Filed under: June 2019 | Tags: Hay baling, horses-vs-tractor, making hay, Small Farming, wet weather
June 13, 2019
Whew, that was close! The field above was the first dry hay of this year. We mowed last week. It was almost ready when the rain rinsed it off. I had left the grass laying flat, fearing the coming rain. The day after the rain hit, the horses and I went to work.
We fluffed the hay Tuesday morning just after the dew had dried off. The hay was mostly cured, but the bottom layer was still green and fresh cut looking. The hay was allowed to dry for several hours. We then raked the hay, flipping that bottom layer to the top. The sun and wind dried it throughout the rest of that day.
Wednesday morning, we were back at again. We fluffed the hay again with our tedder, a piece of equipment designed to pick the hay up and fluff the windrows. We stopped for lunch when we finished the fluffing job. The horses and I ate lunch, drank water, then headed out to the field again.
We raked the hay a second time, turning the windrows over yet again. The hay was light and airy. The cured, fresh hay smelled wonderful. We finished raking about two pm. The horses were unharnessed and left in the cool barn while the hay dried a bit more.
I started round baling the hay at 4 pm. The hay had dried well and the baling was complete by 6:30 pm. This is the first dry hay of the season. This year has been a challenge for us farmers as we work around the wet weather. This hay will be fed to the cows. Its quality didn’t suffer much from the rain, but I fear it might be a little dusty for the horses. The horses get the very best hay that I can produce.
It was well after dark as I moved the last bale off the hay field. I was pleased with our efforts over the last few days. The horses worked very well and once again, proved superior over a tractor, as I worked on the drying hay. Their feet walked alongside the windrows as the rake flipped and fluffed the hay. No tractor tires to push the hay down into the soggy ground or compact the soil.
We have much more hay to cut, cure and store, but we are off and running. The equipment and horses have been tested and found to all be sound. The weather, we can’t control, so I will just wait patiently and be ready to go again at the next opportunity.
As I crawled into bed last night after a warm shower, the rain could be heard falling on the roof. My hay was baled. The bales were off the field. The equipment was parked back in the barns again. I smiled sweetly as I drifted off to sleep….
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RicelandMeadows 
Great job Ralph! This wet weather is terrible! Can’t even mow!
Comment by Jacklyn Krysa June 13, 2019 @ 12:05 pm