Bale

How much is enough? Long stem hay is important for healthy rumen function. There must be sufficient "scratch factor" to stimulate rumen motility and salivation. Rumen motility is important for proper mixing of feed with rumen microbes to enhance digestion. Salivation is critical to maintaining the rumen at the correct pH. A minimum of 5 pounds of hay per cow per day is needed to maintain rumen function. Methods to control intake Back when we all fed small square bales, limiting intake was rather easy.

The Clark County Fair will be Aug. 1 ? 8 at the Clark County Fairgrounds on Highway 15. One event that has been popular with hay producers is the Clark County Hay Show. The hay show, which is sponsored by the Clark County Cattlemen's Association, provides an opportunity to get hay tested for nutritional value at no cost. There are also ribbons and cash premiums offered in the various classes. Entries will be received on Monday, Aug. 3, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Producers are being encouraged to bring their entries early in the day, to avoid the traffic that is expected in the late afternoon and evening.

Peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. This trinity of alternative crops has been a mantra from farm researchers in Kentucky for years as they attempt to help tobacco growers find replacements for their burley as the crop slowly but surely disappears from the state's agricultural landscape. Now, growers can add another alternative crop to the litany: cut flowers. Cut flowers? Growing vegetables is one thing. After all, that does fit in with traditional farming. But growing flowering plants is quite another thing.

The Casey County Fair schedule today and Saturday is: Today 4-8 p.m., Floral Hall open 5 p.m., carnival and petting zoo open 6:40 p.m., exotic animal show 7 p.m., truck and tractor pull 8 p.m., karaoke contest Saturday 2 p.m., FFA tractor driving contest 3 p.m., horse and mull pull 4-8 p.m., Floral Hall open 4 p.m., FFA hay bale toss 5 p.m., carnival opens 6:40 p.m., exotic animal show...

Hay bale or barn fires can be prevented if farmers bale hay at appropriate moistures and monitor the temperature of recently baled hay. Generally, hay will go through a heating phase within one to two weeks after baling. During this time, hay should be monitored to ensure it does not reach temperatures that can damage the hay or lead to spontaneous combustion. It is not unusual for the temperature within a bale of hay to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and may go as high as 130 degrees before beginning to decline.

The Jessamine County Young Farmer Association recognized the top exhibitor in the Jessamine County Fair Open Crop Show Saturday, July 12. Following last year's record drought resulting in a state wide hay shortage, the local YFA chapter decided to focus on the hay show at the 2008 Jessamine County Fair to promote both the quantity and quality of hay produced in Jessamine County. Each bale of hay was tested by Kim Fields of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Hay Testing Program.

The growing conditions over the past couple of years have made it difficult for horse owners to have enough forage for their horses. Summer pastures have been short, and we've faced limited and costly hay supplies. For this winter's feeding season, hopefully horse owners were able to acquire sufficient hay supplies. How do you estimate the amount of hay you will need? If you have mature horses at maintenance level, you would want to feed a mainly forage diet. The estimate would be similar to an 1,100-pound horse eating 2 percent of its body weight.

Over the next few weeks you'll have plenty of opportunities to look at your hay. As you go to the barn or fencerow to get a few bales for the cows, you'll see hay. But have you every really looked at your hay and evaluated how good or bad it is? Too often we assume that all hay is equal. We notice the number of rolls that come off a field, but not the quality. We can learn a lot by looking at the physical characteristics of a bale, because they're a good indication of the nutritive value of hay. If we evaluate the hay the same way a cow views it, we can learn something about hay quality.

Lincoln County Firefighters had a long, hot job ahead of them Tuesday after a barn filled with 300 bales of hay caught fire at Pork Hill Farm on Ky. 78 outside of Stanford. Firefighters got a call at about 7:30 a.m. and when they arrived on the scene found a barn fully engulfed in flames, Fire Chief Danny Glass said. "The barn was almost gone when we got here," he said. "We could have put the barn out; we can't put out the hay. " Glass said hay bales are wrapped so tightly that water doesn't permeate the surface, making it next to impossible to extinguish a fire inside the bale unless you can unroll it. After the barn burned away, the hay bales continued to smolder, sending up smoke visible from more than a mile away.

