How Hay Is Made
Making Hay with Our Friends

IMPORTANT NOTE**** 

This is an informative article. Since the very existence of this article resulted in a LOT of unpleasantness with the town tax assessor that has since been resolved quite favorably for all parties involved, the article will remain for informative purposes. The existence of this article is here to educate those who come to learn about HOW HAY IS MADE, and for no other purpose than that. ***  

It’s early March here in New England, and the world is beginning to wake up. The snow that has graced our farms for the past months has begun to melt, and a stray blade of grass here and there has been fooled into rising by the first days of longer sunshine. The hay farmers are spending breakfast time poring over endless records of past years harvests, fertilizing, and equipment maintenance records. While long summer days and sweltering heat are weeks away, there isn’t time to waste.

Many of you may not think of the long journey that the hay you feed to your animals takes from the field to the feed store, but this article will explain the mysterious process from growth to baling. The aim of this article is to dispel many of the common myths about this mysterious substance, and answer many questions along the way.

On this early March day, you can find me in my neighbor’s sunny kitchen. The wind is blowing, the sun is out, and on the breeze there is a scent that I can only describe as Spring. The snow begins to melt, and conversation shifts from, “Geez is it COLD out there!” to “I hope we’re ready for this season…”

Hay making begins in the off season, after the last bale is picked from the field and stored in the barn. Soil samples are taken from the fields that we farm (about 22 acres all across this small farm town) and sent for analysis. Once the analysis is complete, we form a game plan for the following year. One field needs so many pounds of lime. Another field needs a ton of liquefied cow poop. One field is so bad, it needs 30 man hours of weed pulling, tree trimming, and re-seeding with Timothy. We pay the fertilizer bill and hope we sell enough hay to make it worth it.

While the farm sleeps under its blanket of the winter white stuff, someone is always busy in the barn. The equipment has taken a beating from the previous season and must be serviced. So what if the tractor is from 1955? It works a treat and we love the way it rakes the hay in neat, even rows, so we’ll tend to its various leaks and other creaks. Hay rake missing tines? Now is the time to replace those! The most import and fragile part of the operation, the hay baler, is covered under tarps and surrounded by mouse traps until it wakes from its winter’s nap.

Once the fields begin to wake from the winter freeze, more soil samples are taken to make sure the fields are in prime condition. It takes two weeks to return from analysis, and from there we have a few precious weeks to add fertilizer or seed as the fields need. Here in New England, we make hay on many small fields as opposed to one large field, so there could be many different soil samples to take. Once the samples are analyzed and the final adjustments are made, we are at the mercy of the weather for weeks on end. We clear the fields of weeds and winter debris to the best of our ability while caring for our menagerie of animals and planting gardens. If we have a warm and somewhat rainy spring, we consider ourselves fortunate as the fields grow tall, lush, and green.

In New England, hay that is ready by Memorial Day is generally considered good luck and a plentiful harvest. Once the entire field has good strong growth in excess of about 12-18 inches, we can think about making hay.

Hay making is a tedious process with some element of luck, a bit of art, and a lot of experience involved. Hay is, simply put, grass that is dried to less than 20 percent moisture and then stored in order to provide livestock with sustainable feed. Sounds easy, right? I wish!

Once the fields are ready, the farmer’s best friend is The Weather Channel. It is not uncommon to see my neighbors and me gather for coffee with The Weather Channel on in the background while consulting the local newspaper, the Farmer’s Almanac, and Father Sky to see if it’s “safe” to cut the field. The most important thing I have learned in my 25 years of hay making is not to cut the field the same day that the Village Idiot does- it will most assuredly rain. Since hay MUST be dried to less than 20 percent moisture, IT MUST NOT RAIN on cut crop in the field! Optimum hay cutting weather means three to four days of sun and warmth with low humidity so the grasses may dry evenly. Once we have made the decision to cut the hay, the tractor is hitched to the mower deck and sent to the field. There is no turning back now.

