I was on the verge of giving you all an inside tip on beet pulp stock when, wonder of wonders, summer arrived. The wind and rain stopped. My hay vendors (both of whom were among the few farmers who waited to cut and thereby saved their crops from being reduced cattle-only quality) revved up the swathers and balers.
Yesterday, we made the 30 mile trip to Oregon to pick this up.
That's 15 tons of a 60:40 grass:alfalfa mix. It's a bit more mature than ideal, thanks to the weather delay, but at least it wasn't rained on. And, we got it from honest people for a fair price, considering the cost of fuel and fertilizer these days. Within the month, we'll get another 12 tons from our other vendor and call it good for the year.
And boy, am I glad. With most of our area's first cutting destroyed and prices already on the rise, horse hay will be at a premium this year. By spring, it might as well be gold. I feel fortunate indeed to have mine in stock already -- and even more fortunate to have this guy as a great friend willing to volunteer his truck and time to haul it.
Believe me, weaving that trailer into our driveway was no mean feat.Now, we just have to unload. Volunteers welcome.
6 comments:
Heck, I'll come up there and unload the whole thing single handedly if you will send 1/2 of it my way!!! Arizona's not that far... Big Grin!
Ooh, ooh! I'll volunteer! But, I've gotta work out where to get the ticket to get over that side of the world!
SWEEEEETTT looking hay. Glad you secured yours now, and hope you have enough to get you through to 2009 ;)
I have never seen bales that big! Are those the 100 lb ones with wire around them I've heard tell of?
Thanks, guys! Come on over Saturday morning, and I'll cook breakfast before we start hauling. ;-)
Actually, Travis has all about about 60 bales off the truck and stored already. Did I mention that he's the perfect horse daddy?
Leigh -- These are 100 lb bales (actually, they range from about 95 -110 lbs) all right, but that's standard around here. They're bound with twine, though -- I haven't seen any baled with wire in the past few years.
400 lb bales are pretty common, here, too. Now, THOSE are enormous. When we lived up at the Barb ranch, we used to use a tractor to load them into the back of a pickup, which was then driven into the fields to feed the herds. One bale filled the standard-sized bed, and we went through about 1.5 bales per day!
Dratted typos. I meant to say that Travis already as ALL BUT about 60 bales off the trailer. ;-)
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