Giant slugs?

Ever see these big slugs? We are putting our chopped up alfalfa in these bags. This way, we can store more feed when we don't have available cement. We still call it 'silage' because of using silos back in the day! 

Alfalfa is also called 'hay' and this is our fourth cutting this year.  This has been a kind of tough cutting because the weather didn't cooperate - at one point when it was cut it rained ONLY ON ONE FIELD and not anywhere else around - not even at our barns or house. 

We also don't have as many people to drive tractors as usual because my dad and some neighbors were gone or busy.  Kris and I were brainstorming people to call the other night and came up with some really good people!  (Thanks, guys.)    

For a quick rundown, this is what happens. For more detail, see my post here. We cut the alfalfa.  We rake and then merge the rows of the cut hay.  It has to be exactly the right moisture to chop, because you want the best feed and fermentation and quality.  We then chop it, which requires the other drivers, because you have to shoot it into wagons.  The wagons drop off the feed at the farm, and someone either needs to compress it into a pile, or as we're doing this time - load it with a tractor into the bagger.

The bagger unfurls the bag over the feed.  

This cutting was also complicated by the fact that the first Michigan State University football game is tomorrow, and ... well, one year their marketing was 'THE SEVEN BEST SATURDAYS OF THE YEAR' and Kris subscribes to that fully.  He loves MSU football Saturdays.  Not enough to compromise the quality of the feed though ... since that compromises what the cattle eat, which has an effect on how much milk they give, which affects everything.  So!  They have been chopping for two days, late into the night, along with of course doing everything else that needs to be done on a dairy farm.

So when you see those slugs, yell ... GO GREEN!  

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