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16—Lancaster Farming,Saturday, December 1, 1973
On the Importance of Hay
Haymaking in the United
States today appears headed in
several directions at the same
time.
One trend is toward growing
more and better hay crops.
Farmers watched helplessly
during the past year as protein
feed prices climbed to well over
$4OO a ton. Good hay, when it
could be found, was expensive.
Hay prices on the open market
last winter varied from $5O to $lOO
per ton, delivered, depending on
quality and availability. One of
the highest prices reported
during the year was $127.50 a ton
for a load of alfalfa hay sold at
public auction in New Holland.
Farmers realized they would
have to grow much of the protein
for their cattle on their own
New Cooperalors
The Lancaster County Con
servation District announces the
following new cooperators:
Fred Appel, Sadsbury Town
ship, 30acres; P. Robert Wenger,
E. Drumore, 420 a.; J. Earl
Wenger, E. Drumore, 106 a.;
Donald E. Ruhl, Rapho, 18 a.;
John C. Kreider, Manheim, 111
a.; C. Roy Bixler, E. Donegal, 60
a.; John R. Zimmerman,
Ephrata, 60 a.; Lloyd D.
Esbenshade, Rapho, 105 a.;
Wayne Stauffer, E. Donegal, 107
a.; John R. Groff, Upper
Leacock, 90 a.; Roy J. Lehman,
Drumore, 125 a.
E. Robert Nolt, W. Hempfield
Township, 100 acres; Russell
Adamire, Jr., Rapho, 136 a.;
Naaman C. Yoder, Sadsbury, 92
a.; J. Harold Buckwalter, Penn,
18 a.; Daniel K. Hershey, Penn,
Zolio Diaz of Spain rolled
a hoop 600 miles from
Miere to Madrid and bade
again in 18 days, a record
roll.
INDIVIDUAL CALF STALLS
This is the successful stall for raising calves in environmental controlled barns.
Veal Dairy Beef—Herd Replacements. Stall size inside 22 x 48; outside 22
60.
Advantages of the Fiey elevated calf stalls - Reduced labor, Eliminating bedding,
Controlled feeding, Lowering cost per calf, Reduce Calf losses, Cut stall upkeep
to a minimum, Healthier calves In short, better management, Increased profits.
FREY BROS.
R.D. 2 QUARRYVILLE, PA.
farms. Not only did they plant
more soybeans, but many far
mers also increased their
acreage of hay crops and are
paying closer attention to hay
quality than ever before.
A second trend showing up on
farms across the country is in
feeding hay. After experiencing
serious illness and calving
problems as a direct result of no
hay diets for their cattle,
dairymen especially are
discovering that Bossy is made
for hay and without some in her
diet, she may just break down.
Dr. Sam Guss, Pennsylvania
State University veterinarian
notes that a cow on a no-bay,
haylage, or all corn-silage ration
during the critical preparation
period ahead of calving can be
90 a.; J. Kenneth Miller, Pequea,
95 a.; Jacob M. Conley, W.
Hempfield, 50 a.; Kenneth Meek,
Strasburg, 90 a.; John H. Henkel,
Strasburg, 30 a.; Willie D. Stober,
E. Cocalico, 54 a.
Donald S. Eby, Leacock and
Paradise Township, 120 acres;
Kenneth Matz, Rapho, 63 a.;
Clarence H. Eckman, Manor, 85
a.; Chester S. Stoltzfus,
Paradise, 46 a.; Earl Newcomer,
Manor, 82 a.; Eugene Hummer,
Clay, 12 a.; John E. Kniesly, W.
Hempfield, 95 a.; M. Joan Arm
strong, New Providence, 57 a.;
Abram K. Fisher, Manor, 26 a.;
Edwin L. Keener; W. Donegal, 58
a.; L. Eugene Martin, W.
Cocalico, 90 a.
David -H. Cassel, Penn
Township, 102 acres; Ernest
Lefever, Manor, 84 a.; Grayvill
Becker, Warwick, 90 a.; Philip G.
