Ann Larkin Hansen offers expert advice on everything from scythes to disc mowers, and details the pros and cons of using horse power or tractors. You'll learn how to choose the right species for your soil, judge hay quality to buy or sell, and determine how many bales your animals need to stay happy, healthy, and energetic. From cutting, drying, and raking to baling and storing, this Storey BASICS® guide covers all you need to know to successfully make your own hay.
Ann Larkin Hansen is the author of The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, The Organic Farming Manual, The Electric Fencing Handbook, Finding Good Farmland, and Making Hay, coauthor of A Landowner's Guide to Managing Your Woods with consulting forester Dennis Waterman and master logger Mike Severson, and coauthor with her husband, Steve, of Maintaining Small-Farm Equipment. She has been a journalist for more than 30 years, specializing in organic agriculture and sustainable forestry. A homesteader and a small-scale organic farmer, she lives with her family on a farm in northern Wisconsin.
Introduction: Good Hay
Chapter One: Judging
Chapter Two: Cutting
Chapter Three: Drying
Chapter Four: Raking
Chapter Five: Gathering
Chapter Six: Storing
Chapter Seven: Problem Solving and Planning
Appendix
Glossary
Resources
Index
Exactly What You Need to Know
Put your idle fields to work. Organic farmer Ann Larkin Hansen clearly and simply explains the five steps to the age-old art of making hay to feed livestock. This complete guide covers how to suit the hay to your animals and the haying equipment to your farm operation, how to judge the weather and the crop, and precisely how to cut, rake, dry, gather, and store a winter's supply of hay to be fed to your animals or sold for profit.