A recent writer to this paper said that Sgt. Bales, alleged perpetrator of a horrendous crime in Afghanistan, should have been turned over to the Afghans.  This would have led to an immediate lynching, or worse. American soldiers have the same right to “presumption of innocence” as do civilians. It is only when combat has ended and a “Status of Forces” agreement has been reached with the host country, that servicemen accused of a crime have been turned over to them.

It is clear that the Obama administration and the U.S. military have a monumental problem in Afghanistan. The recent murder spree, by Army Sgt. Robert Bales, of innocent civilians compounds the problem. Let me say this up front: I have the highest respect for our military. But I have absolutely no sympathy for Sgt. Bales. With deliberate intent, this man systematically murdered 16 innocent people. Nine of them were children. There is a report that Bales burned some of the bodies.

The Clark County Fair will be Aug. 1 ? 8 at the Clark County Fairgrounds on Highway 15. One event that has been popular with hay producers is the Clark County Hay Show. The hay show, which is sponsored by the Clark County Cattlemen's Association, provides an opportunity to get hay tested for nutritional value at no cost. There are also ribbons and cash premiums offered in the various classes. Entries will be received on Monday, Aug. 3, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Producers are being encouraged to bring their entries early in the day, to avoid the traffic that is expected in the late afternoon and evening.

OTTENHEIM - A Lincoln County farmer was killed Tuesday evening as he tried to work on a piece of hay baling equipment. Lincoln County Coroner Bill Demrow said Glenn Day, 56, of Stanford was bailing hay with a John Deere round baler when the machine became clogged, a common occurrence according to Demrow. Demrow said Day stepped inside the machine, which required him to raise a gate powered by a hydraulic lift. Day appeared to be attempting to use a pocket knife to cut the hay when the gate trapped him. "There is a switch that locks the gate which was not on, and unknown to him the gate began slowly closing behind him," Demrow said.

As we are well into the winter feeding of hay to our livestock now is a good time to evaluate our hay storage and feeding systems. The round bale system can be just as good as square baling if they are baled, stored and fed properly. The storage of the round bales is where we have the most problems with this system. As I travel around the county, I see that more of the farmers are interested in storing large round bales of hay "out of the way" rather than storing them in such a way as to preserve their quality and minimize weathering losses.

The growing conditions over the past couple of years have made it difficult for horse owners to have enough forage for their horses. Summer pastures have been short, and we've faced limited and costly hay supplies. For this winter's feeding season, hopefully horse owners were able to acquire sufficient hay supplies. How do you estimate the amount of hay you will need? If you have mature horses at maintenance level, you would want to feed a mainly forage diet. The estimate would be similar to an 1,100-pound horse eating 2 percent of its body weight.

Clark County Assistant Fire Chief Fred Turner uses a rake to break up a roll of hay that was on fire just past East Kentucky Power Cooperative on Lexington Road Thursday afternoon. Approximately 24 rolls of hay burned. A backhoe from the Clark County Road Department was used to break up the hay and extinguish the fire.

The Jessamine County Young Farmer Association recognized the top exhibitor in the Jessamine County Fair Open Crop Show Saturday, July 12. Following last year's record drought resulting in a state wide hay shortage, the local YFA chapter decided to focus on the hay show at the 2008 Jessamine County Fair to promote both the quantity and quality of hay produced in Jessamine County. Each bale of hay was tested by Kim Fields of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Hay Testing Program.

The need for good quality feed and poor weather conditions for curing hay are incentives for farmers to bale typical hay crops for silage this year. As a harvesting system for grass and legume crops, silage produces higher feed value and high yields at any given maturity stage because of reduced leaf loss in the field. In one study at U.K. with alfalfa, silage bales were four percent higher in protein concentration than dry hay bales immediately after baling. The effect on digestibility was about the same.