Make hay while the sun shines.

[Faulkner]

We've had a wetter than normal spring and early summer in the Ozarks this year, and though it negatively impacts some of the row crop farmers it's allowed a bumper crop for hay. One of my neighbors is part of the dying breed of family dairy farmers in these here parts of the Ozarks and he's been effected by drought conditions which negatively impacting the hay crop. I crossed paths with him as he was heading into and me out of the county courthouse about a month ago and we stopped for a chat. I asked him then how the hay was looking and he said great, he just hoped he could round up enough help to get baled. I told him he could count me and my youngest son (who just turned 18) to help out. Well, I got the call early last week.

We started Thursday afternoon cutting hay in my neighbor's pasture that butt's up to mine, and by mid-day Saturday we started baling. Made for some long days, we even got up at dawn on Sunday, broke to get cleaned up and go to church, then finished up Sunday afternoon. We had blue skies and afternoon temperature in the mid 90's throughout the week and weekend, and it should stay dry a few more days as we load up and store the hay.

Coyote population has been thick this summer, they've even taken down one of the calfs a few weeks ago. I carried my S&W M&P 15-22 in the tractor with me and was able to take out two 'yotes of the 5 or 6 I saw this week. I saw all kinds of critters from the tractor seat including a bunch of snakes, but we let them go as we figured they were doing their job of helping keep the varmit and rodent population at bay.

My wife captured a few pictures of us out in the field from the back porch of our house using my Nikon DSLR and 600mm telephoto lens. She got some decent shots considering we were at least a quarter of a mile away

 

[MOONDAWG]

God Bless our Nations Farmers!

 

[soFlaNative]

I find that last shot of the aligned bales striking.
Don't know why I like it, but I do.

 

[Faulkner]

I'm telling you boys, standing in the middle of a fresh cut hay field has one of the sweetest smells in the world.

 

[da gimp]

when we were young, we got paid a penny & a half per bale to haul hay... on the average day we would haul a 1000 bales per day.. stacked tight in the barns......Then DeKalb expanded their seed production dramatically in our area... our high school coach was a crew leader for them & he hired all of us off one hay crew & we got over minimum wage to rogue milo, corn & beans and de-tassel corn.... heck we thought we went to heaven.......over twice the money for much easier work...

Glad you got your neighbor's hay in...it is so much easier with the new big rakes & big balers.... big bales also cut down on run ins with injured rattlesnakes out in the field too......

 

[shouldazagged]

My East Tennessee relatives would likely have said, "Make shine while the hay suns", but that's another story.

You're right about that sweet smell, Faulkner. Nothing quite like it. Not even a mass of honeysuckle.

 

[snowman]

I'm telling you boys, standing in the middle of a fresh cut hay field has one of the sweetest smells in the world.

Yes, sir, I remember it well. Haymaking was probably my favorite job on the farm. Wish I were still able physically to do it. Of course technology has changed the process considerably, so I probably wouldn't need to be in the shape I used to be.

Not only does hay smell good, but a field of alfalfa LOOKS good enough to eat. I almost envy the livestock who get to partake of it.

Thanks for posting, Faulkner. And thank your wife for me for getting the pictures for us, if you think of it.

Andy

 

[YogiBear]

Aloha,

As a city boy, I find watching You Tube videos of farming and ranching fascinating.

I realize from your description that it's a LOT of Hard work to do that.

If it wasn't for farmers and ranchers there would be a Lot of starving people around the world.

I am saddened when I read/hear of the loss of farm & ranch land to encroaching civilization.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

Gosh, How times change. I worked on a wire baler in 1948 poking & pitching 3 wire bales. Towed by a John Deere 2 cylinder tractor. Five man crew. Got 50 cents an hour. Dawn till almost dark. Thought I had really hit the big time money wise. The Deere broke down & we got a Cat D-4 that I ran for a while. Good memories.

 

[redlevel]

The Bear has attacked me twice while I was baling hay.
Both times temps were hovering around the 100 degree mark.
I was tooling along just fine, when all of a sudden, I was afraid
I was going to pass out. I had a cell phone and my brother was
Close by with an air conditioned pickup and water both times.

(Those who live in the deep South and work outside during the
Summer will know about The Bear.)

 

[WuzzFuzz]

Gosh, How times change. I worked on a wire baler in 1948 poking & pitching 3 wire bales. Towed by a John Deere 2 cylinder tractor. Five man crew. Got 50 cents an hour. Dawn till almost dark. Thought I had really hit the big time money wise. The Deere broke down & we got a Cat D-4 that I ran for a while. Good memories.

