few days it would be great. In all fairness nore farning by calendar date is not practical in real life.
The ifa should be playing the sustainability card on this one. Good weather means less plastic used which is good for the environment.

Sami23

I know it's been discussed over the years but what are people's preferred way of saving Hay (in good hay weather):

Day 1: Cut
Day 2: Shake out (turn)
Day 3: Turn
Day 4: Leave alone
Day 5: Turn
Day 6: Row & Bale or Turn, Row & Bale

What do ye do or hope to do next week

Tileman

Tileman wrote: »

Yea it will be fairly tempting when the weather is good. Wouldn’t expect them to grant an amnesty as they would need Brussels to sign off on that. But if they just looked away for a few days it would be great. In all fairness nore farning by calendar date is not practical in real life.
The ifa should be playing the sustainability card on this one. Good weather means less plastic used which is good for the environment.

Is the idea of July 1st to give the bird a chance to have reared their young and fled the nest etc?

Surely if cattle are grazing to any degree then the bird wouldnt be able to nest etc. Surely a better option there is give a window where a farmer closes ground for say 7 or 8 weeks the bird does their thing and then the farmer makes hay.

I think its not worth the risk of going in and doing a good shot as it would be faily obvious from the air.

trg

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Question for the experts...A field that produces 50 silage bales(baled after 2days down) will produce how many hay bales?

Another question....is there any difference in nutritional value between a bale of hay and a bale of silage?

mr.stonewall

trg wrote: »

Another question....is there any difference in nutritional value between a bale of hay and a bale of silage?

Yes all down to DMD, dry matter % and the weight of the bale. Know all three and then you can make a correct assumption. Last year got some cracking hay at the end of may and when testing the silage fired in a sample. Came back as 75%DMD,86%DM. Pure gold.

Cutting date will influence the quality greatly. A lot of the GLAS stuff will be low feeding value, due to late cutting date and the quantity of seed head and stem. And doesn't matter it's hay or. Silage

893bet

Any point cutting today after the rain yesterday evening. Better wait till Saturday or even Sunday to let it dry standing again?

tanko

Better to cut it dry.

893bet

Kinda my thoughts also. Not around to cut tomorrow so end up Sunday then. Losing that day tomorrow could be the making or breaking of it. Might have to figure something out. Forecast is good but not scorching so it could be hard saved enough I think.

BENDYBINN

893bet wrote: »

Kinda my thoughts also. Not around to cut tomorrow so end up Sunday then. Losing that day tomorrow could be the making or breaking of it. Might have to figure something out. Forecast is good but not scorching so it could be hard saved enough I think.

Better option ...cut today and shake out Sunday.

minerleague

Sami23 wrote: »

I know it's been discussed over the years but what are people's preferred way of saving Hay (in good hay weather):

Day 1: Cut
Day 2: Shake out (turn)
Day 3: Turn
Day 4: Leave alone
Day 5: Turn
Day 6: Row & Bale or Turn, Row & Bale

What do ye do or hope to do next week

Depends on weather of course but try to leave alone for day 2 ( sometimes day 3 also ) and then ted / turn until ready to bale. Could be 4 days in good weather stemmy crop, or a week other times

Easten

Trying to save Hay in the West of Ireland is an awful lot of hassle and nerve wrecking.
Would haylege not be a safer and easier option?

minerleague

Easten wrote: »

Trying to save Hay in the West of Ireland is an awful lot of hassle and nerve wrecking.
Would haylege not be a safer and easier option?

Of course it would, but wouldn't you miss that smell of well saved hay?

Easten

minerleague wrote: »

Of course it would, but wouldn't you miss that smell of well saved hay?

Or the smell of that hay heating and turning to a bale of white mold :pac:

Sami23

minerleague wrote: »

Depends on weather of course but try to leave alone for day 2 ( sometimes day 3 also ) and then ted / turn until ready to bale. Could be 4 days in good weather stemmy crop, or a week other times

Do you not think it would save better turned out on the flat rather than left in rows from mower for 2/3 days ?

mr.stonewall

Going to knock another 8 acres for hay after lunch here, mower on for doing a bit of topping( round 2, got 20 acres at the start of June) . Some of it light so rather than wrapping it I will chance it. Always find that once it's cut, it's vital to get it turned out. Nice and slow with plenty revs for the first 2 times of turning. Gentle from then on. Cut an extra day and turned on the day it's cut is always worth it.

minerleague

Sami23 wrote: »

Do you not think it would save better turned out on the flat rather than left in rows from mower for 2/3 days ?

Should have said - cut with disc mower, mostly old meadow ground ( not leafy grass for hay here ) spread out over most of the ground. Different to big heavy rows cut with moco alright. Always done that way here , not saying right or wrong . Rain will run off better if you get some in day or 2 after cutting.

Sami23

minerleague wrote: »

Should have said - cut with disc mower, mostly old meadow ground ( not leafy grass for hay here ) spread out over most of the ground. Different to big heavy rows cut with moco alright. Always done that way here , not saying right or wrong . Rain will run off better if you get some in day or 2 after cutting.

