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Country Mile Farm is basically a hay producing farm. With 560 acres
of upland, eastern Ohio with a fertile un-glaciated silt-clay soil
type the production is channeled toward grasses and legumes. Eastern
Ohio is hill country known as "Pre-Appalachia" as it borders
the Ohio River and one can see the beginnings of the Appalachian
Mountains on the West Virginia side of the river. Agriculture of
the area is primarily Beef and Dairy with occasional sheep flocks.
Two years of corn with one year of oats as a cover crop for alfalfa,
clover, orchard or broome grass for a 5 year rotation is typical
for the area. However, the increasing wildlife population of deer,
raccoon, and turkey have significantly impacted corn and small grain
production in eastern Ohio. Hay on Country Mile Farm is mixed orchard
grass, or clover-timothy, or non legume grass hays of either broome
or orchard grass. 99% of all hay from this farm is baled in large
round bales. Square bales are produced only on demand of the customer
to be picked up in the field. Round bales are plastic twine wrapped.
Occasionally a neighbor will custom bale some 1,000 lb bales with
net wrap. Our old Vermeer 504C baler makes 4 X 5 foot bales that
weigh about of 600 to 650 lbs., bales are stored outside. Our New
Holland 560 also makes 4 X 5 foot bales and they are tighter and
weigh around 1,000 lbs. we sell by bale size, not weight, however.
Equipment: Of course we use a haybine as standard equipment that
cuts and crushes the stems for quicker drying. No chemicals are
used to preserve or treat the hay crop. We do not advertise our
product as organic but we do use manure and lime. Our neighbor has
a large dairy and needs to dispose of manure. This is a major component
of our fertility program for the grasses. We do not use sludge of
any kind or use herbicides for weed control. Since we cut early
and often the weeds are not a problem.
Our Vemeer 504C baler is an older model that will give the operator
fits if the hay is too wet so it is nearly impossible to bale bales
that are moldy. Mostly we have hay stored outside. Square bales
stored inside are all gone now. Our limited hay inventory consists
of All First Cutting.(except for some very nice Black Medic yellow
trefoil or hop clover . see the photo at top. Black Medic is a high
protein legume with great palatability).
All hay from the 2012 year has been sold and is gone as of March 25, 2013. It was a tough, dry year last year and we had excellent 1st cutting hay, and all was baled by 2nd week of June. Then it did not rain again until fall. We did get a few 2nd cutting and they are all gone but 6 bales, priced at $75.00 each. There are a few old Vermeer baled 1st cutting priced at $25.00 per bale plus loading cost. We are selling them “as is” and invoiced as mulch but some folks tell me they are feeding it as nothing else is available until spring grass comes. No guarantee on this old hay.
We hope you find our product useful for your needs.
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