Here are some interesting facts about hay bales.
* The average hay bale weighs 1,500 pounds.
* An average cow eats about 15 pounds of hay per day.
* Ranchers need to provide hay for their cattle about 6 months out of the year (we figure).
* The average rancher in Eastern Montana has 300 head of cattle.
* Hay is harvested on a rancher's own land, from grass and other plants growing on the fields.
* Ranchers can purchase hay bales, but the shipping costs are considerable.
* You cannot ship a hay bale using FedEx.
Because of the very wet spring we had, ranchers are already baling hay! This may mean that they will be able to harvest hay twice this summer, which is a very good thing, since they will need, on average, 600 bales of hay to feed their cattle during the winter.
It kinda looks like this: big huge lawn-mowers cut down the tall fields of grass. We can mainly see that the shoulders of the road are used for this purpose. The grass was about 3'-4' tall. The mowers (or whatever they're called) put the grass on the ground in a very long row, with everything pretty much laying the same direction. I haven't seen it, but I'm assuming that a hay-baler comes along and makes a big roll out of this row, and then there's something that puts really strong plastic straps around the whole mess to keep it together. The finished product looks about 6' in diameter, and about 6' wide.
If I find out more I'll let you know.
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