TIME TO MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN DOES SHINE...

If you find yourself out in the Midwest countryside at this time of the year there's a smell in the air that is super special for those of us who live here and it's not manure, ok?  

The crispness in the fall air makes this smell a bit bittersweet as it means winter will soon be approaching. It's the smell of the last haying of the year. Haying for those unfamiliar with the term is simply the all encompassing terminology for cutting, raking, hauling, and baling hay.

Besides affecting the olfactory sense, it is a pretty magnificent sight too as it transforms the fields of alfalfa, glover/grass into fodder, food for the animals in the winter months when they can't graze. It will also be used for bedding. We'll also eventually use spent barn hay to mulch our garden.

It is an integral part of summer farming.  Our local mechanic's garage's parking space is filled with haying vehicles before frost comes around in the spring. Some farms put up their own hay/ hire other to hay for them. Haying machinery can range in size and expense due to functions, maintenance and operation. Some farmers may not grow enough hay for their own animals and will purchase it from others.

Anyhow this city mouse has learned there are 2 ways to put up hay and one is as silage where after it is cut and while still wet wrapped. It tends to ferment over the winter months. The second way is dry hay which is allowed to dry first. Both have their advantages.

So yesterday while we having one of our fall Miata rides we passed a lot of farms where the first part of the process was happening, mowing. Mowers cuts the grass to make it stop growing. Some farmers even have a mower conditioner which helps in the evaporation by taking the cut grass and sending it through rollers in order to break the stems. 

There is tedding. It is swirled as four sets of fingers literally throw the hay up in the air aerating it as it is spread. The results tend to aide the drying process. Silage won't be tedded as it needs that moisture.

Next is raking which will help in baling. There are different types of rakes which move the grass and break stems but unlike the tedder they have a shield to keep the grass from moving all over the place and into rows to make it easier for the baler to collect.

There are 2 types of balers, a round and square baler. These are amazing inventions for farmers. The round bales are for larger animals like cattle who tend to eat more than smaller animals like horses, sheep/ goats. Silage is not done in square bales. Silage wrapped looks like huge white marshmellow rolls near barns.

Haying is arduous work but once again in the country it's all about food security. Haying makes sure our animals can survive the winter. 

Here's a couple links of past 'hay' blog entries.

http://chaseburg.blogspot.com/2013/06/making-hay.html
http://chaseburg.blogspot.com/2014/06/taste-of-summer.html
http://chaseburg.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-land-is-alive-with-sound-of.html
http://chaseburg.blogspot.com/2014/05/yall-isnt-only-difference.html