Skip to main content

Making hay

I can't claim to be an expert on hay, but I've certainly learnt an awful lot about making it over the past few weeks!

Since owning cattle we have spent a lot of money on hay, in round bales and square bales, to feed to our animals when we ran low on grass.  For ages I couldn't understand why the cattle didn't eat the dead dry grass in winter.  It seemed to me to be exactly the same as hay.  Well I only recently figured out that hay is not just dead dry grass!  Hay is grass cut in its prime and allowed to dry to just the right amount before baling.  Hay contains maximum nutrition for the cattle, that's why they like it so much.

When we purchased our new property, a crop of forage sorghum on the top cultivation area had just been cut for hay, and was starting to grow back.  By the time we owned the property 6 weeks later, it was ready to be cut again.  We engaged a contractor (neighbour) to cut the sorghum using a "mower conditioner" which cuts the stems near the base and feeds them through rollers, so that the stems are crushed and will dry more evenly.  We allowed the sorghum to dry on the ground for several days and then ran over it with  a "hay rake" that we bought with the property.  This turns the hay to allow it to dry more evenly.  Depending on the hay and weather, this may be done several times, but as we had hot dry days and only a thin covering of sorghum, we only ran over it once.  Our neighbour then came back and baled the hay into large round bales, which we stacked in the hay shed, using the hay spike on the tractor.

the sorghum when we bought the property
after the sorghum was cut
raking the sorghum into windrows
raking finished
And then baled by our neighhour
Moving the bales in the shed
Two little helpers....
48 bales from just a small section of our cultivation area
It may seem like a lot of work to make this hay, but we know that it will help our future herd of cattle gain weight more quickly and make more money.  We don't know what kind of hay will be the best yet, we want to try a few different ideas and learn for ourself how to improve the cattle weight gain most effectively.

Do you make hay?  Any tips?
Labels:

Comments

  1. africanaussieApril 30, 2012 at 7:33 AM

    I also wondered why the cattle didn't just eat the dry grass...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sunnybrook FarmApril 30, 2012 at 8:05 AM

    The hay smells so good when it is curing, cattle will eat lower quality hay than horses but it is best to give them the good stuff like you are doing. I cut mine with a scythe and turn and load it with a hand fork and put it up loose. At least I don't have to pay for a membership at the gym living here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clint BakerApril 30, 2012 at 9:44 AM

    We always used square bales on our farm. We would put up 1000's of bales each summer for our 100 plus head of cattle! This brings back memories!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Debra KApril 30, 2012 at 10:37 AM

    Very interesting, hopefully we can do the same on our property soon..the grass is certainly long enough at the moment!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fiona from Arbordale FarmApril 30, 2012 at 12:19 PM

    Sounds like another farming task mastered to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Donna OShaughnessyApril 30, 2012 at 2:21 PM

    Hi, just found your blog. We live in Illinois, USA and have mny critters, do many farm things...I'll be back to check on yu soon !

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownApril 30, 2012 at 2:37 PM

    yes I love the smell of hay! but I don't think this is a farm task mastered just yet, this lot of hay come out pretty good, because we were lucky with the weather, but who knows what the next lot will be like! Sunnybrook, I can't believe you do all that work by hand, it would be very good exercise, good on you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lrong LimApril 30, 2012 at 6:49 PM

    I am impressed!

    ReplyDelete
  9. EmmaMay 1, 2012 at 7:37 AM

    Neat! You guys really are real farmers now. Not that you weren't before, there's just something about haymaking that equals farm to me v

    ReplyDelete
  10. RenataMay 1, 2012 at 10:30 AM

    Hi Liz
    I just had to follow your link & come visit!! I look forward in reading your farming endeavours! We haven't made hay for a couple of years since we have a good supply in our hay shed. Your bales look great & isn't the smell of hay just wonderful! I had to laugh as I looked down your post ~ you mentioned you had the same seeder as us, well your blue tractor looks much the same as the one we own ( I call old blue).
    Lovely to meet you ~ I will visit again!
    Blessings
    Renata:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Laura @ Green Legacy FarmMay 1, 2012 at 10:24 PM

    Making your own hay saves SO much money, even if you have to contract out some of the work! We've done that and have also traded labor for hay.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks, I appreciate all your comments, suggestions and questions, but I don't always get time to reply right away. If you need me to reply personally to a question, please leave your email address in the comment or in your profile, or email me directly on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com

Popular posts from this blog

Farm update - August 2017

Its been cold this month, and very nice to have the fire going every night.  Here's a photo of my boy in his cape, great for late night woofing at things.  Most of July we were either preparing for the butcher to come or putting meat away.  Its always a big job, but its only once a year, and its all done now.  My lovely neighbour came over to help, so it was fun to have the company and work together.  Taz was a champion once again as she helped us to move cattle in the yards ready to load for the market.  Gus is not at that level yet and had to stay home (he cries when he gets left behind, but he just gets in the way and scatters the cattle).  We have had a few sprinkles of rain here and there, but also plenty of cold nights, so the grass is mostly dead and dry, waiting for the warmer weather to revive our summer-active pasture. Gus in his cape Taz after she helped to move cattle Food and cooking It was all about beef in July and we are v...
2 comments
Read more

Cooking and eating beans

When I was growing up, my family never ate many dried beans, they just weren't something that was used much in NZ cuisine.  If I did eat beans, it was always from a can (and most likely baked beans).  And until recently I was still using beans from a can, but it can be difficult to get organic beans, and to find cans not lined with BPA.  Then I had an opportunity to buy some organic dry goods in bulk, so I bought 5kg of kidney beans, 5kg of adzuki beans and 5kg of chickpea (garbanzo beans).  I know, that is a lot of beans.  And then I didn't really know what to do with them!  Not just what dishes to put them in, but how to prepare them, I just didn't know what method to use. So I decided it was time to learn how to use all these beans that I bought, here's what I found out. I started with an excellent ebook called The Everything Beans Book , from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship, which has lots of bean recipes, but more importantly, an explanation of h...
12 comments
Read more

Guest post: Is there a place for power tools in the garden?

One of my regular readers and commenters offered to write a guest post about a horticulture course, its quite a funny read, with some serious insights into our technology obsession.  If you'd like to submit a guest post, email me at eight.acres.liz {at} gmail.com.  While I am always happy to share links back to your blog or website, this contributor preferred to remain anonymous.  I hope you enjoy their story.... -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**-  -**- Just a few days ago our daily horticulture classes were interrupted by an invitation to review some new gardening gadgets. The idea was to open half a dozen of electric hand trimmers , test them and fill in some review about their goods and bads. As nothing is more dear to a student – even a “hort “ one - to escape routine and mess around till lunchtime, we opened the boxes and got down to business. What did we...
8 comments
Read more