The laborious joy of making slow hay

Our growers Kathy Bethmann and Christopher Brock tell how hay is made at the Burghof Damm:

Haymaking starts in the last days of may or early in June at Burghof Damm on a meadow with restricted utilization for the protection of the Dusky Large Blue, a butterfly living on Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). The meadow is our favourite location for haymaking – it is flat, has a comfortable rectangular shape, there are no obstacles and it is very close to the farm.

As the meadow lies in the floodplain of a small river, the soil may still be slightly moist in May. Before we took over the meadow, the tractor that was used to cut the grass therefore often made some damage, but we use a walking tractor with a sickle bar that weights almost nothing. Mowing with this machine takes quite long, but walking slowly with the mower over the meadow allows You to get into connection in a much deeper sense as you can do on a tractor. You feel the soil under Your feet, You see the grass and the herbs and perceive the differentiated pattern of the vegetation. You see the insects hopping on the standing as well as on the cut grass. It is a somewhat meditative work, even though You of course must be very attentive.

Mowing with the walking tractor sickle bar, however, is also challenging. The form of the machine brings it that cut grasses and herbs do not fall over the bar but usually are turned to one side of the machine, or even may be pushed forward in a pile. The first case (grass moved to one side sward-like) can be difficult if the grass is turned to the side that has not been mown yet, as it affects the cutting in the next turn. A swathboard could help, but we do not have that for the machine until now. Therefore, it may be necessary to move the sward with a hay fork before one mows the next round. The second case (grass pile accumulating) can only be solved by stopping the machine and taking the pile away by hand. In principle, this is a quick solution, but it interrupts the workflow, of course. However, we do not see another solution and therefore try to see it as a rhythmical interruption that just belongs to the activity.

After mowing, we turn the hay with a star wheel rake drawn by our Icelandic horses Nori and Hnokki, two half-brothers out of the same mother, who is also with us (but not working as a draught horse). In order to keep the weight as low as possible, we do not use a forecart. The machine works well on flat ground, but the construction brings it that every bumpiness of the soil will jerk the horses. Further, as the machine does not follow directly behind the horses, but shifted sidewise, it is difficult to steer around trees and in narrow passages, which is very relevant on most of our other hay meadows. At the moment, we are putting in a lot of hand work, turning the hay with hay fork. In the future, we would like to try out other machines, as the classical fork hay tedder.

Fig. 1 a-c Turning the hay with the star wheel rake.

Fig. 2 Our very simple construction to keep the machine as light as possible.

Swarding is also done by Nori and Hnokki with the star wheel rake. While the machine is okay for turning, swards are really perfect and the machine clears the ground thoroughly. Again, the machine does not work well between trees or in narrow passages, which means hand work again.

Bailing is done with our old IHC 320 tractor and a Claas Markant bail press. Effective bailing requires at least three people: one to drive the tractor, one to take the bails out of the way of the tractor in the next round, and one to collect left grass and put it on a sward again. Ah, yes – and one to build swards from open bails, if the machine does not work properly…

Bringing home the hay again is horsework. Until now, we do not have a two horse wagon. Therefore, Nori has to pull the forecart with a light trailer alone. As our farm lies at the bottom of the valley, the waggon is always empty if a meadow lies uphill. Downhill is not a problem, as both the forecart and the trailer have breaks.

Fig. 3 Bailing the horse-made swards.

Fig. 4 Nori ist ready to bring the hay home.

Fig. 5 Bringing the hay home happily.

Working with hands and horses for us is a contemplative and satisfying process. However, there is still much space for improvements. Our greatest challenge is the shortage of time, as we farm besides two regular jobs and the farm is -until now- mainly for self-supply. We are still looking for opportunities to develop the farm in a way that makes it economically viable, which would allow us to spend more time on farming – and with our horses!

Kathy Bethmann & Christopher Brock, Burghof Damm