A working farmer making hay while the sun shines and reaping the harvest on a yellow new holland combine harvester on farm house
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Contributor:
Mark Jordan / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
AEGBGKFile size:
55.8 MB (2.3 MB Compressed download)Releases:
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5400 x 3614 px | 45.7 x 30.6 cm | 18 x 12 inches | 300dpiMore information:
Hay making is the longest established method of conserving grass for feeding cattle and sheep through the winter and has been an important function of the farming calendar in the UK for the last six thousand years. Successful haymaking relies on the crop of grass being thoroughly dried before it is baled or stored. The first step in hay making is the mowing of the grass grop. This usually starts in late June just before flowering however, many crops are cut during flowering itself when lots of pollen is being produced (hence hay fever). Cutting must be done when the weather is fine and several continuous dry days are expected. Hay that has been rained on is of poorer quality and may be unpalatable. After the crop has been cut it is allowed to dry in the sun. To facilitate this a tractor with a "hay bob" will drive over the cut rows to rough up the drying grass. This helps remove moisture more quickly and makes the baling operation easier to complete. A conventional baler producing small bales (one is just emerging). Balers work by compressing the hay into a block before tying strong twines around it. Behind this baler is a red trailed sledge that collects the bales together and drops them off at a single point. These can then be picked up more quickly by the front loader and loaded onto a trailer. A conventional bale wieghs 20kg and is about 1.2 metres in length.