This year’s hay season turned out better than we anticipated, with a total of 500 bales from the approximately 15 acres we cut and baled. Given that we didn’t have the funds to fertilize or reseed last fall or this spring, our expectations were pretty low about how much hay we’d be able to produce.
Spring rains kept us out of the field a bit longer than usual, so we didn’t start cutting until the second week of June—normally, we’d have been finished by then. While the rain certainly helped with hay production, it also caused some challenges. A small storm front rolled through while we still had bales on the ground, so we had about half of our harvest safely in the barn when the rest of the bales got caught in the rain. We had to wait a week for everything to dry out before we could continue bucking the hay. Each bale was turned over by hand to ensure it dried properly and didn’t mold. Thankfully, the sun was on our side, and we were able to finish up and get the remaining bales put away.
We also shared around 50-75 bales with a neighbor who’s helped us buck hay in the past. They feed a few steers on their property and were grateful for the extra hay to help grow out their beef.
Another hay season is in the books! Our baler held up well, and we got all the hay off the field. Unfortunately, we did lose our hay rake just before finishing the last stretch of the field. One of the rake arms burned out, so now we’ll need to figure out whether to repair or replace it before next spring. Seems like there’s always something!
Bale Count
John Deere 224WT Baler in action
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