Hay Making 2015- Introducing the Boy

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It’s been the start of hay making at the farm this week. We had a dry spell so the first field of grass has been cut.

Hay is what feeds animals during the winter-usually horses and sheep.

This week it was actually haylage which was made-a cross between hay and silage.

Silage is what cows eat in the winter. The grass is cut and put into bales straight away and then wrapped in film.

Haylage is cut during dry weather and then turned for at least five days, then baled and wrapped.

For hay, it would have to be completely dry-guaranteed and the grass has to completely dry out, turned for at least seven days and then baled but not wrapped.

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Grass has holds a lot of moisture so, during dry weather, if it wasn’t turned on the ground, the top would be dry but the cut grass underneath would remain damp and could spoil the whole bale.

In terms of productivity, silage is the easiest to make because, due to our great British weather, the combination of rain and sun in this country sometimes meant you could get four cuts a year per field. If you think that you could get just under ten bales to an acre, that is the equivalent of 40 bales of silage each year from one acre of land compared with 20 of hay or haylage because it takes so much longer to make.

It is very hard work and Husbter and his team have been working until late every day this week. I do enjoy going taking them snacks though and it was nice for the children to experience it. I also got to try out the four-wheel drive in my new car in the process (which I got told off about).

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I do fear that as soon as Baby G can walk however, he will be helping.

This is our farming life.

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*I am quite impressed with this post because at one time, I would have been asking Hubster 101 questions writing this. Almost ten years of being with my farmer however must have rubbed off as I only had to ask how many bales to the acre. Gold farmer’s wife star for me.

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