Picking Up Hay - 2018 Edition

Hay is a very important feed source for our cows during wintertime when no grass is growing.  This year, due to a very wet summer, hay is in short supply.  We feed our cows hay that we get from two sources.  Last year we got 32 round bales from a neighbor who delivers them in lots of eight when he comes in every two weeks from working offshore.  The cows can usually demolish a round bale in about 6 days.  They would kill it off sooner if we didn't put the hay ring around it, but they would waste most of it.  The hay ring definitely cuts down significantly on waste.  We haven't purchased any round bales yet this year, but I have eight on order and they should be delivered during the middle of next week.

We also get square bales of hay from another neighbor down the road who charges $5 a bale picked up in the field behind the baler.  Normally, we pick it up in May or June.  This year they didn't get many cuttings due to all the rain and we just picked up 39 bales this weekend and the remaining 61 on Tuesday afternoon.  Tricia drives the truck in the hay field, Benjamin is in the trailer stacking the hay, Russ is picking up the hay and bringing it to the trailer.  I am the guy taking pictures and if you want to know what Russ is saying, he's saying, "Put down the camera and come help, Dad."

In late November at least it is not as hot as it is in summer when we are normally doing this.

We can normally load about 75 bales in both the trailer and the truck.  We had loaded up 39 bales and then... the truck tires started spinning.  We got stuck in the middle of the field.  Our neighbor came and pulled us out, but we decided to not rut up his field.  He picked it all up with a trailer and we'd pick up the remaining bales from his barn as soon as we could get it.  That ended up being Tuesday night when Tricia and Benjamin went and got it.

Since it was too wet to actually drive in our pasture to the barn with the hay, we moved the 39 bales 3 at a time in a wagon to the barn.  Not very efficient, I know.  I climb up in the loft and we have a pulley that we use to hoist the bales into the loft.

We have a bungee cord tied to the end and Benjamin would attach it to the baling twine on the hay bale.

I use the pulley to pull the hay up to the loft.  Using a ring fastened to the top end of the rope, I run the ring through a nail I have hammered into the barn rafters.  This holds the bale in place while I walk to the bale, pull it into the loft and unfasten the bungee strap and send it back down to repeat the whole process.

We got 39 bales in the barn loft this weekend.  Tonight Tricia and Benjamin unloaded the hay in the garage.  We'll give the ground a few days to dry up and then we'll bring all this hay out to the barn to store in the loft.

The cows will be happy to eat all this hay.  We'll be happy when all the work is done and "the hay is in the barn!"