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What's the latest you ever baled hay?

J

JRSutton

Well-known Member
Curious

We got pushed back this year from the weather - we left one field un baled due to equipment failures - but had that not been the case, were
ready to do it at the beginning of november, which would have beeen the latest we've ever had the opportunity.

I'm talking small square.

(I'm in Massachusetts).

Out in that field the other day - I'm tempted to say we could bale it now. Still real green.

I'm not sure how it'd dry, but it'd be interesting to try doing a portion of it just for fun. Equimpent still needs fixing though, so I'm not
going to get to find out.
 
I don't remember the date,but I remember I finished baling hay one day and started picking corn the next one year.
 
I was eyeing one of my fields the last week wondering if I could get it dry and in. Weather forecast not promising. Did bale September 24th this year. Was delayed by heart surgery a couple days before. Wanted to finish before surgery but just not in the cards.
 
In 1989 I mowed a feild of second crop grass hay right after Thanksgiving and we had some nice weather the first week of Jan. and I baled two perfect loads of small squares.I told neighbor not sure if we were behind everyone else or ahead? This was in western MD. Tom
 
I planted oats as a cover for my alfalfa around August 20th. I had no intention of getting anything out of it, but mid Oct. it was 2 1/2' tall since it stayed unusually warm and it was beginning to lay down, so we swathed it. After being rained on once and a few insignificant snows, I finally was able to bale the hay on Dec. 9th. Made 240 4x4x8 big square bales on 75 ac. This is in central WY.
 
Baled some one year for the neighbor on my birthday (Nov. 6). Not sure when he cut it but it was dry when I baled it. South central Mn.
 
I'm in western NY and baled hay in the 1st week of December one year - I think it was 1990. I had been cutting a couple of rounds each week with my horse drawn mower and loading it with a hay loader to feed to a beef cow I was raising. It was mostly a way to play with some toys. Went out to rake it and load it and found it bone dry. Got out the baler and baled up 25 bales. Around here you're living good if you can bale hay much after labor day due to shorter days and lots of dew on most days.
 
in the mid 90's I shredded ,raked and round baled some forage sorghum on diverted acres Dec. 7,the ground was froze but we had no snow, the cows ate it before the nice hay they had in the other feeder, this was in SwMn
 
I have been out to service a round baler in December (flipped a belt over). The customer was baling oats that had been seeded after wheat. It was wet/muddy.....not sure what was left in those bales after the water was taken out. The previous spring (April) I was out to a baler being used to bale discarded greenhouse plastic. This is in SW Ontario.
 
Latest I ever baled was 2nd cutting in mid October, it took 4 days to dry, but we had that rare very mild week of good weather, not the usual rain or overcast. I remember baling after dark as it was windy and no few set in, just 1/2 a wagon or so. Your weather is prolly much like the weather here in NY? So you know how strange it can be. This summer was so dry that I cut Friday before Labor Day and was baling Saturday afternoon!
 
I'm not sure where in NY you are - you might get the lake effect weather? Either way, I'm sure overall it's pretty similar.

We baled in October - November would have been the latest for me if we didn't have so much equipment trouble.

I wonder nutritionally what the grass is like. I've never had to worry about what happens to it this late in the year since it's usually baled much sooner.
 
When we live in SW MI we had a neighbor that mowed the last day of Nov. They square baled it the last day of Dec. real pretty hay. Just one of those years.
 
Not me, but a neighbor baled hay December 24th quite a few years ago. This is in east central MN. It didn't have much for color, but he needed hay for his cattle and horses. They seemed to eat it ok throughout the rest of the winter.
This year, another neighbor (renting the same farm as mentioned) baled hay the middle of October, intending to use it for cover hay. After baling, he thought it looked and smelled pretty good, and it did. He said no point in tossing it out as cover hay, so he gave some to me and I put 125 bales in my haymow. Horses and calves are eating it just fine.
 
I'm not to far from Albany, if your furmilar with that, the lake effect pretty much dies out by the time it gets here , I'm not far from the Mass border, I can get to Lee Mass in less than an hour, iv also been to Yankee Candle in South Deerfield, Holyoke ect.
 
New Years Day. 1/1/2006 I baled some fescue and orchard grass mix. Mowed it the day after Christmas. Had bright sunny days with temperatures in the 50's each day with 60 or above on New Years. Made good hay. North Western North Carolina.
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October. But the price is so low I don't even bother with it anymore that late. Too low a yield x the market price/demand does not make it worth my time...although I had a desperate request today from someone who was completely out.
 
Dec 5th this year in south west PA. A few years back, baled a big field Dec 16, but it was freeze-dried. Mowed it and next two days hard freeze, warmed up a little and baled it. Stuff smelled good and cattle liked it.
 
hmmm, baled hay last year in feb, a few years back new years day, baled in December 5 years back and to condense I think it has been done every month for some odd reason or other; on top of that it all seemed to be eaten by the hides
 
One of my first burn-down and no-till corn after alfalfa attempts yielded crappy corn with fairly strong alfalfa growing inter-row and inter-plant. Probably would have been great for silage. We picked the corn and I sickle mowed, raked and baled the remnants mid-November. The cows seemed to love rooting for the alfalfa and corn cobs. I even sold some!
With alfalfa seeded into all our hay fields, I don't risk killing the crowns by baling too late. I do remember baling the same day as the grape harvest began, usually well into October.
 
I'm in Sutton - central mass. Probably an hour and a half from Lee, MA.

I go out to visit friends in Ohio three of four times a year - so I drive through albany fairly often. I love the upstate new york area - once you get away from civilization.
 
I baled Thanksgiving day this year. Was going to bale several days earlier, the weatherman had forecast a nice sunny day. Rain started as I was hooking the tractor to the baler, so I had to let it dry out and baled it Thanksgiving day.
 
The latest I have baled small square bales was the 18th of december
A neighbor had cut it down and then went picking his corn called me up and said come bale some free hay it was the greenest looking hay I had ever seen.it was totally dry and turned out to be very high in protein.
 
1994, Pops barn burned in Oct. It was a mild year also. We baled round bales right up to Christmas time to try to make up for the 10,000 square bales we lost in the fire.
 
Last year I round baled a field of 2nd cut mixed grass right before Christmas. Two hours after finishing it was snowing so hard you couldn't see the bales. Did a field of small squares for mulch on December 30 one year. Farmer that was supposed to do it that year never showed up and owner would have lost his farmland property tax assessment if I hadn't done it before the end of the year. Since then that ground has been mine.
 
baled milo stubble jan 15 when I was in hi school ,.. that was 40 yrs ago ,.. baled soybean trash stubble for bedding 2 sundays ago,,last hay was nov 10th.
 
No record but for me Nov 30th this year!
First it was too dry, then I had to wait out the rain.
Got a forecast of 4 dry days and took a chance and cut 10 acres.
Made good grass hay but I stressed out about rain every day it sat in the field drying.
I am in North East Texas.
Andrew.
 

I have baled third cut in mid October plenty of times, but one time I baled a good slug of first cut in mid November. It was a field that my neighbors never got to, (never do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right?) It must have been 800 or so small squares. I didn't do it for myself, but I would not have done it unless I had it sold. It could not have dried, I think that there was some ice in it, but all the lumber would have absorbed the moisture.
 
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