Monday I finished cutting the hayfield. I wanted to cut the hayfield last week but this August has had rain every few days. After last Friday's rain day it was forecast to be dry for a week. It wasn't. I didn't start cutting on Saturday, like another farmer I know who did. I was waiting for the hayfield to dry a little more.
Late Sunday afternoon I started cutting the hayfield. I only got 8 rows cut, a little over 2 hours of cutting hay. The rest of Sunday was getting Haynes and the stock trailer ready. Since the transport of Haynes went well on Monday, and the pressure washing of the manure in the stock trailer was quicker than normal, I got back to hay cutting after 3 pm and got it done by dark. Hay cutting with my new MoCo is much faster than with my old haybine.
As to the rain... I had some rain after 5 pm Monday when I was cutting my hay. I was on the edge of building rain clouds. The rain clouds were building to the east and SE, not the west like it normally does. And the rain would be when I cut the east side of the hayfield. Then no rain on the south, west and north sides. Then rain again on the east side. This happened three or four times as I went around the field. Short and not heavy rain. But, still rain. I kept cutting. Later I was surprised how wet the road pavement to the east of the hayfield was. Donna said she got a heavy downpour plus hail. No hail for me, but I did see briefly white stuff come down with the rain. It was odd looking. Not hail. Not sleet. But like big snowflakes. In August?! I must have been on the edge where hail was forming. Donna is near the weather station and they said they got .15 inch of rain. I didn't get that much rain.
The rain quit around 6 pm. I thought I was done with rain but after 2 am I woke up to the south of rain. It rained for a little while. The weather station said they got .07 inch. I don't know if my rain matched their rain.
Back to the 5 pm to 6 pm rain, I saw a few lighting bolts to my east and SE. Long bolts to the ground next to the mountains. The news tonight said that three people were hit by lightning on the high school athletics field at 6 pm yesterday. That field is a few miles to the west of me. I didn't see any lightning that way, nor did I see rain clouds and didn't think they were getting rain.
I talked with a neighbor today. She said during the rain last Friday in the west part of the Valley a lightning strike caused a grain field to catch fire. She said there were 9 tractors in the area and they fought the fire. A short time later the rain got heavy and that helped put out the fire. I don't know how much of the field got burnt.
The weather forecast has another rain chance for us after midnight. *argh* I want my cut hay to dry so I can get it baled before the rain that is predicted Friday night. I checked the hay I cut on Sunday. The underneath is green and damp. I probably will have to rake the rows tomorrow to help the hay dry faster.
Today I used the MoCo to cut grass in the south and north pastures. Not down to the ground. But a foot or so above the ground. The pastures have some tall grass that is turning brown and is stemy and hard. The cattle are avoiding them for now. Most likely after it completely dies this Fall and Winter it could be easier to eat. But I figured I would cut it high now. I'm curious if the cattle will eat it after it is cut. I also cut a small part of the middle pasture where the cattle are right now. The neighbor's apple trees are dropping small apples and I have been gathering them and feeding them to the cattle. I cut part of the middle pasture so I would have a better place to toss the apples. I don't want the tossed apples to get lost in the tall grass.
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