Equipment and Forage Demonstration

Auburn, June 29---Traveling to the Sunbelt Farm Expo in Moultrie, Ga., during autumn to view the latest advances in farm equipment was an annual rite for Lee County Extension Agent Smokey Spears and several local cattle producers.

Then an idea occurred to Spears and to some of the other local producers.

"We thought, ‘Heck, why can’t we organize a similar event in East Alabama and offer the same sorts of opportunities on a smaller scale?’" he recalls.

It wasn’t long before the idea was translated into reality. Thursday, June 28, marked the second annual Lee, Chambers and Russell County Hay Cutting Demonstration and Forage Meeting, which acquainted 125 East Alabama cattle producers with some of the latest advances in hay-cutting, baling and pasture aeration technology.

The demonstration was held on the Lawler Angus Farm, located on Highway 51 South in Lee County.

"The farm equipment business is a lot like the car business," Spears says. "Every year we get new lines of equipment that offer producers something better, whether it’s higher baling rates or hay cutters with new and improved features."

In fact, Spears says, all of the technology associated with hay cutting and harvesting has changed markedly in the quarter century since he first signed on as an Extension agent.

"What you’ve got today are basically elite types of balers and hay-conditioning equipment that were unimaginable just a few decades ago," he says. "Now, you don’t even have to get out of your air-conditioned cab to adjust a belt or clear something that’s clogged up. It’s often corrected with the push or two of a button."

Four local vendors were on hand this year to demonstrate advances in several new farm implements, including two rake systems, two types of cutters and four types of balers. They included Melson Tractor, E.O. & G’s Equipment Company, Vermeer Plains Equipment and John Deere.

Local producers and equipment vendors also were on hand to demonstrate advances in pasture aeration and fencing.

Spears and other participants noticed most producers were in a much better frame of mind this year than last – a factor they attributed to ample and sorely needed rainfall occurring within the past few months.

During last year’s demonstration, which was held at the peak of one of the worst droughts on record, Spears recalls there almost was not enough hay to hold a demonstration.

"Last year, as I remember, we were able to bale only eight round bales off this entire 50-acre field," Spear says as he points toward the lush green pasture. "This year, we counted 60 or so round bales."

"It’s as different as day and dark."

"Today, we’re smiling."

(Source: Bobby G. "Smokey" Spears, Lee County Extension Agent, 749-3353)