Making Hay in Kashmir's Short Dry Window

Hay is sunlight stored for winter, and the difference between good hay and bad hay is almost all in the three days after cutting. In the valley the window is short — late September and October, before the rains and the cold — so it pays to do it deliberately.

Cut at the right stage

Grass and fodder should be cut when it is leafy and just beginning to flower. Wait until it is tall and seeded and you have straw with a little green, not hay. Cut in the morning after the dew has lifted, on a day with two or three clear days forecast behind it.

Dry fast, handle gently

• Spread the cut fodder thinly the same day; a thick swath rots underneath while the top dries.
• Turn it once a day, early, when it is still slightly damp so the leaves do not shatter. Leaves are where the protein is; stalks are filler.
• It is ready when a twisted handful does not release moisture and the stalks snap rather than bend — usually 2-3 days of good sun.
• Caught by rain? Turn it as soon as the surface dries. Rained-on hay loses quality but is still usable if it is dried fully before stacking.

Stack and store

Hay stacked damp heats, moulds and in bad cases catches fire. Stack only fully dry hay, loosely, under a roof or a good cover with air around the base. Push a hand into the stack a week later: warm means too damp, and it must be opened and dried again.

How to judge it

Good hay is green inside the bale, leafy, soft and smells sweet. Brown, dusty, stemmy hay is bedding that an animal will pick at. The green colour is a direct sign of the vitamin A that winter straw lacks, which is why well-made hay carries animals through February better than any straw.

Hay plus a measured feed

Even the best hay cannot carry a milking cow alone. Hay gives the fibre and some protein; the energy and minerals for milk come from a compound feed matched to her yield. A cow on good hay plus GOKA Star at her calculated quantity holds her milk through winter; a cow on the same hay plus a handful of bran does not.