Hay Making

Part of Animal Husbandry

Hay is preserved grass — cut at peak nutrition, dried to prevent rot, and stored for months when pastures cannot feed your animals. Without hay or a reliable alternative, you must reduce your herd before every winter.

Why Hay is Essential

Grass goes dormant in winter (or during dry seasons in tropical climates). For 3-6 months per year, your pastures produce little or nothing. A mature cow eats 25-30 pounds of hay per day. Over a 150-day winter, that is roughly 2 tons of hay per cow. Multiply by your herd size and the scale of the task becomes clear.

Hay making is one of the most time-critical agricultural activities. You have a narrow window — the grass must be at the right growth stage, and you need several consecutive dry days. Miss the window and you get low-quality feed or moldy hay that can sicken or kill animals.

When to Cut

Timing determines nutritional value more than any other factor.

Cutting Stage Guide

Growth Stage	Protein Content	Fiber	Best For
Early vegetative (6-8 inches)	18-22%	Low	Too short to harvest efficiently
Late vegetative (10-14 inches)	14-18%	Moderate	Best hay — highest nutrition per ton
Early bloom (flowers appearing)	10-14%	High	Good hay — slightly lower quality but more volume
Full bloom (seeds forming)	8-10%	Very high	Acceptable for dry cows; poor for milking or growing animals
Mature (seeds dropping)	6-8%	Very high	Straw quality — minimal nutrition

The ideal window is late vegetative to early bloom. The plant has maximum leaf growth (where the nutrition is) before diverting energy to seed production.

For a first cut in temperate climates, this usually falls in late May to mid-June. A second cut is possible 6-8 weeks later if rainfall supports regrowth. In good years, three cuts are possible.

The Hay-Making Process

Step 1: Cutting

With a scythe (most likely post-collapse tool):

• Sharpen the blade until it shaves hair. A dull scythe doubles your labor and tears grass instead of cutting it.
• Cut in the early morning when dew makes stems slightly turgid and easier to cut cleanly.
• Swing in smooth arcs, keeping the blade close to the ground. Leave a 2-3 inch stubble — cutting too low damages root crowns and slows regrowth.
• An experienced scythe operator can cut roughly half an acre per day. Plan your labor accordingly.

With draft animals (horse-drawn sickle bar mower):

• If you have salvaged or fabricated a mowing machine, a single horse can cut 3-5 acres per day.
• Keep the cutting bar sharp and the gears greased.

Weather is Everything

Do NOT begin cutting unless you have a forecast (or strong signs) of 3-5 consecutive dry days. Hay cut before rain will mold in the field, wasting your entire effort. Traditional signs of stable weather: steady barometric pressure, clear mornings, dew that burns off by mid-morning, wind from a consistent direction.

Step 2: Tedding (Spreading and Turning)

Cut grass falls in dense rows called swaths. These swaths must be spread out and turned to dry evenly.

1. First tedding — within hours of cutting, spread the swath into a thin, even layer using a pitchfork or wooden rake. The more surface area exposed to sun and wind, the faster it dries.
2. Turn every 4-8 hours during the first 1-2 days. Flip the entire layer so the bottom (which is damp from ground contact) comes to the top.
3. In humid climates, ted more frequently. In arid climates with strong sun, less tedding is needed.

The goal is uniform drying. Clumps of wet grass trapped under dry grass will create mold pockets that can ruin an entire stack.

Step 3: Rowing Up

After 1-2 days of tedding (when the hay feels dry and crackly on top but may still be slightly damp inside the stems), rake the hay into loose windrows — long, narrow rows about 2-3 feet wide and 1-2 feet tall.

Windrows allow air circulation through the hay while protecting the inside from dew. If rain threatens before hay is fully dry, tighter windrows shed water better than spread hay.

Step 4: Testing for Dryness

This is the most critical judgment call. Hay stored too wet will mold and can spontaneously combust (internal microbial heating in a hay stack can reach ignition temperature). Hay dried too long loses leaves — the most nutritious part — which shatter and blow away.

