The weather has turned hot and sunny and so as the saying goes, we make hay while the sun shines! The new equipment has been really great to use, even though we pull the implements with old(er) tractors. Since the rake (third photo down) is pulled by the old John Deere 2520 (open air) it gets mighty hot with the 95* temps and the heat blowing off the engine. As long as I have plenty of water, fortified with some Real Salt, some lemon wedges, and ice, I can go about 3 hours at a whack. In the morning it's quite pleasant to rake hay, but after high noon or so, we usually call it quits until evening. I like to bare my skin for a little while in the early sunshine, but the majority of the time, I am covered up from head to foot to keep the sun off. The bugs have been minimal -- an occasional deer fly bite here and there and sometimes a swarm of gnats comes along, but generally, it's been fairly bug-free for me.
So far, I think we have upwards of 600 round bales of hay and many more to come. Hubby thinks we'll get somewhere around 3000 bales by the time we are done. That's a lot of hay for us dry land ranchers. What looked like a drought in mid-May turned into a bumper hay crop for us in June. We also missed a lot of hail, tornadoes, and flooding that were in the area. It's been just about perfect here.
That is a most wonderful crop report! It's so nice to hear good news. The Lord gave you just perfect weather for your needs. Isn't it wonderful how the earth responds to such lovely weather by making so much LIFE?
ReplyDeleteMy brother's blueberry farm appears to be having a good season too in the mountains of WVa, a far cry from your open plains. Blessings everywhere.
So, do you feel like eating like a hay baler? I think I would after being outside in the hot sunshine!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are having great weather. One of our neighbours is not having much success. He got twenty bales made and then rain, rain, rain. He was able to rake the hay once in between, but it continues to sit. So frustrating! Hope you are able to continue to make hay while the sun shines!
ReplyDeleteDriving to and from our son's side of the state we saw bales of hay in the fields. I'm glad you got a bumper crop this year!
ReplyDeleteI am so very jealous. My neighbor came round, must be 5 or 6 weeks ago now and said, "Want me to put up your hay again this year?" I fell over myself saying, "Yes, please!" Hasn't happened yet. God keeps saying He'll take care of me but I thought that meant the hay as well.
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Thank the Lord. I would love to come by just to smell the hay.
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