What is hay made of? As an animal owner, you may have a basic idea of hay’s composition. But have you ever wondered what makes it so delicious and nutritious to your animal? This article will explore the hay’s composition and the process of how it gets from the factories to your farm.

WHAT IS HAY?

Hay is a mixture of grasses that have been cut and dried for their usage as animal feed. The most common grasses used for making hay are ryegrass, timothy-grass, Bermuda grass, and other locally grown grasses.

But other than grasses, legumes such as clover and alfalfa are also included in it. It may also contain some forbs, i.e., herbaceous plants that are not grass. Forbs selection is tricky as some of them could very well be poisonous, so they are mostly avoided.

HOW ARE HAY BALES MADE?

The industrial revolution mechanized everything, including its predecessor, agriculture. So, instead of discussing the old ways of making it, this article is a guide to understand the fully automated method of making hay.

It consists of the following steps.

PLANTATION AND CUTTING

The first step is to plant and harvest these materials. Once the planted grasses reach a certain growth level, they are chop down.

The ideal time to cut hay is when the leaves are fully developed. Observing the development of seeds and flower buds allows farmers to guess leaves’ maturity. As the flowers are about to bloom, it is a hint that leaves have reached their full potential.

Why is cutting such a time-sensitive process? Well, that is because the seeds and leaves determine the quality and nutritional value of it. If the grasses are cut too early, the yield per acre will reduce. Delay the cutting, and hay it be drier and lower in nutrition.

DRYING

In the next step, the chopped-down hay is left on the field to dry out. Farmers may also use a tedder for this process. It spreads the hay, which increases the surface area and consequently speeds up the drying process.

Drying is the critical part of the entire process. Because wet hay has a risk of rotting and developing molds that may produce toxins harmful to the animal.

The moisture content of freshly cut hay ranges between 70% to 90%which is ideal for the growth of molds.The drying aims to reduce this moisture down to about 12% to 20%

WINDROWING

In this step, an agricultural rake is used to arrange the dried hay into rows. The primary purpose behind windrowing is to preparing hay to be picked up by a baler or a loading truck.

Other advantages of windrowing include:

• Protection of hay from the bleaching effect of the sun.
• At night-time, it minimizes exposure to the morning dew.
• It helps to evenly dry the hay by fluffing it up and turning it over.

BAILING

Hay, at this stage, is dried enough to get picked up a hay bailer. It compresses the dried, raked it into bundles or bales. These bales are held together by twines or wires. Some are even wrapped in plastic to minimize moisture exposure.The goal of bailing is to ease the handling, transportation, and storage of it

Commonly, there are two options when it comes to bailing. They come in different sizes of two shapes: square and cylindrical. Each of which has its own benefits, which is discussed in the next section.

STORAGE

We are almost at the end of the journey. Now, it is time to store them. Bail are loaded into a wagon and taken to a storage facility.There are two main challenges in storing them: handling and weather.

Hay badly suffers from weather conditions such as scorching sun, rain, morning dew, etc. So, they are commonly stored in barns or other buildings with a roof to ensure long-term protection from weather’s adverse effects.

As mentioned earlier, the leafy content determines good quality hay. So, improper handling of it may result in loss of leaves. And that reduces it’s nutritional value.

If it is to be stored outside, then round bales are preferred. In fact, in the united states, round bales are the most common way to store hay. Because of their tight binding and water-shedding shape, they collect little water overtime and that reduces the risk of spoilage.

TAKE AWAY

At this point, I hope you have a good understanding of how is it made. By now, you are also probably aware of the delicate and timely nature of the whole process. From cutting to bailing and storage, every step needs to get done in a specific time frame to prevent spoilage and minimize losses.

Here at Zeta Traders, we are fully aware of the challenges and risks involved in hay production. We make sure that you get the best quality hay by taking the following steps:

• From our fields and storage area, we ensure that the hay is kept dry all the way to your barns. So, you no longer need to worry about molds and toxins that may harm the animal.
• To satisfy your animals’ hunger, we handle the hay with great care to prevent the loss of foliage or leaves.
• We filter the non-digestible or difficult-to-digest parts of the plants. Instead, the leaves and other soft easy-to-digest parts make the bulk of our hay.

So, if you found this guide helpful, feel free to share it with your concerned family and friends. And if you are looking to place your first order here, you can contact us.