First Hay Field

Mike could tell when he was mowing the first field that the crop was denser than last year. The thick mats of clover that thrived during the cool, damp spring lugged the tractor as he rounded the corners and it took longer to get the field all mowed than in the previous years.

Fluffing the wet grass is done to break apart those thick clumps and let the air flow through the cut stems. The fluffer works on the principle of whirling the cut grass much like an egg beater. Pulled behind the tractor, the fluffer has four discs with tines that spin and toss the grass helter-skelter. When finished with fluffing, the field does not look like the nice neatly trimmed ground that showed when the mowing was first finished. It was impossible to see where a row began and where one ended.

After a good time of drying, the rake is used to take the all the mixed up stems of grass and put them back into a wind row. This turns the grass any that was on the bottom gets rolled onto the top of the pile to finish drying. At this point, if the weather is cooperating, it only takes a couple of hours to dry enough to begin the baling process.

If memory serves, this field last year yielded about 800 bales. This year we already have the 800 made and still need to finish the outside round (the one that is done last) and the middle of the field. We just need to get it done while the weather stays dry for this high quality hay to stay prime.

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