This year the Massey Ferguson 6480 will be on the mini heston baler and a hired, yes orange, Fendt 720 Vario on the Case LB433 big baler

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The grasses have been checked for compaction but suprisingly they are all good, the crop roots are heading down through the soils and will be able to get at the nutrients required to grow.

Completley weather driven some hay fields in 2012 did not even have a 2nd cut leaving them raggy and not good to graze.  Once the sheep arrived from www.sixvalleylamb.co.uk to clean up the pastures they didn t get enough time before ground conditions deteriorated leaving the pastures still rough and off they went back to the Wolds.

Harrowing will be a bigger job this year with some grasses likley to be done 2-3 times to pull out what effectivley the sheep would have eaten.

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2012 hay is now being distributed to our customers.  Normally we would expect approx 1% of bales to have issues with dust when at the end of the day we are dealing with a natural product, this year we are finding that percentage to be higher given the conditions when making the hay.

At Smithy Briggs we use a hay preservative ‘Balers Choice’ this product is pH neutral and completely safe and its job is to stop mould growth which subsequently causes dust.  It works up to a moisture content of 27%.  Generally ‘Balers Choice’ cannot combat a ‘wet lump’ which has not dried.  In a year like this given the extreme wet the incidence of ‘wet lumps’ at baling time will be higher and this is the problem.

We aim to supply quality hay and when customers have a significant problem they simply get their money back, or usually a free bale!

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Haymaking is always a challenge in the UK climate.  2012 is proving to be more difficult than any other harvest.  In June we managed 17 acres of hay when normally we would have done +/- 300 acres! 

Cutting and hay making Meadow hay in July and August after a wet April-June has left battered wet crops, not a good start for quality.  Late, laid over crops mean that there is some mould growth in the base of the crop where it is so wet and the crop is further through its growth stages which means it is not as green and good looking as we would like.

Seed hay is advanced in its growth stages but in the main its still standing meaning quality is good for the year.

Yields are higher than the last few years which mean the at Smithy Briggs the sheds are nearly as full as last year but at least 150 acres of land has not even been cut, some will be completely wasted due to lack of quality.

The late 1st cut is bound to have a knock on effect to 2nd cuts.

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