WHILE THE SUN SHINES ...

Today has been just perfect for producing good quality hay. Clear blue skies, hot sun and best of all a light breeze. On July 3rd in "Drizmal" I showed a photo of a small hay field ...

<<< the overnight wind had caused havoc in the ripening long  grasses, it recovered and then the same happened again some days later. At the time, it seemed that this years hay might never get the chance to be mown and baled. We had already had three months of the year registering the heaviest rainfall since records began.
Luckily in just the last few days, things have changed.

This was the same field today >>>
The grass had recovered and was upright enough for the hay to be mown, turned and baled and I took this photo as the huge cylindrical bales were being stored in the farm yard over the road. The air at the moment is filled with that lovely scent of hay harvesting.

It starts with the first cut, when one can see the lines of where the tractor and mower have been, and that smell of freshly cut grass with all it's flowers like clovers and hawksbit beginning to dry in the sun as the moisture in the plants begins to evaporate. Then the following day, the farmer goes in with the hay bob and turns it over. That's when the distinct lines disappear.

The grass is shaken up further to allow the air to dry it better  and already within just 24 hours, the colour has changed quite dramatically. It should feel dry to the touch and sweet scented. With a breeze like today's it dries quickly.

The clear blue skies with a slight breeze today were perfect and as local farmers everywhere were making the most of this window of ideal weather, the air reverberated with the sound of tractors busy in the fields. Some, like this scene from a peek over an old stone wall, were just starting the first cut of another area ripe for cropping ...

Most of the farmers around here go for the big round bales, which raised a question in my mind ... "How many round bales per acre?" So I googled it and got very conflicting answers, one of the best I found (but least informative) was "How long is a piece of string." Not very helpful! Apparently it depends on the size of the baler, the length of the grass and so on. So I will have to wait until I can ask one of our local farmers, when they stop still long enough, and I will update you with the answers I get at some later stage.
Meanwhile I will leave you with this as a comparison between still growing and fresh cut.