While I was gone

[per]

Had to do something when the site was down so thought maybe should participate in a fall ritual... Harvest

Kind of a dusty procedure

A bit of an industrial zone. My wife is a capable operator and maneuvers around that other industry here.

Look mom no string, no hauling, just the cows doing the work. Neighbors field in the background.

 

[hillsdown]

What is the crop..

 

[per]

2 row barley

 

[leanin' H]

How do those ol' sisters do on swathed barley straw? How long can ya leave them? How many head on how many acres? And how did the barley turn off? Sorry for the 20 questions but i got time on my hands! :wink:

 

[Grassfarmer]

Is that an actual Whole buncher Per? I was surprised how small and close together the heaps are.

 

[per]

How do those ol' sisters do on swathed barley straw? How long can ya leave them? How many head on how many acres? And how did the barley turn off? Sorry for the 20 questions but i got time on my hands! :wink:

They love the stuff, it is short of protein so some sort of protein will need to be added. This crop is less than normal and I have some substandard barley so it will most likely be my protein source this year. We will graze the straw in the worst part of the winter as the snow makes it more palatable. I have enough to graze a few hundred cows for most of three months. The rest of the winter they will be on stockpiled grass or swathgrazing and bales during the time when I run out or don't estimate good enough when the grass grows and how much was stock piled. Usually feed only 150 to 250 bales a year. Last winter used all my reserves up, we fed close to 850 bales. This year it looked not to good for making feed but mid July rains saved our bacon.

 

[per]

Is that an actual Whole buncher Per? I was surprised how small and close together the heaps are.

Yes it is my second year with it. We used to use a diamond and then a foster and made pretty big bunches. I like the way it is easy to deal with the straw with the whole buncher and how easy it is to run. Last winter with all the snow and blow the bigger bunches would have been nicer but that is not our normal Chinook belt winter here. If it is like last winter we still have enough feed put up to cope.