First Time Raking

#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk

This week was filled with learning about the process of cutting grass and baling hay. My host cut the grass in the pastures and I learned how to drive a tractor so I could rake the grass. The rake is used to turn the grass over so it can dry out in the sun. I raked two piles of grass into one big pile reducing the number of piles of grass that would need to be baled into hay. The grass is made into bales of hay using a baler. After the grass was made into bales, then my host used a skid steer to line up the hay bales to then be loaded up. I drove a truck with a flatbed trailer and my host loaded the bales of hay onto the trailer. I then drove the truck and loaded trailer to a stockyard on the property where the hay was unloaded and stacked into piles. This was very educational for me as I had never driven a tractor or raked hay before. I also learned how to use a grease gun to apply lubricant to bearings on a tractor. A grease gun helps to grease machines like tractors so they are able to run and function better.

I would challenge that some of the grass was baled into hay too soon. The grass is supposed to sit in the sun for a couple of days before it is raked and then sit in the sun for more time before it is made into bales of hay. This way the grass dries out and is not still wet when it is made into bales. Grass that is dried longer is preserved better and has a higher nutritional value and dry matter availability. We were trying to get all of the grass cut and baled this week, so we were going fairly quickly with the whole process. I don’t believe that some of the grass dried out long enough in the sun before it was made into bales of hay.

I still have a lot to learn about the process of cutting and baling hay, I do not know much about how to work the equipment and machines. I used a rake and the tractor to rake the grass into piles. However, I have questions about how the grass is cut and how to run the baler and the skid steer. I did not see my host cut the grass because I was working on other projects so I would like to know how that process works. I want to know how the baler is able to turn the piles of grass into hay and how to properly use the baler. I also want to learn how to run a skid steer and use it to carry the hay bales. I was wondering how the bales are supposed to be stacked in a certain way. Learning more about machine maintenance and how to keep all of the equipment running to the best of their abilities is also something I would like to learn more about as I continue my internship.

If I ever decide to have animals or run a ranch of my own someday, it would be very useful to have the knowledge I have been gaining. Knowing how to cut grass and turn it into hay bales is very important so my animals will have food during the winter. I grew up on a ranch in Hawaii where we do not have seasons so we never had to worry about cutting grass in order to provide food in the winter; these experiences this week have been very educational and new to me. If I needed to cut grass and bale hay in the future it would be very beneficial to already have experience running the machines and equipment needed to do that. Learning how to use a grease gun is also helpful for starting me on the road to learning how to properly maintain machines and equipment and to keep them running as well as possible.

Submitted by: Leiana Andrade Stout
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team