Haying our Fields: Why and How?

As we drive around our brave little state, we see field after field all designated for hay to feed our dairy cows all winter long, but what does the process of haying really look like? How does one capture and store hay with the highest nutritional value? How does the process of making hay affect our cheese?

When thinking about when to cut hay, there are few determining factors. The first one is the stage of growth of the grass. For example, with our first cut it is very important that we let the grass grow to its fullest potential. This makes subsequent cuttings grow faster and with better nutrition. The second factor is weather. For ideal drying time you need a 3 day window of no rain (not so easy in Vermont right?!). When you find this magic window, you can go out and mow your hay. Most folks these days use a disc mower that cuts the hay, conditions the grass to help it dry faster, and puts it in rows.

Once the hay is cut, it is left to dry for a day or two. During those days of drying, we “ted” the rows of cut hay. A tedder is a machine that flips the hay upside down and over again to get the grass from the bottom to the top, helping to ensure the driest hay possible. Some folks like to cut hay in the morning and ted in the late afternoon, others prefer to let it dry a whole day before tedding. Raking is the final drying step that takes all the dry hay and rakes is up into wind rows so the hay can get baled. Often times, the first cut will get put into round bales and our second and third cut, that tend to be more tender and more nutritious, get put into smaller square bales.

For making cheese, it is very important that our hay is perfectly dried. If the hay is wet when it is baled, it ferments and our cheeses can suffer in aging from the bacteria that grows in the wet bale (big alpine wheels produce large gas bubbles and split for example). It’s also dangerous for us to store higher moisture bales in our barn because they can mold and cause a barn fire! As we all know, we are what we eat. A cow eating fresh pasture or properly harvested dry hay is healthier and produces the highest quality milk that we can then turn into delicious healthful cheeses!