Filling the Hay Loft - July 2014

Our cows are primarily grass-fed.  We give them each a scoopful of Dairy ration mixed with a cup of alfalfa pellets while we milk them.  Other than that, they're eating the grass that grows in our pasture and that is a mix of Bahia and Bermuda. Grass fed is great, but during the winter it presents some difficulties since our ability to get a good crop of winter rye grass has been lacking.  We purchase numerous round bales of hay that we allow them to eat on at will during the winter months and it takes them approximately 1 week to make a round bale disappear.  We supplement this hay with some square bales of high-quality Jiggs Bermuda.  We fill the hay racks above their troughs with it during the winter and they munch on it along with the ration until we're finished milking.

Planning for the winter doesn't happen without work and that reminds me of the Aesop fable of The Grasshopper and the Ant.  You'll remember that in that story the grasshopper spent the summer months singing while the ant worked to put food away for the winter.  This past Friday I got a phone call I was expecting from a neighbor who lives about a mile down the road that bales hay for us each year.  He gives us a good deal at $5 per bale picked up right behind the baler.  I assembled our 'ants' and we prepared ourselves for some hard work on a hot summer's day.

We each had different job responsibilities.  Tricia's job was counting the number of bales loaded - she's the brains of the operation.  We do the heavy lifting.  We need 90 bales of hay because that is exactly the amount that will fit in the hay loft of our barn. Benjamin's job was to be the driver and at age 13, he's getting good practice at driving the truck.  Benjamin aligned the truck beside the row of bales that the baler dropped in the field.

The bean hay bale counter

As Benjamin slowly drove, Russ, my Dad, and Conner (my nephew) lifted the bales and threw them up to me as I was on top of the trailer.  I positioned them so that they would ride without tumbling down on the drive back to our house. 

Lifting the hay

With so much help this year, it took no time to fill the trailer, Russ' truck, and Dad's truck with exactly 90 bales.  In previous years, we only had Russ' truck, so we had to make numerous trips to get the hay.  If you look closely in the picture below, you can see the hay baler pushing out bales and then just to the right of that in the distance, you can see the 'fluffer.'  The fluffer fluffs up the hay to get it ready to be baled.  The hay must be cured for a day or so in the hot, summer sun and this is a very, very important step.  If it is not cured & dried properly, hay can spontaneously combust and many barns across the country have burned to the ground for this very reason.

Stackin' in deep & Sellin' it cheap!

Loading hay is hot work.  Not only is it hot, but it leaves you sweaty and 'itchy.'  The hay will scratch you and your salty sweat gets into the scratches and burns.  The hay also has little pieces that get on your arms and itch like crazy!

Time to take a shower

We transport the hay back to our little homestead a mile away, back the trailer up to the barn, and use a pulley to hoist each bale up into the loft.  One or two people on the ground attach the hay by hooks to the rope.  One person up in the loft pulls the other end of the rope to lift the bale up, swinging it into the loft and another person slides the bale to the end of the loft.  We can stack the hay three rows wide by four rows high.

The bottom picture shows several noteworthy things:  First you see the pulley attached to a 4 x 4 that juts out of the top of the barn that is used to pull the hay up to the loft through the opened doors.  You can also see the separate paddocks cordoned off by electric poly wire. The cows are in the third of five rotational pastures now and they are heading out to graze as the sun sinks, signalling the cool of the evening. There are three chicken tractors on the pasture you can see, one of which (far right) has Big Boy, the Great Pyrenees livestock guard dog on top, monitoring the situation. The 'burn pile' is in the foreground -everyone should have a burn pile!  And finally the fence that (mostly) keeps the animals out of the garden can be seen at the lower right.

A view from on high

When all is said and done, "the hay is in the barn."  We can shut the doors, grateful that the hard work is done and that we've done our part in preparing for the winter. It is really a great life lesson if you think about it.  Right now, grass is plentiful. There is an abundance of food for the cows to eat on.  One could sit back and enjoy matters. But it is wise to prepare, to be forward thinking, and to put away a portion of that abundance for 'leaner' times.  In the story of Joseph in Genesis chapter 41, he did just that.  He prepared for the coming famine by putting away a portion of food during the harvest in the good years.  He filled storehouses and when the hard times came, they weren't destroyed.  They had enough to meet their needs. We would be well served to have a storehouse of goods put away for hard times as there will surely be weather or financial catastrophes that we should prepare for.

The hay loft is full

It always feels good to have a task completed.  We were fortunate to have a crew of strong family members to lend a hand this year and the work was knocked out in no time.  We shared a cold drink under a shade tree while we cooled off and were happy to be done.

The 2014 Hay Gang

I had the hay gang pose for a picture to commemorate the event.  Who says you can't find good help these days!? Thank the Good Lord that we got the hay in the barn and we're prepared for the winter.  Now it was time for a shower...