Cow Hay Horse Hay It's All Hay Right?

 

Hay production is part art and part science. The average hay farmer faces many challenges in regard to the hay production process and not every field of grass or legume is worthy of being baled as horse hay. And why is good horse hay so expensive?

What's the difference between cow hay or general hay and horse hay products anyway? A lot!

From how the field is seeded to how it is cut to how it is tedded and raked to how it is baled, to how it is stored, - everything matters.

For example, most hay products available for purchase at feed stores and agricultural outlets like Tractor Supply Company, come with Round Up type chemicals included in the bag or bale for free. Their suppliers openly post that they use chemicals to cure their hay and to up their hay yields and decrease the time needed on the fields to produce it. Alfalfa seeds come as Round Up Ready seedlings - and regardless of how the pharma industry has changed the name from the well known carcinogen brand name to others, the use of weed killers, dry down agents and preservatives continues to become a larger and larger percentage of the content that is ingested by our horses from the forage food chain.

As most horse owners know, cow hay is often not suitable for ingestion by horses. This is not just because certain chemicals used can cause ill effects such as respiratory inflammation, hives, ulcers and the like, it is also because the cow hay may can contain weeds, plants or herbs that are toxic to horses or can simply be cured with too high a moisture content that results in it being dusty and moldy.

In an effort to produce more bang for the buck, farmers, even small producers will go to great lengths to increase yield and to cut down on the required time to cure hay to a proper moisture content that is suitable for ingestion by horses and safe enough for storage without the risk of fire.

Note the spray addition to this baler by a Catskill region farmer.

 

When hay is cut the machines used to complete the knockdown task are an important part of the equation. Haybines or discbines versus simple sickly cut mowers improve the hay by conditioning it before it hits the ground. The discbine for example, takes a small degree of stalk off the grass as it hits the metal guides before it exits to the ground. This reduces drying time needed for the hay and improves curing.

 

The hay is then spread out by a tedder or rake to allow it to dry and then it is put into windrows in readiness for baling. The windrow also gets much of the hay off the ground and allows air to pass through the lines to help dry the crop further.

Here's is some of our second cut hay at Willowview Hill Farm, Stamford, NY, this year - awaiting windrows. Looks yummy doesn't it.

2nd Cut hay 2022 at Willowview Hill Farm

 Here is hay all ready to bale in windrows -

1st Cut horse hay at Willowview Hill Farm

The baling process is the next step and bales that come through the machine are tested for moisture. 

Hay baling at Willowview Hill Farm

 

Of course once the properly cured hay is in the wagons the next step is to stack it correctly. The hay in the wagons should be protected from dew and rain, and so wagons should not be left outside once full of hay. Even covering with a tarpaulin won't protect the hay from driving rain and the moisture that is in the air during rainfall. Here's some important info on that! 

 

Hay in the wagons at Willowview Hill Farm - hay is usually discounted in price if sold out of the wagons as labor costs are saved.

 

If you don't store hay correctly, no matter how good it was when produced, it will become problematic in regard to staying clean and green.

Note the hay stack behind Paul's Lusitano Extravaganza WVH, - a nice dry airy space with the hay correctly stacked is a safety concern as well as important for quality control of the product.

 

Once the hay leaves the farm there are more issues that can compromise the quality of the hay product. For example, a dealer picks up a load of hay and stores it for a few days or even weeks in his trailer. The metal container is the perfect environment for condensation to form and the hay will suffer the effects of additional unwanted moisture. Hay need a free flow of air to stay dry, and leaving doors open on one end of a container is not a sufficient means to protect the quality of hay stored within its confines.

So why is horse hay so expensive? 

It's because of all the extra care that has to be taken along the way to produce it with the right initial seeding and fertilizing (we farm organically so fertilizers are only organic including lime), production techniques and storage.

Think about even one factor - the storage facility. How much does that cost? How much does the labor cost to stack all that hay and then to load it out again when sold? Insurance, fuel costs, tractor parts and equipment (a recent radiator repair on our New Holland cost $5000 and there were only 2 radiators even available in the country and we bought one of them), fertilizers, property taxes etc. and the list goes on.

And to top that all off, sometimes this happens. The weather forecasts, no matter how many you check before embarking on knocking down a hay crop, get it wrong.

When the weather forecasts are wrong..hay goes to waste but the machine time, fuel, wear and tear on equipment (and operator!)and labor costs still spent.

 

Hay that is produced organically is more expensive than regular hay due to the lesser yield that is generally produced and the extra machine time that is needed to properly cure the hay without the use of chemicals and preservatives. Organic fertilizer is also more expensive than chemical varieties used in the industry.

Here's a note from Paul Alvin-Smith - successful organic hay farmer and international level Grand Prix dressage competitor/coach/clinician at Willowview Hill  Farm.

Paul Alvin-Smith

" Like horse training and breeding, hay farming is a labor of love. Heavy on the labor. For us it is about quality over quantity when it comes to both. When we began horse breeding with Hanoverian horses and Iberian horses over 20 years ago, we knew that our youngstock was being subjected to unnecessary chemicals in their diets by local hay production practices. Even a minor upper respiratory inflammatory response to poor hay can damage a young horse's performance potential for life. It is one of the reasons we moved from our small farm in the Hudson Valley to the Catskill Mountains, where we could farm our own hay our way for our own needs and sell the overage.

The hay we sell is the same hay we feed our own horses. If hay does not measure up, for example an odd bale or two can come in too high in moisture or the bottom of the stack after a year sitting is not suitable for horse forage, then we sell it off to a local pig farmer for pennies on the dollar. This is a win win arrangement for both sides. You can't be in the horse business as a professional for decades without having lost a horse to colic or at a minimum experiencing the scare of a colicky horse. Nobody wants to put hay out there as horse hay that they know offers a risk of a health issue to the horse, or human for that matter. Mold and dust is bad for all of us.

We farm the old fashioned way - using Mother Nature to grow, cure and only organic matter to fertilize. Our hayfields are professionally seeded with high quality timothy hay and mixed grasses, mainly orchard. It's better to start with the best possible hay product you can than try and fix it later. Even hay steamers can't take the chemicals out of the horse hay if its been produced with them in it."

 

Paul riding his Tiberio Lafite WVH, who he made from start to finish to Grand Prix level. Lafite aka Tigger, recently died at age 27.