Thursday, September 21, 2017

Making Hay While The Sun Shines


The summer is nearing an end and preparations for winter are in full swing.  Everyone is either mowing their fields or baling hay one last time.



Even the fields around the small local airports are mowed and baled.  The large buildings in the background are hangers.  



This gentleman was mowing right beside the highway so I slowed my car, waved, pointed to my camera and yelled to ask if I could take his picture.


He smiled, stopped his tractor and let me focus.  He probably thought I was a city-slicker who had never seen a tractor.


Another day I passed this gentleman who was raking his field.  When asked if I could take his picture, he laughed and said only if I would drive the tractor around the field a few times for him so he could rest.  It was a temptation.  The last time I drove a tractor was as a small child while sitting on Daddy Fred, my grandfather's lap.  He worked the clutch, gears, and brakes while I steered.  Reluctantly I declined. Climbing back down without breaking my neck would be a challenge. Experts are able to make something difficult look simple and everything about farming is complex.


Hay is used as winter fodder (food) for animals and the varieties of mixtures of grasses and legumes are unlimited.  Every animal has its own preferred mixture.  It is tricky to harvest hay at the right time. It is best right before the seed head ripens, the leaves are full and the weather is dry.  It is the leaves and seeds that make for good quality hay.  After it is mowed, it is allowed to dry in the field.  If the grass gets too wet and spoils, it can rot, mold or develop toxins which will make the animals sick.  If it is too dry, the leaves will be stunted and have less nutrition.  Straw is used mainly as bedding since it is the leftover stems which are lower in nutritional value. 

This field was mowed earlier, the grass was dry and was being raked with 8 wheels of a 10 wheel rake.  The gentleman said the reason he was using 8 rakes instead of all 10 was that it had rained so much the grass was thick.  The rake wheels would spin as the tractor moved.




The hay baler followed behind the long row of raked hay, rolling it into a circle then tying it. 


There are different types and sizes of hay balers (square or round) because each type has different uses.  This made large round bales which would be used to feed livestock.  One bale weighs about 900 pounds.


It was a complicated, noisy, dangerous machine but it beats raking and baling by hand.




The idiom "make hay while the sun shines" means to do something while the opportunity is available.  These men had a few days of good weather so they were definitely "making hay while the sun was shining."

8 comments:

  1. This is a fun post, Jeannie. I always wondered how they made the round bales.....what an interesting looking machine. You definitely live in God's country. It's so green and beautiful. I won't tell your mom you left Scooter out.....

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    1. Sally, I had you in mind when I was writing this post. I still want to show pictures of the importance of bush hogging a field and what happens when you don't; on the to-do list. As for Mom, she will see your comment first thing in the morning and let me know all about it. She thinks I should let Scooter do all the writing because he is better at it than I am.

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  2. Taking a photo of this hardworking man was a good idea. This farmer
    does an important job for his fellow humans and it is nice when we
    recognize his work. Even though farmers work with modern hay balers,
    this is a demanding labor.
    Christel

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    1. It was very demanding work but he was eager to stop and spend time telling me about his job. He seemed proud of his accomplishments.

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  3. What a neat post! Farming really is interesting stuff. We have a field near us that they cut and bale into the round bales each year. It's in a flood plain though and they always get flooded. They just leave the bales in the field to rot. We can't decide if they are unlucky or are just cutting and baling to maintain the field.

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    1. Rebecca, just do what I do, walk over and ask them what are they are doing? They might ask you to leave or they might share. Realize if they ask you to leave, so what, nothing lost but a few seconds of time.

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  4. Those bales sure are huge!!! I always love seeing farm photos, and you tell a story well with your pictures.

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    1. They don't look big when sitting far out in a field but when you stand beside them, they are large. They can only be moved by a tractor.

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