Hay 2024

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224844#Comment_122224844

Go for a good bit, every year. Still make over 60-70 acres of pit and anything from 100-200 wraps. Hay suit as use a good bit with suckler cows, dairy bred calves at grass and I have a few buyers built up over the years. There is still another 18 acres to make yet. In 2022, I dropped the wraps to a very low number due weather being so good and got hay on 4 separate occasions.

Hay is a game of patience when it's on the ground. Letting the weather do the work and not the man or diesel, if you can. This afternoon I only touched the backswarths and heavy spot.

The second and most important part is reading the weather charts and models regularly spotting trends in each run. This can snatch you an extra day or 2

3 independence in making, namely access to a mower and tedder/haybob. Being able to cut a dry crop from lunchtime is massive. I wont go into the haybobs as I spent many years round baling silage that was cut with drum mowers and rowed up with haybobs. Less than 10% of farmers could use it correctly over 50% you would want to bang their heads off the side of the baler with the amounts of lumps,knots and rows all over the place. Setting up a tedder or haybobs is one thing and driving it is another. Low forward speed and plenty rpm is vital for the 1st 2 runs

PANADOL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224144#Comment_122224144

I hope your wrong temp low but wind and sun are about?? 8 day hay 😴

PANADOL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224865#Comment_122224865

What part of the country you in North West?

RockOrBog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122225176#Comment_122225176

Yes Nw Mayo

PANADOL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224865#Comment_122224865

Your in the North West?

PANADOL

Savage drying today in ci meath

will bale on sat

memorystick

Great drying out but no heat. I always associated hay with hot June days. Could be plenty of heat in some bales yet.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122231580#Comment_122231580

Have you looked at any hay yourself though? There is zero moisture in what I'm looking at.

I've made hay in all kinds of conditions, in the 80's and 90's we only made hay, plenty of dodgy years but we got it done, you'd know baling hay that might or even definitely will have some heating in it and I'm not seeing it at the moment.

PANADOL

Well.finally got hay a week aof ups and downs , with rain last night but then a.serious day of drying today baled it this evening ,will leave them.out for a week

IMG_20240608_204831_226.jpg

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235667#Comment_122235667

I saw a good bit of hay baled while passing through South Tipperary yesterday. As a matter of interest, what kind of mower do you have if you don't mind me asking?

mr.stonewall

Baled it up yesterday evening. Blew up into a great day. Yesterday morning I was resigned to the fact of having to wrap it but by 1.30, I turned it again and it came back to life as it had wind and sun. Had a good sup of rain on Friday night, Rake on a 5 and baled at 7.

12 acres yielded just over 70 bales. And over half of it was grazing ground that got away.

Looking at the weather charts there won't be much hay got in the next 2 weeks

Not your vintage hay weather but still manageable with time and picking choosing when to work it. Looking back it was on the flat after the mower for nearly 48hrs ans should have tossed it out sooner,but pit silage got in the way

PANADOL

Conditioner mower claas I think neighbour mowed it

davidk1394

Finished baling the hay here. I baled the headlands Friday. It got a heavy shower of rain yesterday morning but the rest of the day was brilliant for drying hay. Turned it this morning at 11, raked at 2.30 and baled at 5.

Reggie.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122238220#Comment_122238220

Been raining here since 11am

Tileman

similar wet cold morning here raining heavy since 3.

PANADOL

Bailed 5 acres yesterday 68 bales v happy with that

emaherx

I got baled up Friday evening as the little one had one of her seizures Thursday morning, so I let it all lie for an extra day. I got baled up just before the rain, but there wasn't much anyway, probably would have been just as good Saturday morning. Today has been fairly wet so glad to be done now.

Did anyone aim for hay this week and fail? There was no shortage of sideline naysayers, but I think it worked out well here anyway, only wish I'd knocked a bit more now.

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122238733#Comment_122238733

Always the same when you save some. Loads tried and failed up my way but made hayledge. I didn't chance it myself as I couldn't see enough of a gap. The weather is just unpredictable, it actually doesn't know what to do.

