Doing it different
The value in our process. How we provide the highest quality possible.
Since 1990 we at Forestell Hay Farms have been striving to constantly increase the quality of our hay, and how we get it from the field to your farm.
In the summer of 2007 we switched to a large square baler. This has been our 4th change of harvesting & handling equipment in our ongoing effort to provide the highest quality and increased quantity possible.
Hay from field to trailer.
The perfect bale. Maintaining integrity, and compromising nothing.
We start harvesting our hay when the timothy is just in head. We cut our hay with a Hesston disc windrower equipped with 2 sets of conditioning rolls instead of 1 as are in traditional pull type disc bines.
This machine, purchased new in 2009 allows the hay to dry much quicker, usually cutting drying time by at least 24 hrs. The morning of the day following cutting, the hay is tedded out to further reduce drying time, and also make moisture levels more uniform.
Later that day the hay is raked and baled into large square bales. The bales are transported to our barns the same day to avoid bleaching and chance of rain damage.
When an order needs to be filled, the large bales are fed into our Steffen Systems hay press. The large bales are cut, weighed, and retied into small square bales. The bales are CUT, not re-baled so that the integrity of the hay is not compromised and no leaf loss occurs. We are able to adjust the small bale weight from 50 lbs. to 70 lbs. maximizing your freight dollars. The small bales are fed onto an accumulation table where they are mechanically picked up & stacked into 53 ft van trailers, 18 bales at a time.
