Newby

Hello all !

I'm new to the forum and just wanted to say hi! and is there anybody out there who could help me with something?!

Can anyone recommend someone in the Christchurch/Selwyn area that does baling? I have some acreage of good fertile grass that could be baled now.

Thank you and have a great day!

Welcome to the forum! Sorry, I don't know of anyone over that way who does hay baling, but I can make enquiries of some friends over in West Melton. Is that close enough to you, do you think?

I would be surprised if any contractor will make hay for you until mid-December. Until then the air is not warm enough (the ambient temperature is too low), and there is a bigger risk of showers or rain now.
Until then, the contractors will be set up to deal with silage and balage, which you could get your paddocks turned into. The problem is that these need tractors to move them around, even the hay-bale size balage.

Hi Andrea, That would be great, West Melton is not that far from me. Cheers!

Thanks LongRidge for the good advice!

I've left messages clemclan, will let you know what I hear back.

welcome

Hello Hani Jami - thanks for the welcome!

Thanks for the message Andrea and for taking time out to throw my question out to your friends - appreciate it!

I haven't read much on this site yet, but from what I've seen so far it's full of wonderful information and I will check in regularly.

I'm hopefully going to be setting up our vegetable garden soon, even if I can't get everything underway because of seasons etc... I can make a start. We have a dog and a cat, but no livestock of our own yet! we have wee tenants in the paddock but they don't belong to us.

Our first huge job is bringing the old farmhouse back to life through renovation, which we are doing ourselves and it's going to be at least two years before we're done. So we're trying to balance it all at that moment, inside and outside! Oh - and chickens are definitely on my list too!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend

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www.creative1975.blogspot.com

Yay welcome!

Hi, clemclan - the nearest my friend in West Melton could come up with was someone n Darfield. His name's Sheldon, and he does conventional bales. 027 619 9050

Andrea;394683 wrote: Hi, clemclan - the nearest my friend in West Melton could come up with was someone n Darfield. His name's Sheldon, and he does conventional bales. 027 619 9050

Hi Andrea, I was just logging in to let you know that I've found someone! But I will keep that number for future reference.

Thanks so much for your help!

Have a good day.
Vicky

If you are making conventional bales at this time of year, and intend to store it yourself, it would be a very wise precaution to buy some salt. If there are only a few bales (100 or so) then iodised salt from the supermarket is good, about 5 to 10 kg. If there are more bales than that then you can buy coarse agricultural salt from CRT or Ravendown or Wrightsons, in 25kg bags.
If the hay has to be baled a little damp, or if it gets dew or rain on it after baling, then if you srinkle a bit of salt over each bale as it is being stacked, that will absorb some of the moisture, slow down mould growth, reduce heating of the stack, and make the hay more nutritious.

LongRidge;394920 wrote: If you are making conventional bales at this time of year, and intend to store it yourself, it would be a very wise precaution to buy some salt. If there are only a few bales (100 or so) then iodised salt from the supermarket is good, about 5 to 10 kg. If there are more bales than that then you can buy coarse agricultural salt from CRT or Ravendown or Wrightsons, in 25kg bags.
If the hay has to be baled a little damp, or if it gets dew or rain on it after baling, then if you srinkle a bit of salt over each bale as it is being stacked, that will absorb some of the moisture, slow down mould growth, reduce heating of the stack, and make the hay more nutritious.

Thanks LongRidge for that advice, I will certainly note it down for future reference. We're not keeping the hay this time round though.

Welcome

I am Maryann from Miami new here.

afraidcrrazy;395599 wrote: Welcome

I am Maryann from Miami new here.

Hi Maryann, hope you're settling in well?!?