The Second Cutting

When wheat harvest was in the books, it was time for the second cutting of alfalfa. Actually, it was past time, but Randy says he's too old to cut wheat all day and bale all night like he did back in his early days of farming.

With minimal rain, there was a lot less alfalfa to cut this time around.

 

During the first cutting, we'd gotten approximately 400 bales. This time, we only netted 150 bales. Randy didn't even cut one field: A new field planted last summer was too thin to even attempt a second cutting. 

The quality of the hay was good, Randy says. The tonnage just wasn't there. It didn't get rained on before we got it baled this time. (That is kind of a good news, bad news thing. We could use some rain on our dryland corn and milo.)

We will need some rain if we hope to have a third cutting.

These clouds last week didn't bring any rain, but they sure made a picturesque scene.

A note: We didn't get measurable rain here at home last evening. However, we drove to the fairgrounds in Stafford for supper last night, and it was pouring buckets at the time. Our corn north of Stafford did get an inch or so, according to my "sources" (another farm wife).

As we sat in the car with the rain pouring down, it reminded us of a fair when Brent was supposed to do an evening magic show. The audience turned out to be the extension agents, Randy, Jill and me (or about that many). We were lucky we didn't get electrocuted. Now, with no one in 4-H, we just went back home, since the radar showed the rain could last awhile at Stafford. We probably should have stuck it out!

This wasn't the fair talk, but rather, Brent's first 4-H magic talk. I looked for a photo from that night, but it didn't make the 4-H project book. Looking back, a photo from that evening probably should have made the cut!  It was more memorable and probably taught Brent more than the carefully scripted talks.

From Bloom to Bale to Back of the Truck

The snapshot told the story: From alfalfa bloom to bale to back of the truck, another Kansas crop was completing its life cycle.

Last week was haying moving week. We will feed the majority of the alfalfa, sudan and silage we raise to our own cattle, but Randy markets the extra hay through Sunflower Trading, a division of the Kanza Co-op. So far this year, he has contracted seven loads to Morrill Hay Company near Larned.

  

After we added a semi to our farm fleet, Randy bought a hay trailer from our neighbor. Both Randy and Jake got their Commercial Driver's Licenses (CDL), so this is the second year we are hauling the hay ourselves.

Photo from June 2008

After the alfalfa is baled in the summer, the guys stack it in rows near the road.

Jake picked up the bales, two at a time, and then brought them closer to the truck.

Then he puts each bale individually on the trailer, placing them two across on the flat-bed. It's kind of like building with Legos. You just keep adding "pieces" to the "design." Unfortunately, there are no handy connective pieces to keep everything stuck together like Legos.

After the bottom rows were in place, he added another layer, positioning the upper deck in the "groove" between two bales.

Last winter, the guys painted a white stripe down the middle of the flatbed trailer. That helps give a visual marker for getting the load centered. 

This particular load was a little smaller because it finished out the field.

This year, the bales are lighter in weight. They are also worth less. This year, we are getting $70 per ton, while last year's high was $130. Much of last year's crop was sold at $110.

The price difference can be attributed to availability. This year, western Kansas has gotten more rain, so there's more alfalfa available. In addition, feed grain prices are down, making alfalfa worth less, too.

Once the bales were in place, the guys strapped them down.

Jake lifted Randy in the tractor bucket to place the straps over the top.

This is not the photo op your wife wants, believe me!

But they got it all strapped down with no mishaps and no insurance claims. Success!

Last year, we didn't sell any extra hay until February, so the photos weren't nearly as pretty as those on a beautiful fall day.

Try, Try Again!

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

The first written record of this proverb can be found in American educator Thomas H Palmer's Teacher's Manual published in 1840:

"Tis a lesson you should heed, try, try again"

Some sources believe that the expression dates back to Robert 1 of Scotland (Robert the Bruce), a 14th century king who, the legend says, suffered a major defeat at the hands of the English and went and hid in a cave near Gretna. While there he watched a spider trying to spin a web. Each time the spider failed, it simply started again. Robert I was so inspired that he returned to lead his troops in a series of victories against the English.

It's a proverb that we are living out on the County Line these days, too, though, thankfully, it doesn't require strapping on armor or drawing a sword. 

Instead, Randy has been try, trying again to plant a new field of alfalfa.

The signs of life in the newly-planted alfalfa field aren't easy to see from the road. Last Monday, we ventured out to inspect the field, which was planted August 3.

Randy used the handle of his pliers to dig into the soil, trying to find the seeds under the crusted surface.

