High-productivity hay and forage equipment

For most South African farmers, hay-making may not necessarily be crucial to their businesses. However, it still contributes to the revenue stream through direct sales or as a feed cost for a livestock unit. Stehan Cloete discusses ways to ensure quality feed and low production costs.

- Stehan Cloete

The erratic weather patterns of the past few seasons have made it difficult to plan hay-cutting days in some areas.

Losses in feed quality due to rain on curing hay can be substantial. A study conducted by the Agricultural Research Service in Kentucky in the US showed the extent of losses caused by rain on a lucerne crop (see table).

The effect of rain will obviously not be the same for all crops, but this study puts things into perspective. Dry field-cured lucerne resulted in 6,7% less milk production than in the case of standing hay. Rain-damaged field-cured lucerne doubled this loss, resulting in 13,6% less milk production.

PROPERLY EQUIPPED

Determining your hay and forage equipment requirements starts with the number of hectares that need to be cut within the available window. This will act as a guide to improving your equipment in order to eliminate the losses described above.

Start by determining your minimum harvesting window in your haymaking season and record it every season.

For example, to determine the size of mower required, add up the number of hours you have available in your minimum window for cutting hay.

Now bring in the hectares and assume a few operational parameters to determine the ideal working width. For example: