Hay 2023

Going mowing 10 acres of haylage for sheep here in an hour,plan in to bale it a day out from it being fit to bale for hay

Agree.

It's not warm enough and the grass is still too green. I try to make about 40 acres of hay each year, mainly for horses.

Yeah it’s not the kind of weather to turn the hay every day. Not a huge amount of wind or sun here yet.

remember we had weather like this last year and a lot of us panicked and made hay early.

2 weeks later we had a heatwave

Absolutely and if anyone else has grass fit to cut then cut,cut, cut

Cutting now, if it is a dry summer, at least I'll have good hay saved and it'll still have a chance to come.

If it’s not baled, can you not get him to shake it out again. If it’s hay you still want?

I shook it out myself. It was only a round and half of the files so not too bad. I arrived just the right time. 5 mins earlier he wouldn’t have been at the field and I be gone home. 5 mins later it be all done.

Just let contractor rake for you.

No point spending money on a rake for a few days in a year that you'll use it.

See all the lads around here that had fields in GLAS for the last few years have them mowed now to try & make some June hay instead of struggling with wet heavy crops in July...

Sure why not.............

It is.

I bought it second hand 2 years ago when my old mower died in the middle of a field. It's a little rough looking and could do with some tidying but find it great, it was a bit heavy on the 390T but the CX95 is a good bit heavier and handles it better. It would definitely on the short list if I was buying new today.

100%

Is there a swath wheel or board that might be bent in?

Other than that check that you are using the correct blades.

Make sure the mower is mounted correctly on the arms of the tractor, some of the mowers have a Cat 2 pins for the lift arms, if your tractor has Cat 3 lift arms (the bigger hook type) then the mower can be loose allowing the mower to pivot, While it might only be half an inch of a pivot at the arms it can be 6 inches at the end of the bed. I think you can get shims to mount the mower correctly.

Made a small burst this evening and cut 3 acres.

Light stuff so should be easy got hopefully.

Decided to cut it as it wasn't gonna grow much in next 10 days with no rain anyway.

Baled the first bit of hay for a few customers this eve, lovely dry green hay. Should be another 25 acres or so fit tomorrow. A lot of lads still mowing for hay too, should be all got going by the forecast.

Why were you so late closing your meadows? If the last few years have thought us anything weather wise it’s that you should be aiming for silage to be cut in early to mid May as the weather could do absolutely anything after that!

Being organic makes it that bit more difficult alright. The only thing is generally organic meadows will save quicker so if you get any sort of a short weather window you should get the hay.

Not particularly, maybe in a sharp turn. Maybe my crops might not be as heavy though, as I've only FYM/Slurry on the silage ground. But when you say belts, have you 4 individual belts or 1 wide belt with 4 ribs on it?

"I got ate without salt"

It's been a long time since I heard that expression, "they'd ate you without salt"

Sounds like you've slippage someplace when it blocks on the "restart" of a turn.

Check belts if they are worn or old they may be tight when cold but stretch when in use.

Tractor pto could be slipping or underpowered. Slipping would be a more common issue on a lower hp tractor as the PTO clutch plates are lighter.

That's one of the reasons I don't sign up for some of those schemes. On heavy ground being able to go when you get the opportunity is key as you will have less damage to the soil. This current spell is too good to let go. We have enough calender farming at the moment, without adding another layer

Sun and wind is reducing the diesel spend on this hay

Once a reserve of fodder is built on any farm the focus has to switch to quality fodder. Supplementing with meal or grain in the winter is a big expense that can be saved by cutting a few weeks earlier

Oh god yeah, that's what I'm at. The wind from the east and the sun, let it do the work. Few small exceptions,

one very grassy ryegrass paddock.

Some spots of the back swarths

An an odd heavy patch in a field

What's was cut on Thursday night got it's first toss on Saturday, following by Sunday and every second day. It's nearly all fit to bale tomorrow. Left up to the contractor to bale tomorrow or Thursday.

Just finished knocking another 7 acres of grass starting to go strong on grazing ground.😡 Hard to turn down the chance with the forecast being given