Pictured
above
is
haymaking
European
style,
depending
on
large
parcels
of
land,
little
manpower
&
which
is
fully
mechanized.
The
grassland,
natural
pasture
or
established
fodder
grass
is
mown,
after
which
the
cut
grass
is
turned
several
times
and
finally,
overnight
or
when
totally
dry,
collected
in
windrows.
A
big
round-baler
will
compact
and
tightly
pack
the
ready
hay,
which
makes
storage
that
much
easier.
If
not
totally
dry
(mainly
due
to
poor
weather
conditions
during
the
haymaking
process),
the
hay
can
also
be
collected
loose
&
stored
in
big
barns.
Fire
hazard,
often
caused
by
self-combustion
due
to
overheating
in
wet
hay,
must
always
be
kept
in
mind.
Grassland
should
be
cut
at
the
optimum
growth
stage,
early
flowering,
to ensure optimum digestibility and protein contend, but this is often made impossible by rainy weather conditions.
For
several
years
we
have
tried
to
make
hay
during
the
active
growing
phase
of
the
grass,
which
is
in
and
shortly
after
the
rainy
season
in
the
tropics.
Very
high
humidity
in
the
air,
recurring
showers
and
the
lengthily
process
of
making
hay
manually
make
it
close
to
impossible
to
dry
the
grass
to
the
stage
when
it
can
be
safely
stored.
This
causes
moulding
and
extreme
fire
hazard.
We
have
therefore
turned
to
making
silage
during
the
wetter
times
of
the
year,
and
hay
is
only
made
out
of
almost
dry
grass,
or
“standing
hay”,
during
the
dry
season.
This
hay
more
resembles
straw
in
respect
of
quality
&
digestibility
but
will
still
fill
a
hungry
cow´s
stomach
and
this
certainly
is
our
main
concern
in
this
drought
ridden
continent.
For
full
instructions
for
building
a
hay-box,
which
greatly
helps
storing
manually
made
hay,
please
click
on
the
sketch.
This
hay-box is one of our earliest and most widely adopted inventions, now featuring on most Agricultural Shows all over Kenya.
For
years
we
have
not
made
hay
any
more.
Quality
was
simply
too
poor.
In
its
active
growth
stage
dry
matter
content
of
natural
pasture
grass
here
is
from
7%
to
10%.
Air
Humidity
at
that
time
is
between
80%
and
99%.
One
day
drying
increases
dry
matter
to
only
10%
to
14%.
Making
hay
is
impossible
under
such
conditions.
But
even
silage
making
with
this
little
dry
matter content is truly challenging, even after trying to wilt the grass.
Therefore
a
new
idea
was
born:
Rather
than
to
wait
for
all
the
pasture-land
to
mature
to
a
workable
dry
matter
content
(meaning
it
has
deteriorated
to
extremely
poor
digestibility
levels),
we
will
attempt
this
new
system
this
year:
We
have
made
plenty
of
hay
in
the
middle
of
the
dry
season,
which
is
really
easy
to
make
as
you
only
have
to
cut
down
and
bale
the
standing
hay,
no
additional
drying
needed
at
all!
Then,
once
the
rain
season
has
started
we
will
begin
harvesting
grass
at
only
10%
dry
matter
content,
when
it’s
digestibility
is
at
it’s
best
and
wilt
it
for
a
little
over
one
day
to
reach
at
least
15%
DM
or
better
still
20%
DM.
Then
we
will
mix
this
in
certain
proportions
with
the
hay
and
chop
all
of
it
with
our
faithful
chaff
cutter.
We
will
possibly
add
some
Maize
Germ
Meal
/
Wheat
Pollard
for
further
increasing
of
dry
matter
content.
Through
this method at least 50% of the total silage mass should have good digestibility and therefore feed value levels.