After the morning dew has lifted from the fields of Timothy, the tractor and mower cut around the field, separating the grasses from their roots. This sounds like a simple process, but the PTO driven mower travels slowly and can take the greater part of a day to cut 10 acres. The sun is hot, and the tractor is noisy. The back-and-forth wiggle of the mower shakes the whole tractor! By the time the hay is cut, it is often dusk and the farmer is ready for supper and a soft bed. (Don’t forget, he still must tend to his other chores and animals!)

The second part of hay making takes place on the following day, after the dew has passed. The tractor is hitched to a funny-looking machine called a tedder. The tedder is used to “fluff up” the hay and spread it out so the hay may dry evenly. Wet hay can mold, or even catch fire, rendering the whole crop useless. The tedder spreads the hay to dry evenly without caching the ground below and adding dust to the fresh grasses. It is important that the weather stays warm and dry so that the hay may dry evenly. Again, the tedder must move slowly and steadily. Moving too fast will throw hay everywhere and cause the tedder to bounce up and down, missing the thicker clumps of hay.

On the third day, the farm is busy. As soon as the dew is off the fields, the hay rake is hitched to the tractor. The farmer uses the hay rake to pile the hay into windrows in preparation for baling. The rows should be as even and long as possible for easy baling. The thicker the row, the slower the baling process will be. This is the busiest day of hay making. As soon as the hay is in windrows, the farmer may have a quick lunch, hitch up the hay baler, and return to the field. Helpers will make the last part of hay making faster and less stressful. When we make hay, we send the baler and the hay trailer to the field together.

The baler is the largest, slowest, and noisiest machine in the hay barn. The baler scoops up the rows of hay, compresses it into manageable cubes, and ties each cube into a neat bundle called a bale. Depending on the quality and density of the hay, a bale can weigh anywhere from 30 to 60 pounds. The baler drops each bale back on to the field, which means that the hay must be picked up and brought to the storage facility. I have been in the field many times when the sunlight is fading as the last bale is placed on the trailer and the evening dew is setting in! It is a race against time, as the hay must not get wet! Off to the barn we go to stack our hard earned hay!

Often the sun is gone by the time the last bale is stacked in the barns. We must be mindful to store the hay in the barn or lofts, which are dry, dark, and airy. This assures the hay will stay fresh for months on end. Care is taken so that any damp bale is fed to the horses at once so as not to spoil the rest of the crop. We make sure to stack the hay so that it will stay dry and away from direct sun. All in all, it has taken at least three days and five passes of equipment (mower, teder, rake, baler, and hay truck- now that is a LOT of fuel!) for the three hundred or so bales we will stack in the loft or barn.

Once the day’s work is done, the tired farmer wants a bath, supper, and a soft bed, usually in that order. If the weather is good, the process will begin again the following day in another field. Rain is expected during first cut, so most New England farmers plan for a little downtime to restock the baling twine and change worn parts as needed. Hay balers are finicky things and usually only break whatever part is not readily on hand.

The average New England farm will be able to harvest each hayfield at least twice. During years of moderate rain and abundant sunshine, it is not uncommon to get up to three “cuts” of hay per established field. Years of floods and droughts may bring less hay than usual. The hay farmer is truly at the mercy of nature.

The second cutting of the fields will vary based on weather, but in good years I have made hay all summer long. If properly planned, once all of the fields have been harvested it is time to harvest the first field again. For the smaller hay farm, it may be possible to harvest at Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. There have even been years with weather so mild that I have seen a rare “fourth cut” near All Hallows Eve. Some years are limited to only two cuttings due to flood or drought.

No matter what the crop yield, the short off season will find the New England farmer looking to the season ahead. Fields must be preserved and hay must be sold. Many farmers will be happy to sell this precious dried grass at a small profit so that we can all enjoy our animals in the harshest of climates and on the smallest parcels of land. The next time you buy hay, you will see it as more than just hay. It took five passes with a vehicle, Mother Nature’s best weather, and a very hard-working farmer to bring that bale of hay to your barn.