Randy had planted the 30 acres just north of an existing alfalfa field. The average alfalfa field can produce a crop for six to eight years. This is the final year for the existing field, so he wanted to get its replacement started. He got the alfalfa seed in the ground, but we then had a fairly hard rain, which crusted the surface of the newly-planted field. That makes it difficult for the tiny plants to burst through the hard earth.

 

Early last Tuesday morning, we got 1 inch of rain. We'll see if that's the boost that's needed to get more of the plants up out of the ground.

The seeds are purple because they've been treated with an insecticide, Apron. The seed has also been inoculated, which means it's been treated with bacteria to promote its own production of nitrogen. Nitrogen helps build a strong root system and plant.

Seed costs for planting the new alfalfa field were $96 an acre, and that didn't cost planting costs and fertilizer. However, the cost will go up now that Randy has decided to do some interseeding to get the new field off to a good start. With having to interseed, the cost goes up to $118 an acre, just for seed. (The seed company offers a reduced price for seed needed for replanting.)

 

On one of our trips to Miller Seed Farms last week, we picked up five more bags of seed. The car trunk was dragging!

Friday evening, Randy interseeded the new seed, going across the field at a slight diagonal to try and lay the seed between the already planted alfalfa. 

 That way, he hopes the plants will fill in and give us a better stand. 

Most of the green you see in the photo is volunteer wheat, rather than the alfalfa he'd planted earlier. The smaller plants are tiny alfalfa plants.


Last week, the guys were swathing, baling and picking up the third cutting of the 2015 alfalfa crop. That task continues this week.

On a Roll

We're on a roll. Better late than never.

I'm at the end of my cliches, but we are just at the beginning of the 2015 hay season. Because of the wet May, we are later getting started than usual.

Late last week, Randy & Jake swathed hay at a few fields. (We are still waiting on the new swather, by the way.) We don't put down all the hay at once, since we don't want all the alfalfa to be ready to bale at the same time.

 

Sunday morning, Randy raked two windrows together. Raking helps dry out the alfalfa by letting air get to the bottom of the windrow. It also rakes two windrows together, speeding up baling since it requires fewer trips down the field. Fewer trips also mean less fuel used - always another good thing!

 

On Sunday evening, as the sun was setting, Randy baled the first round bales of 2015, giving him his first opportunity to use the new baler.

We were glad to avoid the rain and storms that others in Kansas got Sunday night. The setting sun bounced light off thunderheads to the east and the north.

A monitor inside the tractor cab lets Randy know when he has enough hay for a bale. Then, he stops the tractor and waits as the baler surrounds the bale with net wrap.

It's as easy as 1 ...

2 ...

3! 

(I thought later I should have shot a video instead of still shots. Next time, I promise!) There will be plenty of other opportunities during the next few days and months.

From Point A to Point B

Rain is both a blessing and curse to a hay crop.

Randy was thrilled to be putting down nice, thick windrows of alfalfa. The rains that brought wheat harvest to a screeching halt in June also made some of the best alfalfa we've had after several years of drought.

But, after he got the hay down, it rained some more - a little more than 2 inches on the freshly swathed alfalfa, in fact.

However, there was a break in the weather and the guys put up 300 bales of alfalfa in two days. They got it done just about the time the baler broke. It's in Hutchinson at the repair shop now, getting the rollers inside the baler replaced.

All total, the guys have put up approximately 500 bales from 240 acres this summer. (We have 210 acres of alfalfa and we put up another 30 acres for a neighbor.) Then, they have to move the bales from Point A to Point B.

I've covered most aspects of hay production before (swathing, raking and baling), but I don't think I've shared too many photos of moving the bales out of the field.

We put a bale mover on the back of the tractor, kind of like a two-pronged fork.  Randy backs up the tractor and puts one big bale on each "tine" of the implement.

 Sometimes, we store the bales right at the edge of the field. In this case, he drove a few hundred yards away.

Here is the back view of the bales on the fork.

Then, he backed the tractor up to put the bales into the line-up.

Better him than me. Actually, Jill did the majority of the bale moving when she was home. I wish I could find a photo of her. I know I took some, but I haven't run across them.

 

After he got the bales into position, he lowers the fork and pulls the "tines" out of the bale. Then it's back to pick up the next two bales.

 

 Photo from 2008

With the bales along the road, they are readily accessible for the guys to feed our own cattle in the winter ...
... or sell to other buyers.

Randy is going to play the odds and put down more hay today. Let's just hope the parts come in as predicted for the baler, so that the alfalfa can be baled when it's ready to go.

Timing is everything.