Weighing up to 4,000 pounds each, hay rolls are used for feeding livestock by farmers who typically manage very large operations.
Although often overlooked, it was only about 60 years ago that the predecessors of today’s farmers would have had to harvest this hay using small tractors with 20 or less horsepower. Considered miraculous for the time, these modest tractors could neatly package small bales of hay in a fashion that eliminated much of the back-breaking effort previously required when it had to be done by hand. The tied bales would then be dropped on the ground, whereby a team of workers with horses and large wagons would use sharp metal hooks to grab the bales and throw them on to the flatbeds. To complete the task, another team of men working on the wagons themselves would arrange the bales for transport to the barns.
Looking back on this most remarkable time, it would have required many hours and enormous effort by numerous farmhands to harvest an acre of hay. Presently, it can be done effortlessly by a single person in a matter seconds.
Standing like prehistoric monuments, thousands of hay rolls populate the Nebraska and Kansas farmlands at this time of the year. Stretching on for miles, these hay rolls bear witness to the toil and perseverance of the farmers who worked this land in decades gone by.
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