Hay Day

Can you see how this loader pivots in the center?

Those bales are at least 6 feet around!

We have been waiting for fresh hay for the animals for a long time. One of our neighbors brings us 7 big round bales of hay every year and uses a big loader to place the bales in the winter pasture. Then the sheep and llamas eat off of the big bales all winter. By springtime, there is still some hay left, which they eat over the summer as roughage. This year there was a lot of hay left in the spring, because the hay came late last year. It was also more stems than leaves, so the animals ate it, but without enthusiasm – kind of like the food in your kitchen that you eat only when all the good stuff is gone. So this year, we wanted some better hay for the big round bales. We also got some “treat hay” in small square bales that we give to the animals in hay feeders in the barn. The treat hay is stored inside and has a higher protein content due to extra alfalfa.

So we called our neighbor early, like in early September, and asked for him to bring the big round bales of hay over any time. He said no problem, but that he was busy with the harvest. This was trouble. We had hoped he would not have started the harvest yet. He harvests soybeans first, then corn - which is a non-stop job until it is done. Once the crop is ready to harvest you have to go to it, especially with soybeans, which were ready early this year due to a warm summer. So I said, “No problem, we still have some hay from last year, just try to bring it up before the snow hits.” Those really were famous last words. Our need for hay must have fallen to the back burner, because the hay did not arrive all through September and October. In mid-November I called again and he still had corn to harvest. I gave him a qualified “no problem” again. Then we fell off each others’ radar. There was Thanksgiving and then the Farm Stay.

After the Farm Stay finished, I called him again and now it was not “no problem.” Instead it was a problem because the animals had basically finished off the round bales from last year and we were feeding large quantities of the expensive treat hay to keep the animals fed. He said that he could be up there the next day. I went out and spent a couple hours plowing a path down to the winter pasture and then pushing snow around inside the pasture for him to have a place to put the bales. Then on the 22^nd they came up with a massive loader and two wagons full of big bales. Yippee! This was a bigger loader than I have ever seen them bring. They must have brought it because of the snow. The loader is so big that it is designed to pivot in the middle, to make it around tight corners. Quite cool. Despite begin so big, or maybe because it was so big, the first thing they did was get stuck in the winter pasture. Underneath the snow, the ground is not really that frozen. As the machine rocked back and forth, it looked like an angry elephant stuck in the mud. They dug deep ruts, but eventually the loader was free. After that, they were wary of going too far into the pasture, so they did not get stuck again. Now the animals have plenty of hay – probably enough to last until the snow flies next year.

Lessons learned: 1. Farmers can get very, very busy during harvest time. 2. The best time to buy hay is in mid-summer when they are making the hay and can bring it straight from the fields. 3. If you really need something, ask for it directly without hedging and people will usually come through for you.