A chance of rain in the forecast doesn’t necessarily stop John Russell from cutting hay. Taking a chance and cutting hay when it’s ready is the only way to end up with high-quality hay, he says. “If I let the hay get too mature, I have 0% chance of making quality hay.”

At times, rain does damage a field of cut hay, but the risk is necessary, he says. “Sometimes you make big mistakes, but often times you win big.”

That willingness to take calculated risks has helped Russell (shown above on right with son-in-law Stuart Foos) build his family hay and straw business, J.D. Russell Hay and Straw, based near Pemberville, Ohio. Russell and his wife, Denise, began making hay in the early 1980s when the businessman he was working for at the time needed some hay made for the cattle on his hobby farm. Gradually, the couple expanded their hay and straw business, and by 1992 were able to devote themselves to the farm full time. The couple’s seven children, all raised on the farm, helped with the business, too.

Today, Russell and Foos run the farm with the part-time help of their wives and other family members. Most years, they bale about 100,000 small square bales of hay and 80,000 to 100,000 bales of straw, which is sold primarily as feed and bedding for horses. Recently, Russell was recognized for his contributions to the hay industry with the National Hay Association’s 2018 Haymaker Award.

Tech innovations
Over the years, the adoption of new technology and specialized equipment has helped the Russell family improve production efficiency, as well as the quality and consistency of its hay and straw. For hay, the production cycle starts when preparing a piece of ground for hay production. Family members are currently farming 500 acres of hay on owned and rented ground in Wood County, Ohio, which was once part of the Great Black Swamp. When Russell and Foos take on a field for hay production, they upgrade the drainage, replacing old clay tile with plastic subsurface drainage lines spaced 33 feet apart. They also spend considerable time on maintenance and repair of drainage ditches. Some fields need land leveling before seeding hay as well.

After several years in hay production, fields are rotated to grain crops before a new hay stand is established, but grain production is not a priority on the farm, Foos says. “Everything around here revolves around hay.”

Their farm’s flat terrain and good drainage help him and Russell make consistent hay. On rolling ground with drainage problems, alfalfa will drown out in low spots, causing the hay composition to vary across a field of mixed hay, says Russell. They grow a mixture of orchard grass and alfalfa and they choose later-maturing orchardgrass varieties, so maturities match up as closely as possible with the alfalfa. Generally, Russell and Foos harvest four cuttings a year.

To cut hay, they use self-propelled haybines equipped with autosteer, which makes it possible for less experienced operators to help with hay mowing, explains Russell. The haybines are also equipped with aftermarket conditioner rolls that crimp the forage to speed up drying.

Instead of using rotary tedders that flip and scatter the hay, Russell uses custom-built tedders that lift and fluff it. Rotary tedders are “protein blasters,” he says, because they knock off so many leaves. He got the idea for his tedders from the fluffer-type tedders used by some Amish farmers. Earlier in his haymaking career, he adapted a fluffer tedder that was designed to be pulled by horses for use with a tractor. But, when he wanted to upgrade to larger machines that could be operated at higher speeds, he could not find them commercially available, so he had them built.

The haybines and tedders leave gaps between the windrows, so that the ground can dry out along with the hay. Later, when the hay is raked, it is rolled onto that dry ground, so the hay picks up less moisture from the ground, Russell explains.

Russell and Foos use heavy-duty commercial balers they have adapted with bale scales. One of Russell’s sons is an electrical engineer, and he designed the scales that weigh each bale just before it drops off the chute. The baler operator can monitor weights from the tractor cab and adjust tension on the baler on the go as needed to maintain consistent bale weights. “One thing customers are looking for is consistent weight,” Russell points out.

Bales are collected from fields with customized stacker wagons. They’re stored inside the same day they’re baled to preserve quality. The hay storage barns have asphalt floors rather than concrete to minimize condensation caused by cold floor temperatures. Russell and Foos also keep barn doors shut to protect hay from the bleaching caused by sunlight.

In addition to hay, Russell and Foos bale wheat straw from other area farms. They prefer wheat that has been combined with a stripper header because it leaves longer pieces of straw that make high-quality bales that hold together well.

Efficient shipping
Most of the hay and straw Russell and Foos produce is used for horses — primarily racehorses. It is shipped all along the East Coast and as far south as Florida. Usually, the hay and straw are sold by the ton, so making denser bales makes it possible to get more tons in a load, reducing the freight cost per ton. Bales that don’t meet quality standards for horses are sold locally to cattle producers. “You can’t put much freight on lower-quality hay,” Foos explains.

Since so much of their hay and straw is shipped out on semitrailers, Russell and Foos have developed a quick loading system using a telehandler to pick up and move a tier of 21 bales at a time. One person can load a semitrailer within 45 minutes, explains Foos. The farm also has a truck scale, so semis can be loaded to maximum legal load limits for efficient shipping.

The horse market prefers small square bales, and it also demands quality and consistency. However, Russell points out, the qualities preferred by the horse industry are not the same as the qualities other livestock owners look for. For instance, dairy and beef producers prioritize the feed value of hay and absorbency of straw, while the horse industry tends to prioritize aesthetics.

For straw, customers in the horse industry prefer a bright white color. If straw is rained on a time or two before it’s baled, it tends to be more absorbent, but it loses that clean color. Color is also important for hay, says Russell. Their customers in the horse industry want to see an attractive green color before they even consider other quality factors, such as protein and texture. To succeed in that niche market, it’s important to produce what customers want, not what you think they should have, he stresses. “If I go to McDonald’s, they give me what I want, not what they think I should have.”

Keck writes from Raymond, Ohio.