Silverdream

Neighbour done square bales, big rush to put them in but now you can smell the hay heating from the other side of the parish

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122238775#Comment_122238775

That's true enough, I only didn't mind risking it as it was surplus from paddocks that just went too strong for the calves to graze.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122239045#Comment_122239045

How long was it down. I put a bale in with the last few calves and opened it up well. No heat and it was down for 8 days

TheFarrier

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122238733#Comment_122238733

Bottled it and wrapped last Thursday. Had been lucky enough to miss a few showers that didn’t materialise and when the baler man rang to know was he coming or not I said drive on. Could have made hay but easy saying that looking back.

Hope your young lady is ok.

weatherbyfoxer

Neibour next door to me round baled 10 acres Friday afternoon that was down a week and turned 6 times.Put my hand into a couple last nite and they are starting to cook now.stuff was dry when it was baled but too much green sap in the stems as the conditions wernt good enough to wilt it fully

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122239862#Comment_122239862

Not sure, I think 6 days max. Problem was it was more grassy silage than hay to begin with and the weather just wasn't there for that type of stuff. I usually don't start hay until July, by then its real steamy and half saved growing so if you get 2 fine days running you'll have it, but the quality doesn't compare to may/june hay but still miles ahead of mouldy hay and you get a lot of it which counts when feeding suckler cows.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240285#Comment_122240285

I only turned the grass here 3 times but it was down 8 days, it also had a good start with heat, sun and a breeze over the first few days, before some cool but bright breezy mostly dry days. But the grass was light and hadn't received any fertilizer due to wet spring.

Many years there are no opportunities to make hay in July or even August. Last year we got hay at the end of May and again in the first week of September, all great stuff without mould or any heating. Definitely any lad that can still see the sap when baling should also be wrapping. (And anyone who can't see it when it's obviously still in it shouldn't be at hay any year and I know a few of them and have baled for them too under protest.)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240218#Comment_122240218

There really is no excuse for baling hay still with visible sap in it and stuffing it into a shed, I hope they don't seriously regret that move. I round baled myself in the end, there is no sign of any heating but they can also stay outside for a few days to be sure.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240002#Comment_122240002

You have to make the call and to be fair you are better off bottling it early than late, wrapping the very nearly but no quite hay I think is worse than wrapping with a good bit of moisture left in them.

She is fine now thanks, she always bounces back, trying some new meds now so hopefully they will be less frequent.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240285#Comment_122240285

If you get a chance you have to take it in this country. The odds of getting the holy trinity (Sunshine, warmth and wind) for haymaking in this country is hard. You have to make a calculated gamble with hay. Sitting on the fence for 2 days on whether to knock it or not can be the difference. Stuff that wasn't grazed was ideal for knocking and getting back into a grazing rotation

Hay that got a touch of rain often works out better, it's knocked the dust out of it. Over the years I only ever had 1-2 mouldy bales and they tended to be on the backswarths.

Haymaking is a craft, every meadow is different, be that crop, type of grass, whether it's opens, high hedges etc. If in doubt get a second opinion.

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122240672#Comment_122240672

Some lads know how to make hay, other only know how to make bales of mould. Haymaking starts in spring from the spreader. If using an amount of nitrogen to force up leafy silage then make silage and not hay. I'd love to be in a position to make nice may/june hay but its not easy on the west coast. Its easier to save the overgrown steamy stuff in July, the cows don't complain about the quality in January, but idk would it be stuff to feed to calves or Weanlings.

emaherx

Going to chance knocking a few more acres today.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122265161#Comment_122265161

Im out this time, due to holidays . Looks like serious warmth brewing towards the end of the month. We had fierce rain yesterday with a local weather station hitting 33mm for the day

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122265161#Comment_122265161

Thinking the same myself. the place has turned into a jungle with all the rain. I'm going to wait till mid week as a few corners are very soft and need to dry a bit. My disc mower will struggle to cut that stuff, I should have kept my old drum mower for these occasions.

Mid week has rain promised?? Must watch the 1pm weather on RTE1. Having said that if you were constantly watching the forecasts you'd never cut acre.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CxYLdGhBTW5CsQwq8