The Race Is On...

Seems like the older I get, the faster time flies.  The race for first cutting hay has already begun.  January is at an end, February is a short month and March 1st we start fertilizing.  It's after midnight; I ought to be in bed!  Between now and that first cut, I'll be clearing a new field which will see a very early cut of mixed grass from what's already there and then planted in teff grass for the summer.  I may clear another smaller field for teff grass too - if I can find the time.  We'll hit our fields with a non-residual herbicide to control broadleaf weeds in early April and spray for cereal rust mites, which can devastate a timothy field.  Hopefully we will take a first cut of timothy and timothy mixed hay Memorial Day weekend.  Samples will be taken as the hay is baled and forwarded to Equi-Analytical for forage testing to establish the quality of the hay prior to sale.  Between now and Memorial day, I've got some hay shelters to move and probably will erect a new one.  I've added a kicker to my baler and will be building/installing kicker racks to my wagons.  Three wagons need new beds, so I'll be doing that too. Need to put up a few gates and do some mechanical repairs to a couple of ancient tractors to get them field ready in time for haying.  Lots to do, not much time; the clock is ticking!

I said all of that to say this - last fall we sold out of hay early.  I have been receiving steady requests for hay throughout the winter.  IMHO - there is a shortage in our area of decent hay, which I believe may exacerbate the situation for this coming Summer/Fall due to depleted inventories.  These things go in cycles.  If you are interested in hay for 2018, you might consider buying earlier vs. later.  As our hay season unfolds for 2018, we will post updates as to our timeline and progress towards making quality square bales of hay.  I would especially encourage following our Facebook page for alerts.  Feel free to share this webpage and our Facebook page with anyone you know that might need quality hay come next spring/summer/fall.  It will be here sooner than later!

On the other hand, May the Hay Dog doesn't seem to be to alarmed...​