In Full Swing of Haying

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This week the haying side of the operation ramped up and was our full focus. From finishing up the irrigated land and getting all of the dry-land hay fields cut, raked, and baled. Additionally, we dealt with pipeline and water issues that have become common.

One major point that I have learned over the past week is how crucial the maintenance and upkeep of your haying equipment is to the efficiency and effectiveness of your operation. One piece of equipment breaking down can put a stop to everything, especially if it is a swather or baler. This requires time and attention each time you use the equipment, but it pays off in avoiding delays later on. Of course, things come up that you can’t avoid, and you just go with the flow.

A concept or idea that I would challenge is the use of pumps and pipelines to get water to distant pastures. Instead of taking the time to get wells drilled for those distant pastures, because problems with those pumps or pipelines can leave entire herds without water and require a lot of time and work to get them moved or the equipment running again.

One question that I still have is how operations determine if they should buy or lease supplemental land to grow hay or just buy hay when needed? Many operations have different practices and methods to determine when it is more profitable to just grow your own, but it seems like the initial investment of all of the equipment and man hours to harvest would be hard to eventually overcome.

What I plan to do with the knowledge and experience I have gained this week is take all of the experience running haying equipment and use it in the future, whether on another operation or on my own. The proper practices and techniques of haying are very important and will be valuable for me in the future.

Submitted by: Colby Barker
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team