Kinsey, Providence,, 22 a.;
Roland Sharpless, E. Drumore,
177 a.; John B. Noll, E. Hemp
field, 82 a.; Wilmer Groff, Rapho,
43 a.; Allen Groff (Lehman),
Rapho, 17 a.; Allen S. Groff,
Rapho, 146 a.
WHY NOT ORDER YOURS TODAY
headed for serious trouble.
Neither haylage nor com silage
provides the muscle-stimulating
exercise needed by the rumen to
get in condition for the coming
lactation, he said. Because finely
chopped forages move through
the rumen quickly, it temporarily
becomes smaller in size. Ketosis
and displaced abomasums often
follow, Dr. Guss said.
But probably the greatest
change in (haymaking recently
has been hi the mechanics of
getting the crop harvested and
out of the field. One-man hay
systems have stormed to the
.front in an era when the farmer
no longer permits himself the
luxurious drudgery of endless
summer days in the hayfield.
Equipment now available to
the farmer enables him to cut,
condition, windrow and stack
either baled or loose hay without
ever having to touch the crop
with his hands. Gone are the long,
hot hours most teenage farm
boys remember spending in the
peak of a bam, putting up 90
pound bales in 130 degree heat.
A farmer today can stack five
tons'of baled hay in the bam in
little more time than it takes to
back a New Holland automatic
bale wagon into place. He can
just as easily go back anytime he
wants to retrieve and haul that
five tons of hay to another
location for either feeding or
selling.
In a serch for an easier way to
harvest hay, some farmers have
returned to making loose hay
stacks that resemble giant loaves
of bread in the field. Even the old
buck rakes have reemerged on a
few Western ranches. Still other
farmers are trying to get their
haymaking done with giant half
ton bales. In some areas,
facilities have been established to
make pelleted and cubed alfalfa
as well as an assortment of hay
cakes and tiny bales.
These newer hay systems have
clearly presented a challenge to
PHONE 717-786-2146
time-proven baled hay methods.
Loose hay systems offer the
farmer a quick way to harvest his
crop-if in-the-field storage and
feeding suit his operation.
Numerous articles have ap-.
peared in the farm press during
the past year comparing the cost
of baled hay systems to loose hay
methods. Where the cost of
harvesting was the only con
sideration, the loose hay systems
appeared to be less expensive
but the crop was still out in the
field. Such comparisons are of
little help to the farmer who
wants to grow top quality, high
protein hay that will enable him
to save on next winter’s feed bill.
Farmers who each year have
their hay tested for protein,
roughage and TDN (total
digestible nutrients) know all hay
is not the same. Baled hay,
properly stored under roof is
almost without exception of
higher feeding- quality than the
best hay from a loose stack that
has been subjected to wind, rain
and sun.
The farmer interested in what
has become known as “fancy”
hay can today have' his crop
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New Holland R#l
harxeistedtand safely stored inihe
bam quicker than almost any
other crop he raises and without
ever having to touch the bales
with his hands.
Hay is fast becoming an im
portant cash crop on American
farms and if prices last year were
an indication of things to come
the future is bright. Farmers who
can grow and transport it can
expect to find a ready market for
their hay this year, even though
$lOO a ton may be the exception.
Western ranchers this summer
have been offered $45 or more a
ton for hay in the field.
Alfalfa in particular has been
receiving much attention this
year. U.S‘. Department of
Agriculture researchers at
Beftsville, Md., see alfalfa as an
important protein source in
coming years for both people and
animals. Alfalfa in some form,
they say, may soon be added to
breakfast cereals to supply much
needed nutrition.
Other research at BeltsviUe
has resulted in anthracnose
resistant varieties of alfalfa
which should soon be available to
farmers. Higher yielding and
more nutritious varieties are also
in the future.
Haymaking during the past
decade has been taken out of the
hand labor era and placed
squarely in the space age. Men
and the machines (hey operate
have made it so.
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Flume 717454-5841