Making Hay.

                                               
                                                                         Farmer's Make Hay.

The Old Way.

The art of Hay Making is the longest known method of conserving grass for winter stock feeding and man has been making it for the last six thousand years. This month see's the start of the hay making season and with this sudden hot spell, farmers all over the country are Making Hay While The Sun Shines, to quote an old saying.

To make hay successfully farmers are dependant on the weather as once the grass is cut it has to be throughly dried before it can be bailed and stored. Cutting usually takes place from mid June and onwards if the weather permits, just before the grasses and other plants start to flower however , many meadows are cut whilst in flower when there is a lot of pollen being produced by the plants ( hence Hay Fever ).

 

                                                                    Traditional Hay Meadows.

Cutting The Grass.

After Cutting.

When the weather looks to be settled for a period of several days or more the Hay Making Process can begin. Once the sun has burnt off the early morning due hay cutting begins, the mowers cut the grass leaving it in neat rows, to begin the drying out process. To help the crop to dry out the farmer will use an attachment that lifts and roughs up the cut rows of grass to allow the air in and enable it to dry out quicker in the sun, as much moisture as possible needs to be removed before baling the hay can take place and all this is a race against time, if the weather changes and it rains on the grass then the crop is lost.













                                                   Two Different Types Of Hay Turning Attachments.



Here we have a sequence of photos showing how it was done in the olden days and in some parts of the world, this is still how it is done today.

Cutting The Grass.

Turning It In To Rows.

Horse Drawn Mower.

A Horse Drawn Rake.

Carting It Away.

Once the grass has completely dried out which could take a few days or more then the process of bailing it begins. If the moisture content is to high at this point and the bales are put in to store then there is a high risk of the bales spontaneously combusting ( self igniting ).

                                                                        Balers Old And New.

At the mowing stage the grasses can contain up to 90% of their moisture, this will have to be reduced to between 12% and 20% before it can be safely stored. The use of modern equipment started as recently as only 50 years ago with the first modern bailer being made by John Deere in the United States of America. Before the introduction of modern farming equipment the Hay Harvest was almost a community event, labourers from neighbouring farms would all get together to help get this important crop in as quickly as possible, so it was all hands on deck with some of the local villagers and even school children helping out as it was very labour orientated to cut, rake, turn over and cart it away.

I have only touched briefly on this subject to give you a little insight, many books full of advice have been written over many years but the process it's self has changed little.