Haying (Is that a word?)
22 August, 2009 - 17:43
Finally we had a break in the weather and have started our second hay cutting. The moon, stars and sun are lined up right for the next week and before it rains again the hay will be in the barn.
This is what the fields look like just before we start to cut.
The grass is thick and lush. A lot of rich nutrients is stored in it to feed the cattle and the baby calves in the winter.
The cutting is a time consuming process. Once all of the grass is cut, you go back over it and fluff it up so it completely dries. Hay that is baled with too much moisture will create enough heat to set the bale on fire.
The cutter is going through a field of
Pearl Millet which was planted as a rich supplemental forage for the beef steers we grass finish. It has done its job now and what is left has seed heads forming. This will make great hay, but we will have little of it since this was planted on only a portion of our hay fields. We will set it aside and feed it from time to time as a treat.
Once the hay is cut it is in neat rows (This is the millet). The millet hay rows look smaller that what you would see in the regular hay meadow as the leaf volume is less. This will dry for the next few days, get fluffed and then wind rolled before the baler passes over each row. I will have more pictures in a few days.