Finally some morels and the start of a new hay season!!

I have been searching the woods here on the farm for almost a month now and finally I found some morels yesterday.  I haven't been in the woods for about four or five days and went out yesterday in the rain to check.  I found only one around the tree that I have been finding them on for years now.  So on a whim I decided to check another spot that I have found them twice before but only a couple at most. 

This year I was thrilled to find almost a bag full.  They were all blonds and most were quite large, almost the size of a pop can.  I then proceeded to check all of my spots and only found one more small one.  I should have just stopped after I found these  instead of spending three more hours walking and driving the four wheeler in the rain and getting completely soaked with cold rain.  I guess that is why they call it hunting mushrooms, not finding mushrooms!

My first morels of 2013!

 Well, due to the hotter weather we have been having the hay is maturing quickly this year.  All of the orchard grass started setting heads this week and the heavy rains we had yesterday caused it all to start bolting today.  Now, from the day the orchard grass starts bolting (the seed head pushing up to bloom) the feed quality of the leaves of the plant start to diminish.  This is due to the grass putting it energy into producing seed instead of leaves.  The leaves on the plant will begin to mature and get stemmy and become less digestible to the cattle.

To keep the quality and production high for all subsequent cuttings you should cut the orchard grass as soon as it starts bolting.  This gives you a high quality, highly digestible for first cutting as well as all following cuttings.  Furthermore, by cutting it just as it starts to bolt the plant will go into a vegetative state where it will simply produce leaves and build its root system the rest of the year.  If you cut too soon it will simply bolt again and will not do well the rest of the season.  If you cut too late you will have a lesser quality first cutting and reduced yields on all following cuttings. 

Before mowing.

 It took me about 1.5 hours to mow all ten acres of hay I have here on the farm.  To the guys who have big farms and do thousands of acres of crops that is a long time to do 10 acres.  However, for someone like me who used to mow with a seven foot wide haybine that took me 5-6 hours to do the same field I think it is pretty darn good!

Some day I want to be big enough to have a front mount mower to go with the side mount one on the back.  By adding one to the front I could double the amount I can mow in an hour because it essentially works like a zero turn mower eliminating wasted time at the end each pass.   Plus I would be mowing twenty feet each pass instead of nine!

Kubota 9540 with cab and a Taarup 3 point hitch disc mower

I am hoping for a good year this year for the hay...just like every other year.  However, this year is quite important for us here on the farm.  This should be the year we turn the financial corner and start to generate income that covers expenses!  Unless you are born into a working farm that is paid for or have enough money to pay cash to start one up it takes a while to grow to a point where it goes from a hobby to a business.  This year I expect to pass that point and the hay is the start of it all!

Have a great weekend everyone.  Now off to bed to get some rest for a busy day tomorrow.

Kenny