three-timing primitive bales hay; the buzzy one inquires

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x2876

Oh my.

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 08:33 PM
Original message
 
Just baled a little 3 acre meadow of native grass....

Got 50 nice, bright bales. Good for cows, sheepsies and goats. Horse people around here turn up their noses at prairie hay unless its sprayed for bugs, and I don't do that. Had a good time, really enjoy it and it was a beautiful fall day.

Buzz Clik  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 08:36 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. Sounds nice. 

What are the horse people worried about?

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. the beetle that will infest alfalfa and is toxic to horses. 

I've never known it to be in prairie hay, but seems to be an issue. Of course, these same people will put out a big round bale of hay in the middle of a corral and let the horses eat it while its rained on, left out. Kind of silly.

Buzz Clik  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
4. Meh. Their loss. 

What part of the Sooner State are you from?

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 08:59 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
5. North Central

Buzz Clik  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. God's country. 

Unless you don't believe in God. Then, it's just a beautiful place to be.

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #6
 
8. God made it, God forgot it. 

It's OK, kinda hard being a liberal in these parts, so I just focus on minding my own business and living the farm life that I always dreamed of growing up in KC.

Botany  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 08:52 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. A day spent in the prairies is always a good day
 
after which an "artistic" photograph of grasslands

What did you harvest? Big Bluestem, Switch Grass, Indian Grass, Little Bluestem, or Needle Grass?

Their roots will push new top growth next spring ..... and maybe a little this fall if you have some rain .... and that top growth will put sugars down into the roots.

after which another "artistic" photograph of grasslands

I spent today working with native grasses & wildflowers.

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:02 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
7. I know it is not usual to bale native grass in the fall...

but we've had tons of rain and a frost is coming. I've got 10 other acres that was only baled once and am letting it go till a hard freeze, then will chop it hard. Bluestem, bermuda mainly. A lot of hay being put up by neighbors, so I thought I would join the crowd. They all do big rounds, I do small squares for the hobby farmer or just for those who want the convenience.

Botany  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:15 PM
Response to Reply #7
 
9. If you can wait until after a hard frost and when the grass is dry ...

... less chance of fungus .... but if you are doing the little bales and get enough air circulation then you still should be good. The seed heads of Indian Grass and Switch Grass are very nutrient rich.

More and more people are starting to understand how important and really valuable our native plants are ...

thanx for posting!

after which a photograph of a river a few miles away from where franksolich lives; one wonders when the botanical primitive was ever around here, ruining the place

The Niobrara River in Nebraska

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:32 PM
Response to Reply #9
 
10. It was plenty dry when I raked it 

very low humidities of late. Cut on Saturday, it was over 90 and windy yesterday, 75 and dry today. It passed the two handed twist test. I didn't realize the seed heads had any residual protein value.

Botany  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:37 PM
Response to Reply #10
 
11. People are working on trying to breed Indian Grass w/ a bigger seeds ....

... for "permi-culture."

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #11
 
12. Our 15 acres is thick with native grasses, wildflowers...

have not pastured it for 10 years, just brushed hogged a few times a year as weed control and its paid off. Now able to bale very nice weed free hay.

Botany  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #12
 
13. If you can see if you can burn a section of it.

You will get more biodiversity

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #13
 
14. Can't do intentionally, too many houses....though a neighbor did it 20 years ago by burning trash on a red flag fire warning day. Northern OK has an infestation of Eastern Red Cedars because we cannot burn, do not burn. I've cleared nearly all of mine with a chainsaw and by a logging crew that wanted them for paneling. If I could wave a magic wand and burn the prairie and save the buildings, many of us would do it in a heartbeat.

The Oklahoma Tallgrass Prairie Preserve regularly does this, as also up in the Flint Hills of Kansas. I have a friend who is a professor at the local university and his specialty is burning prairie, however, his "small" projects are about 1 section in size.

Oh my.  This bonfire didn't turn out as interesting as I had thought it would, but since it's all copied-and-pasted, here it is.

[JohnnyReb]

I hated hay time. I had to get out of school early everyday and rush home. First I'd cut some to bale tomorrow, then rake and bale what I cut yesterday and then start loading and hauling it to the barn. Daddy would help me finish up when he got home from work...then repeat until we had 4000+ bales in the barn.

Now days with modern equipment you can cut, rake, bale and wrap 3 times that much in one day. Damn the good old days.

[dutch508]

I hated hay time. I had to get out of school early everyday and rush home. First I'd cut some to bale tomorrow, then rake and bale what I cut yesterday and then start loading and hauling it to the barn. Daddy would help me finish up when he got home from work...then repeat until we had 4000+ bales in the barn.

Now days with modern equipment you can cut, rake, bale and wrap 3 times that much in one day. Damn the good old days.

We used a slide stacker and put up fifteen to twenty stacks a day for the entire summer.

[NHSparky]

Going out baling...I'd rather blow insulation in an attic.  Cooler and itched less when you were done.

[AllosaursRus]

He's just now baling hay and it ain't alfalfa? What a maroon! Should be some real nice bales of straw!

If want the protien in grass hay, you bale it no later than the 4th of July! Otherwise it has already gone to seed! Guess what DUmmie, the seed is what contains the protien. If you wait until this time of year it just contains empty husks. Good thing you don't do this for a living, your stock would starve to death!