The Twist Test:

1. Grab a handful of hay and twist it tightly into a rope.
2. If moisture squeezes out — too wet. Continue drying.
3. If the stems bend without breaking and the twist holds together — close, but not ready. Give it a few more hours.
4. If stems snap crisply and the twist springs apart — ready to store.

Target moisture content: 15-18% for loose hay storage, 12-15% if stacking tightly.

The Thumbnail Test: Press your thumbnail into a stem. If it dents but doesn’t crush through — good. If it crushes easily with moisture — too wet.

Step 5: Collection and Transport

Once dry, gather hay quickly. Every hour in the field after drying risks dew rewetting (in early morning or evening) or leaf shatter from over-drying.

• By hand: Use pitchforks to load hay onto a cart, wagon, or sled. Pack loosely during transport — tight packing before the hay has fully cured can trap residual moisture.
• Hay cocks: If you cannot transport immediately, pile hay into small conical mounds called hay cocks (about 5-6 feet tall, 4-5 feet diameter). Shape them to shed rain. These can stand in the field for several days if necessary.

Step 6: Storage

Building a Haystack:

A well-built haystack can store hay outdoors for months with minimal spoilage.

1. Choose a raised, well-drained site. Never stack hay in a low spot where water collects.
2. Build a base of poles, brush, or stones to keep the bottom layer off the ground. Ground contact means moisture wicking and rot.
3. Stack in layers, keeping the center slightly higher than the edges. Each layer should slope outward so rain runs off.
4. Build upward with a slight inward taper, then finish with a peaked top (like a thatched roof). The steeper the peak, the better rain sheds.
5. Cap with a waterproof layer — thatch, woven grass mats, old tarps, or even a thick layer of low-quality grass that acts as a sacrificial rain barrier.

Under-roof storage is always superior. A simple pole barn with a thatched or metal roof, open sides for air circulation, and a raised floor is the ideal hay storage structure. Even a crude lean-to roof over a stack dramatically reduces spoilage.

Spontaneous Combustion

Hay stored above 20% moisture can heat internally to the point of ignition. If you notice a haystack steaming, producing a sweet caramel smell, or feeling hot when you push a rod into its center, disassemble it immediately and spread the hay to cool and dry. This is a genuine fire risk — entire barns have been lost this way.

Calculating Your Hay Needs

Animal	Daily Hay Consumption	150-Day Winter Supply
Mature cow	25-30 lbs	2.0-2.25 tons
Horse	20-25 lbs	1.5-1.9 tons
Goat	4-5 lbs	300-375 lbs
Sheep	4-5 lbs	300-375 lbs
Dairy cow (milking)	30-40 lbs + grain	2.25-3.0 tons

Yield estimates: A productive grass pasture can yield 1-3 tons of hay per acre per cut. Plan for the low end to build in a safety margin. Always store 20-30% more hay than your calculation suggests — winters can run long, and hay quality varies.

Alternatives to Hay

If you cannot make enough hay, these supplemental feeds can fill the gap:

• Crop residues — corn stalks, bean vines, grain straw (low nutrition; use as filler, not sole feed)
• Root crops — turnips, mangels, beets stored in root cellars; high moisture, good energy
• Browse — cut and dried leafy branches (willow, poplar, elm); traditional in Scandinavia
• Silage — fermented green grass stored in airtight conditions; higher nutrition than hay but requires sealed storage (pit, barrel, or wrapped stack)
• Stockpiled pasture — leave one paddock unharvested in fall; graze it standing through early winter before it degrades

Key Takeaways

• Cut at late vegetative to early bloom stage for maximum nutrition per ton of hay
• You need 3-5 consecutive dry days — never cut without confidence in the weather
• Ted frequently, turn often — uniform drying prevents mold pockets
• The twist test is your moisture meter — stems should snap crisply before storage
• Elevate stored hay off the ground and cap stacks against rain; under-roof storage is always best
• Plan for 20-30% more than calculated need — this margin prevents starvation in long winters
• Spontaneous combustion is real — never store hay above 20% moisture in a confined space