Windows Live Writer

Finally got a new computer and am in the process of setting it up. It had this blogging program on it, so I thought that I would give it a try. Since I am still on a dial-up out here in the wilderness of southern Indiana, I thought it would be a great idea to be able to blog when I am offline. It seems to have lots of bells and whistles, so far I am impressed.

The unrelenting Summer heat has relented today and it was just in time for us to get our first load of hay in the loft. I didn’t think that we would be putting any square bales in the loft this year because reasonably priced, good quality square baled hay is a thing of the past. I thought that we were going to try to get by with just big round bales but we fell for it again and this hay is another disappointment. These bales are half the size of the hay that we got a few years ago for half the price. It is so light and loose that it won’t stay on the elevator.

In this tough economy everyone is trying to get rich by ripping off their neighbor. Small farmers or hobby farmers have to have their own hay equipment and their own hayfield in order to survive anymore. We can sit and reminisce with the Grandkids this winter about how you used to be able to buy good clean hay without weeds in heavy, long, tight bales for $2.00 per bale.

Now let’s see how Windows Live Writer publishes to blogger.

Now A Warning

Our winter storm WATCH became a WARNING this evening. It was suppose to start with rain and it started raining around midnight. I love winter and snow, always have, but with the prices we are paying for hay and being caught with so many horses this winter, it has taken all of the joy away. I sure will be happy to see green grass growing again. I will also be happy when all of the hay bills are paid. It has been a struggle.

We worry about the horses because the big bales that they are getting are not what we would normally feed. My DH likes "good" square bales that he can regulate without much waste but all of the decent priced "good" hay anymore is just junk, moldy and weedy. We were forced to switch to big round bales that are nasty but are still costing us thousands of dollars.

We had to buy the big round bale horse feeders when we switched to round bales and you talk about a joke. They cost an arm and a leg. They start falling apart and getting dangerous after a couple months of horse use and sitting in the weather, more money down the drain.

The horses made me feel a little better tonight. They all look great and were running, racing and playing like a bunch of kids. Even my old gelding stood on his hind legs and pawed at the sky. I think they must be looking forward to the storm.

94 Degrees

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend. We spent Labor Day doing just that, laboring. We were in the hay fields on both Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we got the full experience of hefting hay bales at 94º with no one to help us.

I drove and my Husband loaded and stacked the hay. He complains a lot more than he did when he was young but he still does an awesome job. I don't think there would be many young men who could have kept up with him over the last two days.

I did help him unload the trailers when we got back to the barn but he did all of the stacking in a tin barn with no shade over it and no air circulation, the dust was unbearable and the sunny 94º temperature outside felt cool compared to the temperature inside. He stacked all the way to the roof and does it so tightly that it is hard to get out to feed during the winter.

He has put up hay all of his life, when we were first married, we had our own hay crew and put up hay for all of the neighboring farms before the big round balers were invented. He has little patience with sloppy stacked hay. We who have helped him in the barn, have always said that when he gets done stacking hay, you can roller skate on top of it.

The hay is finished for the year and boy am I happy about that. We may pick up a few more bales throughout the fall and winter but there will be no more hot fields and hot barns to deal with. Maybe life will return to a more normal pace and I can get some things done and blog more.

99 Bales

We got 99 bales of hay in the loft this evening. We will pick up what's left in the field tomorrow after the dew is off of it. I have a blister from dragging the bales all the way to the back of the loft with my hay hook. It gets easier the more hay that you get in there. The dragging distance shortens with each load.

I also got two rope halters done and ready to be shipped out in the morning. My hands are sore and swollen but hopefully they will recover tonight in time for more hay and more halters tomorrow. I will be so happy when our loft is full, about 800 bales, and our friend's barn is full, about 300 bales. It would be nice if we could also fill the neighbor's barn but if not, we should have plenty of big round bales to see us through.

There doesn't seem to be a hay shortage this year and the prices are coming down. I don't think that the farmers around here are happy about it, but we sure are.

Gripping

Here we are, August 10th and still no hay in the barn. We were suppose to have around 300 bales ready to bale this afternoon but yesterday proved not to be a good day for curing hay. So it isn't even raked yet. Hopefully it will be ready to rake in a few hours and we can get it in the loft this evening.

All I have to do is drive the truck and trailer around in the field, then get in the loft and use a long hay hook to pull the bales out of the elevator's way. The loft floor is nice and slick, so that part is easy. I used to be able to heft, throw and stack bales but not anymore. The hardest part for me now is getting into the loft, I hate ladders.

I am close to finishing a barrel racing website and will be able to start on a local community website soon. When that is done, I plan on completely redoing our website, it gets totally neglected.

I also have 39 horse rope halters to make and ship out as soon as possible. I can only do so many halters per day or my hands and fingers start cramping up on me.
Tying and tightening around fourteen knots per halter tends to make your hands complain a bit.

Between knot tying and goat milking, I have quite a grip. I never have to ask my DH to open a jar for me anymore. When my back Doctor tests my grip by having me squeeze his hands, I can bring tears to his eyes. He doesn't ask me to do that much anymore.

Hay for Sale

Many farmers horded hay this past season because of the drought. Instead of selling out of the field they hired help to store square bales in their barns that have gone unused for many years, because they feed big round bales to their own animals and usually sell square bales in the field.

They thought that they could sell their square bales out of their barns all winter and people would pay a premium, especially horse owners. Instead, most of the horse owners faced too many obstacles to paying high prices for hay. Horse values dropped, hay was hard to find and too expensive, the economy got worse and some lost jobs. So, many horse owners have sold their horses for whatever they could get, breeders stopped breeding and thinned their herds by selling, giving away or euthanizing.

Now Spring is just around the corner and barns are still full of hay, not many people want to buy last year's hay. Much of the hay that was put up last summer was poor quality because every spare weed lot was baled. It looks like some farmers may have cut off their noses to spite their face, as horse owners are smarter now. We have all learned our lessons, get rid of all of the hay burners that are no longer useful. Feed only good quality hay, and feed it smartly, eliminate as much waste as possible, use hay alternatives and shop around, your loyalty to your hay supplier didn't mean anything to him during a rough year, so why be loyal to one supplier?

I believe hay will be plentiful this year and will be for sale in the field again and at pre-drought prices. Grain prices will come down as the demand drops, we fed a lot of grain this winter to supplement the quality and amount of hay that we had, I am sure that we were not the only ones who did this.

Most horse owners will not be caught in the same situation that we found ourselves in this past fall and winter. People who own a few extra acres that can be divided off and not used as pasture, will do their own hay instead of having to depend on others. It has been easier and just as cost affective to buy hay instead of putting up your own, but that may have changed now.