.....when its been a hot, dry summer and you look out and see these stacked along the driveway....
.....and this in the barn......
Its a good feeling to have the winters hay in, and by August even! As the summer progressed and it got hotter and drier, my concerns for the availablitiy of hay kept growing. I have a long standing agreement with a local person to buy 100 Lespedeza mix square bales every year, but sometimes it doesn't work out. Like last year for instance, when the late summer lespedeza just burnt up in the field. Fortunately the same guy had a whole barn full of the last years crop of hay and it was still very good. In order for the lespedeza to make, this fellow lets his cattle graze down the fescue in the early summer months, then turns them off it and lets the lespedeza take off. Its crucial that we get some summer rains for it to make. Its a great leafy hay and the sheep go crazy for it. I use it primarily for the ewes just before and after lambing, but everyone gets a treat of it from time to time. This year I was searching for some smaller round bales that would be easier to manage, and again fortunately a neighbors name came up and I was able to get 17 (and probably a few more a little later) rounds of riverbottom fescue mix. The best part of all that was the neighbors volunteered to haul it over for me --at no extra cost--on their large bale wagon. I have a small pickup and a bale buggy--and while it works, it is time consuming, hard on the truck and would have taken 17 trips! This is the hay I will use to feed the girls and rams thru the early winter months as their nutritional needs won't be so great. Its good hay, but doesn't have the higher protein count of the lespedeza. I am so blessed to have good neighbors--and when they also become your hay suppliers its really nice to have people you can depend on, trust and know that they will provide the best they can....and often go above and beyond what you would expect. Thanks for making my life easier!
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