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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).
This hay season (2011) we had a mixture of early spring, too much
rain, not enough rain and cold then hot weather. This makes
it difficult to plan on hay making, however we have gained good
quality and only got one 1,000 lb bale rained on. Again we
have some fields with a lot of yellow trefoil or black medic as
it is called locally. This high protein, palatable legume is getting
more attention in the area as a substitute for alfalfa. Let
us know your preference when buying from us. We do get more
for it than the grass hay but it is still very economical.
We got our first cutting started on May 20th and baled on the 22nd.
That field was cut again on July 4th for a “second cutting”. All
but 23 acres had been baled as of June 25 this year for first cutting.
We will have some Sudangrass- Sorghum hybrid to bale about July
15th. Our farm had never done this before but in the event
of a severe drought it could be the difference in having enough
forage or not. Somehow I got the seeding a bit heavy with the
new seed drill but it seems to be doing very well. This will
not be sold as “organic” as fertilizer was used on it.
This special crop will make at least three cuttings this year if
we get enough rain this summer.
We hope you find our product useful for your needs. Questions can
be asked by e-mail at cmfarm@clover.net.
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