Ah yeah that makes big difference alright when cut with that type of mower.
Mine will only be cut with rotary mower so I like to get it spread out the day after cutting

Sami23

mr.stonewall wrote: »

Going to knock another 8 acres for hay after lunch here, mower on for doing a bit of topping( round 2, got 20 acres at the start of June) . Some of it light so rather than wrapping it I will chance it. Always find that once it's cut, it's vital to get it turned out. Nice and slow with plenty revs for the first 2 times of turning. Gentle from then on. Cut an extra day and turned on the day it's cut is always worth it.

Is grass dry enough to cut after yesterday's rain already

893bet

I am getting itchy.....

Reggie.

Mow away lads

Tileman

893bet wrote: »

I am getting itchy.....

Steady now

bogman_bass

Sami23 wrote: »

Is grass dry enough to cut after yesterday's rain already

Not to be smart but walk the field. If your trousers are wet after walking it you’re better off leaving it

bogman_bass

Sami23 wrote: »

I know it's been discussed over the years but what are people's preferred way of saving Hay (in good hay weather):

Day 1: Cut
Day 2: Shake out (turn)
Day 3: Turn
Day 4: Leave alone
Day 5: Turn
Day 6: Row & Bale or Turn, Row & Bale

What do ye do or hope to do next week

I wouldn’t stick rigidly to a plan like that. Conditions would dictate.
I’ve often turned it twice in a day on a real scorcher.

Knock it and if you have a Tedder turn ASAP.
If it’s a hay bob leave it dry for a day.
After that turn it until you stop pulling out green lumps.
Weather and heaviness of the crop will dictate how long that takes

Too_Old_Boots

Mower hooked up, tractor full of diesel, nice breeze and sunshine with the last hour, meadows nearly dry, I'll be knocking it all this evening.
Feck that 87 euro a roll plastic, the coop can hang onto it for themselves

Reggie.

bogman_bass wrote: »

I wouldn’t stick rigidly to a plan like that. Conditions would dictate.
I’ve often turned it twice in a day on a real scorcher.

Knock it and if you have a Tedder turn ASAP.
If it’s a hay bob leave it dry for a day.
After that turn it until you stop pulling out green lumps.
Weather and heaviness of the crop will dictate how long that takes

Exactly

Sami23

bogman_bass wrote: »

Not to be smart but walk the field. If your trousers are wet after walking it you’re better off leaving it

Just walked it there now. Wellies were wet after it but not soaked I suppose.
There's a fair breeze but no sun today around here. Debating whether to cut this evening or tomorrow afternoon when it would be drier 🀔

Mad about baa baas

Sami23 wrote: »

Just walked it there now. Wellies were wet after it but not soaked I suppose.
There's a fair breeze but no sun today around here. Debating whether to cut this evening or tomorrow afternoon when it would be drier ��

Fortune favours the brave.. I'd say cut

minerleague

Sami23 wrote: »

Just walked it there now. Wellies were wet after it but not soaked I suppose.
There's a fair breeze but no sun today around here. Debating whether to cut this evening or tomorrow afternoon when it would be drier ��

Is it heavy? I would prefer it to be dry cutting, as harder to dry a wettish crop cut down. Weather will dictate so dont always get ideal conditions.

Sami23

minerleague wrote: »

Is it heavy? I would prefer it to be dry cutting, as harder to dry a wettish crop cut down. Weather will dictate so dont always get ideal conditions.

Ah it's fairly heavy but not mad heavy either I suppose.
Think I'll chance it as I'd be kicking myself if I'm a day short at the other end

Too_Old_Boots

Sami23 wrote: »

Ah it's fairly heavy but not mad heavy either I suppose.
Think I'll chance it as I'd be kicking myself if I'm a day short at the other end

Depends alot on the ground underneath too. If its a dry meadow then it makes it a lot easier.
I'll be cutting now too, it'll take 12-24 hours just to wilt before saving can start so as long as it stays dry I'm making progress

Jb1989

bogman_bass wrote: »

Not to be smart but walk the field. If your trousers are wet after walking it you’re better off leaving it

Is it not the internal moisture of the grass that determines the wilt, if so I'd be cutting ASAP, the outside moisture should be relatively easy to dry off near the end of the cycle.

Reggie.

Sami23 wrote: »

Ah it's fairly heavy but not mad heavy either I suppose.
Think I'll chance it as I'd be kicking myself if I'm a day short at the other end

Mow it.

mr.stonewall

Sami23 wrote: »

Is grass dry enough to cut after yesterday's rain already

Reports back yes it's dry. The wind has dried it well

mr.stonewall

Mad about baa baas wrote: »

Fortune favours the brave.. I'd say cut

With hay, you have to have balls. Weather charts are good. And reliability drops after 5days

893bet

Dry bed on the mower. Was full of oil theee weeks ago. Hmmmmmmm.

Reggie.

893bet wrote: »

Dry bed on the mower. Was full of oil theee weeks ago. Hmmmmmmm.

Natural evaporation

893bet

Reggie. wrote: »

Natural evaporation

Sadly there is a drip....

Reggie.

893bet wrote: »

Sadly there is a drip....

Always is. Weld up the hole

lab man

Reggie. wrote: »

Always is. Weld up the hole

Takes time to weld a bed you need to heat the area well to dry off any oil and use a tig welder to do it properly if you weld without heating the area it will crack again beside the weld seam iykwim. If twas me I'd fill up with oil drive on and get it welded after your done with the hay etc btw the tig welder doesn't heat the bed case as much as a stick welder