Wolf and Hay Farmer
(Wolf Howling) What in the world is a hay farmer doing out on his Idaho farm with that going on around him? I was following a story about a possible increase in the number of Idaho acres being planted with hay. Who better to ask than Idaho Hay and Forage Association President Don Hale, who also happens to be a hay farmer. We got to talking and Don said something fascinating to me. “Hay is interesting because it requires you to do a lot of night work. You rake at night, you bail at night. Good hay comes out of a dry climate. The reason we have such good hay is our elevation is one, it’s slow growth and two, we live in the desert. Our hay will dry and the sun cure, but the problem is getting it up with a little bit of dew so that it holds its shape in the bail so that you don’t lose the leaves. As alfalfa dries, the leaves dry first and then if you come in then and try and bail it, you get what they call shatter, which, as the equipment picks it up, all the leaves fall off. Well, that’s where your main food value is, is in the leaves. So we rake either in the evening after the dew’s come on or early mornings, you know.”
