How can I bale hay and feed my horses with no tractor?

Question

We are moving to a small acreage, and will put in1 1/2 -2acres of hay. How do I prepare the field,? ( I can borrow a tractor for that part.) Can we harvest the hay by hand? Stook it? Would we be better off having it baled for us and paying with half? We will have 2 fairly easy keepers therefore needing app250 bales for ourselves.

Answer 1

The Amish Community in Pennsylvania seem to get along just fine without tractors.

Answer 2

If you wanted quality hay, you should have the soil tested.  

Then harrow/ plow under the field.  Add the required fertilizer that the test said you need, if any, to balance the soil. Seed with the mixture you would like for your horses.

But before I went to all that expense, I would find a farmer that you could hire to cut and bale the hay. Go to your local feed store, Agways etc and post a notice. Also contact dairy farmers in your area. Some of them bale their own hay and may be able to help.

The best time to cut hay for the best quality, not quantity, is at 10% bloom.

Mother Nature can throw you a bunch of curves as well. You cut the hay, it's beautiful and drying nicely and a late shower appears out of the blue -----the hay is ruined.

Making hay is an art and tough!

Good luck.

Answer 3

your best bet is to hire it all done by a custom haybaler that will plant your hay and harvest it for a set price or a percentage of what is produced that way you will not need a tractor

Answer 4

I would hire it done whether done by shares or a straight cash payment. Hay is worth enough, $150-$200 per ton in my neck of the woods, that paying by shares is an expensive proposition.

Answer 5

Assuming that the land is already in some kind of grass, you can over seed it with something like timothy and red clover. You can use one of those small hand turned seeders and it will do a good job. Do this in the early spring. I seeded 22 acres over a fescue pasture and got excellent hay for my horses this way. The only expense was the seed. As for harvesting, you need to pay to have it baled. You'll lose to much hay through spoilage trying to stack it by hand. The problem is going to be finding someone to do it, either for halves or pay, with only two acres. Your best hope will be if you have kind neighbors willing to help you out. Good Luck with your farm.

Answer 6

It sounds like your getting ready to step into a big pile of

"manure," before you ever start. Study some "agriculture."

Many farmers, work together as in "co-op." Where they all

work together, to harvest the crops. As in combines and other

big machinery. They cost too much for one farmer to buy.

I worked on a farm when I was a little kid. I've never heard of

a farmer, not having a tractor. That is his most important tool.

Then you need a barn, to store your tractor, hay, & keepers.

I hope you,ve money to live on, until the crops come in. <}:-})

Answer 7

you could also lease a tractor from somone or when you make some country friend ask them

Answer 8

Exchange labour helping others bale their hay in return for baling yours.  You could even arrange for seeding of your field in the same way. You don't need a tractor to feed horses, just the hay will do fine although you might want to add some oats and of course apples and carrots.

Answer 9

We always made a deal for half the hay. We already had good grass so just the cutting ,raking, and bailing was necessary and we helped load the crop.

Answer 10

Without knowing where you are located, this will be a very general answer.\

That will really depend on how you are managing the balance of your time and work.

For planting, consider hitching your horses up to some implements, they are still available!

If you have the time, haying by hand is rather good exercise, and not that hard with a good scythe and the knowledge to keep it sharp. Be sure to get the right blade for the hay you plant.

While two acres might seem a lot to walk swinging a scythe, you do not have to do it all in one day, usually!

There is a growing movement towards no till farming, where the use of a tractor is very reduced. The only issue I find with hand sowing directly to soil with no drilling or covering the seed is that you are often feeding the birds. One could make a seed drill and walk along with that, basically a pipe or stick with a pointy end to make a hole in the soil, and another pipe to put in the hole and drop the seed into. Step on the hole to pack it a bit and go on your way. For Hay, this will be rather tedious.  One of the things about no till is that the hay seed is spread right through whatever standing straw, stalks etc. are still there, making it harder for the birds to find and eat.

Your local university extension, or agriculture agent should be able to give you some help.

Stooking, if I recall is mostly if you are looking to harvest the grain, as the sheafs need to be gathered head up for handling and threshing ease. For haying, you can simply pile on wagon or in the field. There is a method to this, and finding some local Amish, or such folks if asked politely, might be willing to teach you. When done right, the pile will shed rain fairly well, and with a small fence around it, can be fed from the stack directly.

You are the only one who can say if hiring the tractor to bale at half the hay is worth it.

http://www.notill.org/

http://www.scythesupply.com/rakes.htm

http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?itemID=6...

http://www.horsenharness.com/

http://www.farmingwithhorses.com/

Good luck to you

Kay

Answer 11

Just buy a tractor with loader, sickle mower, rake, and baler.  In no time this would pay for itself.  We had some cornstalk bales baled where we got to rake it ourselves, but still cost $25 a bale (cheap because it was cornstalks and we knew him really well).  If you want 250 bales at about $30 a bale, that would be about $7,500!  Figure about $7,000 for a 1970 John Deere 4020, $500 for a sickle mower, $600 for a rake, and some balers are spendy, but we are selling a 1980 Heston baler for $500.  It bales good and everything, so yah.  That would be a great investment, you could pay for that in no time.  All these pieces of equipment are used of course, but work well.  I am very expierienced in this subject, so good luck.  Also, mine-as-well especially get the tractor and loader for pushing snow and stuff.  Here is a used tractor site if you want more prices and info.  Also e-mail me if you want more knowlege about this.  Good luck!

http://www.tractorhouse.com/