Hay 101

I've been learning about hay for years. Partly this is due to owning a goat. Hay is a large part of what we feed her in the winter. We give her a "flake" of hay at a time. Also, because of where we used to live, I have watched our "neighbors" make hay for cattle for about 12 years. By the time I moved to our new place I knew just by "osmosis" that it was customary to get 2 cuttings a year. I also knew that the hay was cut, dried, flipped, dried some more, raked into rows, and baled. Lastly, I knew that most farmers spread lime on their fields once a year while things were dormant to adjust the pH.

the disheveled way the previous owners left the loft of our hay barn
(It needs needs new siding too!)

Now I am learning more about hay because at our new place we can raise it as a cash crop. Land is usually expensive, so chances are good that people who raise a lot of animals (thereby needing the land for pasturage) have to buy hay. It's usually cheaper to buy someone else's hay than to buy the land to grow it on (not to mention the haying equipment.) It seems that most folks who have enough land to grow their own hay AND raise a number of animals inherited the land. Since we aren't raising animals for sale that need our hay, we are hoping to sell our hay to others.

our upper hay field in the early spring of last year

It seems that raising hay for profit is a bit like gambling. Actually, farming in general has a bit of a gambling element. In the case of hay, the price depends upon when you buy or sell, what the growing season was like the year before, as well as the current year's growing season. For example, due to the weird weather patterns this year, those who chose to hold on to their hay in order to sell it this spring made a profitable decision. Hay is commanding a good price. In certain parts of the country, like Arizona, it's going for $20 a bale! When hay commands a poor price in the spring (say a good hay year followed by an early spring) then you would probably get less money per bale than if you had sold the hay straight off the field and didn't store it until the market was anticipated to be high. And you may end up with old hay filling your barn and no room to store your new hay. Other than weather, the value of hay also can vary due to insect damage, mismanaged soil pH, if your barn roof springs a leak and causes your hay to mold, or if you don't dry the hay enough and end up with spontaneous combustion burning down your barn, etc. The more knowledgeable you are, the more profitable selling hay can be. (Disclaimer: I have certainly oversimplified the whole thing due to my inexperience and for the sake of clarity.)

our upper hay field just before cutting this year

There were occasions in the last 12 years when our farmer acquaintances got in 3 hayings. The growing season started so early here this year, that unless we have an unexpected period of flooding or drought, we should get the rare 3 cuttings this year too. There was also a couple of years when the weather was so extreme that most of the local cattlemen only got one cutting. Last year was just such a year here. From what we currently know, it seems that most years we should harvest more hay than our hay barn can hold. I imagine that we'll try to sell at least one of the cuttings straight off the field this year. That saves us some work, if nothing else. It seems like a safe bet for greenhorn "farmers." And it seems fair to both the buyer AND seller as well. After a (hopefully) normal year, we should know better about how to accurately predict the normal yield and can batter make decisions about how much to put up to sell later.

this year's hay, just after cutting and lying on the field to dry

So far most of our customers have horses. But I think at least one raises llamas and alpacas. So now I am learning the difference between types of hay, and what different sorts of animals need, especially horses.

Our farm was originally a cattle farm. I'm pretty sure that most of it was used for grazing, so the gentleman farmer that owned the place must have purchased much of his hay. When the cattleman/lawyer moved upon retirement, the next set of owners had horses. It seems that they seeded the pastures mostly for grass hay (as opposed to alfalfa or clover- which are technically legumes.) They probably never had more than 4-6 pleasure horses (given the number of stalls on the property) so they had enough land for the horses and the hay.

upper hayfield raked into windrows last fall

We know, from the man that used to run the horse and pony section of our county's 4H program, that our hay is fescue, orchard grass, and clover- primarily red. He was kind enough to give my husband a brief tutorial in hay lore. From this we learned that we have good hay for horses, and that red clover is preferable to white clover. He said that horses tolerate white clover just fine, but it tends to make them slobber, so horse owners usually avoid it in their hay if they can. (He's purchased hay from us, by the way.)

a round bale for our neighbors who raise cattle (from our upper field) last year's hay

What else do I know about hay? I now know that most folks cut hay either with an old-style sickle bar mower or a new, expensive disc mower. Both of these are pulled behind tractors, just as the balers are. Sickle bar mowers are sort of like giant hedge trimmers and have a tendency to get bound up with hay. They also are less tolerant of any stray sticks and their teeth are prone to breaking, so they are cheaper to get a hold of and require more maintenance and skill to drive. Hay can be cut with flail and rotary mowers too, but they tend to chop it up too finely for most people's use. Sometimes hay is fluffed with "tedders" to help it dry. Sometimes it is sprayed with mold inhibitors if it is feared to not be fully dried but needs to be baled anyway. There are even bailers that have moisture sensors and will do this automatically! And hay is raked with..... hay rakes. Finally, hay can be stored in stacks or mows, and by other old fashioned methods, but is most often baled into either round or "square bales." (FYI: always stack square bales on their sides in a loft so that air circulates through the bale and dries any remaining moisture.)

left- fescue (mostly stem and seed)
right- orchard grass (taller, more leaf)

  
Round bales vary in size depending on the baling equipment. The dimensions usually range from 4ft x 4ft to 4ft x 6ft. They are priced according to their size. Damp, musty, moldy hay can give horses respiratory problems. And round bales are hard to store indoors due to their size and limited ability to stack, so they are best suited to cattle, who will even eat corn stalks in years of scarce hay.

  

Rectangular bales are called "square bales." The fixed dimensions of the most common square bales are 14" by 18". The variable dimension can be set anywhere from 12" to 52" on most small square balers. But a bale length of 36" is fairly common because the fixed dimension of 18" is half of that length; therefore, bales can be interleaved when stacked so as to make the stack more stable. A bale size of 14"x18"x36" is about 3 days worth of horse feed. It's also easier to collect off of the field and heft into barn lofts. So that's a size that we ought to aim for if those with horses persist in being our primary market. Smaller (shorter) bales are usually sold by the bale. Larger (longer) bales are usually sold together by the ton. (There are also the pet store-sized mini-bales- which command a tremendous price, by the way.)
  
Last year we had our neighbor make hay for us. The customary arrangement if you have someone else cut and bale is that they get half of the hay for free in exchange for their work. If you help by stacking bales or running equipment, then you can haggle for more. Some folks may try to take a bigger percentage of your hay crop if they think you're "over a barrel." Being at someone else's mercy about when cutting is done, how long the hay is dried, etc. is really frustrating. I recommend knowing your cutting crew well and having a good rapport with them so that any kinks can be communicated and solved quickly and easily. Also, make sure those doing your cutting aren't over-extended. Many who cut others' hay have made too many commitments, and in the end the last folks on the list get late cuttings, the rush treatment, and thereby the worst hay.
  

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. If you are interested in learning more about hay, I recommend Ronald Florence's Haying FAQ. It contains an abundance of information.