May Hay!

[Donn Hewes]

I baled 130 bales of nice dry hay today from almost 4 acres. The yields are light in May. The same field in mid to late June will yield 250 to 300 bales. But it is nice to get a field opened up so it can grow back. I have never really made hay in May before. The hardest part was having everything ready when I needed it. I usually grease everything a week before I start, but this week I was greasing and checking the air as it rolled into the field.

I mowed with a six foot sickle (#7) Bar. I mowed on Monday, tedded on Tuesday, and baled on Wednesday, so the hay dried just fine with out the haybine. I will try to mow more hay this year with out the haybine.

I have an intern that has been here for a week. She did some of the tedding, after a while I got off the cart and let her take a few trips around the field with out me. She did fine.

Now I can sit back and watch it rain tomorrow. Horses and mules worked well all week in pretty hot weather. On Wednesday morning one mare had a few wrinkles were her collar was rubbing on Tuesday. I adjusted the hames straps, loosening the top and tightening the bottom and improved the fit. A very slight change but she was fine after baling today. Maybe finish getting ready!

[mitchmaine]

way to go, donn. never even heard of may hay. bet it smells sweet.
mitch

[Donn Hewes]

yes it is sweet, and suprisingly soft. I don’t think I ever tried to dry dandelions before!

[J-L]

Sounds great Donn. We were just disking up my alfalfa patch to put some oats in yesterday and the alfalfa is sticking up just enough that a horse could graze it. Wish it would get summer here. Going to feed cows again today.

[dominiquer60]

Don,
Sounds like you got a good head start to the hay season. We like to hay a couple good fields the last week of May, but corn and vegetable planting usually get in the way. This year we had such a bad late frost that our orchard grass browned pretty hard and now we are waiting for the fields to green up a little, as well as getting other crop plantings finished first. I hope everyone’s haying goes well this year, my fingers are crossed that it will be a better year for it.

Erika

[Joshua Kingsley]

I put up a little loose this week and last. I only mowed about an acre all together and the hay ground was seeded last year and didn’t catch good till this spring. As with donn the yield was low but the quality was good. Hope to mow a larger field tomarrow and then see what happens.

Joshua

[karl t pfister]

Around here the saying is” rain in May is a barn full of hay”, , heard that from a neighbor of mind who died 5 years ago at 97. The saying was probably from the same era as this story, again a local legend , the father farmer was sick in bed and all the neighbors were helping turn the windrows over by pitch fork . The leading neighbor called to the son who was a little “slow “and says take this sample in to your father and see if he thinks it is ok to be put in the barn . The son goes and and the father twists it around for a while and tells his son to ask them to turn it over one more time . The son dutifully reports this back to the leading neighbor whose response is “well I got that sample outa the barn and I think this field is ready to go in the barn too “Awkward , Glad I wasn’t there ,to be the son or the neighbor , but I am quite sure it weren’t May hay neither . Donn, I would be real surprized if anyone could confuse your’s for year old!!

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