Another reason the local folk don't feed that crap to their horses is.........wait for it........the frikkin' horses hate the shit! I have 80 acres of grass hay. It has 7 blends and clover. A formula we put together to get our horses, mules and cows through sub-zero weather. Domestic livestock need the right stuff to digest, as it is how they heat themselves in the winter. The digesting of the proper stuff produces enough heat you can see the horses steaming on a cold day.

[Odin's Hand]

triguy46  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-28-09 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. God made it, God forgot it. 
It's OK, kinda hard being a liberal in these parts, so I just focus on minding my own business and living the farm life that I always dreamed of growing up in KC.

Damn carpetbaggers...

[IassaFTots]

Damn carpetbaggers...

[Alpha Mare]

Another reason the local folk don't feed that crap to their horses is.........wait for it........the frikkin' horses hate the shit!

I have 2 dozen horses and I can vouch for that.  And it's really hard to find good 'horse hay' around here, it's all weedy, huisache-y crap.

[AllosaursRus]

I have 2 dozen horses and I can vouch for that.  And it's really hard to find good 'horse hay' around here, it's all weedy, huisache-y crap.

I know whatcha mean! I have guys who beg me for my stuff. However I don't sell any until I get a good read on the winter or if they are in dire straights and it would put their horses at a disadvantage during the cold weather. I need to make sure I have plenty for me, the ranch foreman, and one of the owners. Still I usually end up selling about 60 ton by the next season.

Going to be a little different this year, as we replanted 40 acres 'cause it was getting a little thin. If we don't get 3 ton an acre for 2 years in a row in a field, we replant.

[Carl]

Between where I live and other fields we put up around 13,000 bales of hay this year of all variety,not a lot of alfalfa in the mix because it is so hard to get dry in the northeast without losing all the leaves.

[The Village Idiot]

So what is he going to do with those bales? Build an igloo?

[Ogre]

I hated hay time. I had to get out of school early everyday and rush home. First I'd cut some to bale tomorrow, then rake and bale what I cut yesterday and then start loading and hauling it to the barn. Daddy would help me finish up when he got home from work...then repeat until we had 4000+ bales in the barn.

Now days with modern equipment you can cut, rake, bale and wrap 3 times that much in one day. Damn the good old days.

Amen, I would rather have milked the herd before baling hay, always got stuck on the wagon in the field and then in the barn when we unloaded.  Gramps always said it built character, ..... well I did turn out to be a character.

[AllosaursRus]

Between where I live and other fields we put up around 13,000 bales of hay this year of all variety,not a lot of alfalfa in the mix because it is so hard to get dry in the northeast without losing all the leaves.

Don't know what you feed or if you just sell the stuff, but we refrain from feeding alfalfa to the horses and mules, as it is way to hot. The protien is too high. Believe it or not, a horse can actually founder if you feed it straight alfalfa.

[Carl]

Don't know what you feed or if you just sell the stuff, but we refrain from feeding alfalfa to the horses and mules, as it is way to hot. The protien is too high. Believe it or not, a horse can actually founder if you feed it straight alfalfa.

They want grass hay (New England market) as much for texture as any other reason.
Some does go to dairy cattle or beef and in this climate one makes allowences as a pure grass (Broome,Timothy,Orchard) won`t have good regrowth if it is dry.
A mix of Alfalfa will help with that.

What we do is spread a dose of Urea as fertilizer along with liquid manure from a local dairy farm that grows straight Alfalfa for haylage.
During the summer they can`t spread on that and the corn ground is of course out too.
They need a place to get rid of it and the nitrogen is good for the grasses.
Some Potash is applied as well and Lime if needed.
Soils samples dictate that.

[AllosaursRus]

They want grass hay (New England market) as much for texture as any other reason.
Some does go to dairy cattle or beef and in this climate one makes allowenc es as a pure grass (Broome,Timothy,Orchard) won`t have good regrowth if it is dry.
A mix of Alfalfa will help with that.

What we do is spread a dose of Urea as fertilizer along with liquid manure from a local dairy farm that grows straight Alfalfa for haylage.
During the summer they can`t spread on that and the corn ground is of course out too.
They need a place to get rid of it and the nitrogen is good for the grasses.
Some Potash is applied as well and Lime if needed.
Soils samples dictate that.

Good deal!!!!!!!!  Wish I had them around here. We generally have to do it chemically, unfortunately.

[Alpha Mare]

Don't know what you feed or if you just sell the stuff, but we refrain from feeding alfalfa to the horses and mules, as it is way to hot. The protien is too high. Believe it or not, a horse can actually founder if you feed it straight alfalfa.

We feed an alfalfa mix to the rescued horses because they benefit from the extra protein.   But the regulars would be trying to jump the moon!

[Alpha Mare]

So what is he going to do with those bales? Build an igloo?

Not with that stuff.  We're building a strawbale house, using wheat straw.  Doing all the work ourselves and having a blast. 

[AllosaursRus]

We feed an alfalfa mix to the rescued horses because they benefit from the extra protein.   But the regulars would be trying to jump the moon!

Alfalfa is really good for an imediate proteim boost and to bring horses back from the "edge" when their owners have neglected them. Ya just don't want to feed them too much too fast. Alfalfa is way to hot for a horse. I've seen one that damn neared died when it got into a barn full of the stuff. Took three days of constant supervision in order to pull her thru. Too much protien to fast, can kill a horse.

[Chris]

[Alpha Mare]

That's cool! Did you make that?

[Chris]

No, I have a friend that lives out in the middle of nowhere and I passed it on the way to his house.  Ho, ho, ho.

[AllosaursRus]

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish I had the hay to do something like this, especially during All Hallows eve! lol!