When we got this place, half of our 22 acres was a dedicated hayfield. However, getting a 10-acre hayfield actually hayed was a problem for us. No one wants to bring their equipment to your place for such a small field until after they’re done with the big fields…so your hay gets put up late. Or you do find someone and their equipment sucks and breaks down. Or the person won’t listen when you explain how you need the hay cut so it’s lower sugar for the insulin resistant horse. Or you finally get all of those pieces in place and you can’t muster up a hay crew so you’re out there until dark bucking bales yourself and thinking, “I’m too old for this sh&^!”
And so on.
And buying our own equipment didn’t make sense because we can’t count on Bob being home when it’s time to make hay, since it is so weather dependent and his job is so demanding.
That meant every year we’d have the “do we or don’t we” hay discussion (and sometimes argument).
But then I read “Dirt to Soil” by Gabe Brown and we decided no more hayfield. That field sucks. It is dirt, not soil. It has been neglected for as long as our falling down farmhouse. Once we recognized we could do something about it, we changed course.
It’s no longer a hayfield. Instead, we will slowly grow our cow herd (which has been the plan all along) and turn our 10 acres over to rotational grazing. That way they can mow and poop and pee, which all helps to build soil, and we will buy a seed drill and plant beneficial plants in the fall that will help build soil…and make for healthier forage for our cows.
Right now with only the three girls, it’s waaaaaay more grass than they can eat before it gets too mature and stemmy. So we will be mowing too. Plus we are doing this with a single strand of hot wire to keep them on a smaller area. (Thank goodness they are good cows!)
But eventually we will have some permanent fencing in that field and a solid plan for moving the cows through. Eventually we will have good setup for winter so we can have more cows (and not have a flooded cow barn). Eventually we will plant trees and shrubs along fence lines for more carbon farming and for wildlife habitat and native insects and birds.
And eventually we will have 10 acres of soil that’s full of earthworms and carbon…and life.
For now, though, those cows are obviously hard at work with their important job. So let’s leave them be.