GRRRRR...John Deere wire tied. sometimes they would spit out 80# sometimes 120#...Worse if the hay wasn't completely dry...That wire was hard on the hands, especially out on the rack...5 high and tie....We got a penny a bale. But on a good field we could make $10.00 or so...But most of the time it was only about $8.50 or so...But if we could manage to bale for a couple of farmers, then that was double the amount. But even so, that was big money back then...Sure did keep a kid in shape....

The round bales today, a whole lot easier for a one man operation...Hard to get kids to do manual labor these days.

Snakes,,,,reaching to the bales as they came out of the baler, there would either be a whole, but most of time a half a snake there, still wiggling, or wanting to bite at something or someone...But..now looking back, like you too Dick, some good memories.

And as another post above, walking beans...de-tassling corn.

But the one I hated the most was combining oats...That chaff would stick to a hot sweating body and itch...Thank goodness for the stock tanks to get into to wash off.

Another...remember the days, in the spring, during spring plowing..(When the fields were still being plowed), the smell of good ole black dirt....Yep...good memories...

Oh too...lets not forget having the 2 gallon thermos jug with lemonade, full of ice...Get a drink between wagons....


WuzzFuzz

 

[Salty RI]

When I was a kid, I used to work at local farms, we used to rake hay, talk about work.

 

[woodsltc]

This brings back memories......used to work for my uncles baling and stacking hay back in the olden days. Good times and lots of hot, sweaty work.

Don

 

[Frank237]

The dreaded WIRE bales! I have thrown many a bale from the wagon UP into the loft. Thankfully it was when I was young, dumb and fit. An hour of it NOW would kill me.

 

[Rogue Wizard]

We put up about 2,000 square bales per year. The barn loft will hold 20,000 bales and has a conveyor system that makes things better for my bride and I. The guy I buy the hay from cuts and bales it and then calls me and tells me where the wagon is. I go get it, bring it home, unload it, and return the wagon to his farm. We put up second cutting so it is about that time. The problem is that it has been wet and finding a few days in a row that are dry so the hay can be cut and flipped (twice) and baled is challenging.

I'm past 60, but still put up the hay. Good exercise. My wife has been doing it all her life and puts some the young lads who help to shame. I chuckle when she gives them hints on how to handle the hay without wearing themselves out. The look on their face is great. I heard one of them last year say " I'm not stopping until she does. My dad will never let me live it down". Little do they know that "dad was shamed by my wife in his youth too"....

 

[WuzzFuzz]

and has a conveyor system that makes things better for my bride and I.

We had the ole hay trolley system for putting up in the barn...DAMNed trip line was forever getting tangled though, the the main rope would come off the pulley from time to time too.

Too be sure, it would keep a person in shape, providing they could still do it today. Congratulations Wizzard to you and your Mrs. for still being able to do it.


WuzzFuzz


WuzzFuzz

 

[kraynky]

when we were young, we got paid a penny & a half per bale to haul hay... on the average day we would haul a 1000 bales per day.. stacked tight in the barns......Then DeKalb expanded their seed production dramatically in our area... our high school coach was a crew leader for them & he hired all of us off one hay crew & we got over minimum wage to rogue milo, corn & beans and de-tassel corn.... heck we thought we went to heaven.......over twice the money for much easier work...

Glad you got your neighbor's hay in...it is so much easier with the new big rakes & big balers.... big bales also cut down on run ins with injured rattlesnakes out in the field too......

You must have been young a bit earlier than I was, we got $.04 a bale to pick it, haul it and stack it. And I've seen a few snakes (mostly black) bound up in a bale of hay. Aint nothin like being the stacker on the wagon and have someone toss you a bale with a snake squirming around, madder 'n the dickens!

Found and raised a few small bunnies along the way too, when their momma either got caught up in the process or just got run off by it all. It was hard dirty work, but it paid pretty good when you put in a few full days from sun up to sun down. Wonderful smell that still gets my attention and brings back some pretty funny memories of those days. Looks a bit easier these days for sure. Thanks for the memories Faulkner.

 

[Rogue Wizard]

The fun starts when there is a snake in a bale. Sometimes dead, sometimes not! I can tell by the pitch of the scream from my bride when she finds a "baled snake". The pitch is the same whether it's dead or alive....

 

[ACP230]

Nice pics of "Balehenge" in this thread.

 

[Jinglebob]

I love the smell of fresh cut hay in the morning.