Editing Hay (section)

=== Early methods ===
[[file:Breviarium Grimani - Juni detail.jpg|thumb|Haymakers, from the ''[[Grimani Breviary]]'', c. 1510.]]
[[file:Haymaking NLW3364567.jpg|thumb|Haymaking in Wales {{circa|1885}}]]

Columella in his ''De re rustica'' describes the usual haying process of the early Roman Empire.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius | work = Columella, De Re Rustica | edition = Book II |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Columella/de_Re_Rustica/2*.html |access-date=2022-11-14 }}</ref> Much hay was originally cut by [[scythe]] by teams of workers, dried in the field and gathered loose on [[wagon]]s. Later, haying was accomplished with horse-drawn implements such as [[mower]]s.

After hay was cut and dried, it was raked or ''rowed up'' by raking it into a linear heap by hand or with a horse-drawn implement. Turning hay, when needed, originally was done by hand with a fork or rake. Once the dried hay was rowed up, [[pitchfork]]s were used to pile it loose, originally onto a horse-drawn [[cart]] or [[wagon]], later onto a [[truck]] or tractor-drawn trailer, for which a sweep could be used instead of pitch forks.

Loose hay was transported to a designated storage area, typically a slightly elevated location to ensure proper drainage, where it was constructed into a haystack. Building the stack was a skilled task, as it needed to be made waterproof during construction. The haystack would compress under its own weight, allowing the hay to cure through the release of heat generated by the residual moisture and compression forces. The haystack was usually enclosed in a fenced-off area, known as a rick yard, to separate it from the rest of the paddock, and was often thatched or covered with sheets to protect it from moisture. When needed, slices of hay would be cut using a [[hay knife]] and fed to animals each day.

On some farms, the loose hay was stored in a [[hay barrack|barrack]], [[shed]], or [[barn]], normally in such a way that it would compress down and cure. Hay could be stored in a specially designed barn with little internal structure to allow more room for the [[Barn#Uses|hay loft]]. Alternatively, an upper storey of a cow-shed or stable was used, with hatches in the floor to allow hay to be thrown down into hay-racks below.  Depending on the region, the term "hay rick" could refer to the machine for cutting hay, the haystack or the wagon used to collect the hay.

[[file:Hay scow.jpg|thumb|Late 19th-century hay boat with small square bales]]
With the invention of [[agricultural machinery]] such as the [[tractor]] and the [[baler]], most hay production became [[mechanization|mechanized]] by the 1930s. Hay baling began with the invention of the first [[hay press]] in about 1850.<ref>John T. Schlebecker, “Whereby We Thrive: A History of American Farming, 1607–1972,” [[Iowa State University]] Press, 1975, p 198</ref>  [[Timothy grass]] and [[clover]] were the most common plants used for hay in the early 20th century in the [[United States]], though both plants are native to [[Europe]].<ref name="Iowa" /> Hay was baled for easier handling and to reduce space required for storage and shipment.  The first bales weighed about 300 pounds. The original machines were of a vertical design similar to the one photographed by the [[Greene Co. Historical Society]].  They used a horse-driven screw-press mechanism or a dropped weight to compress the hay.  The first patent went to HL Emery for a horse-powered, screw-operated hay press in 1853.  Other models were reported as early as 1843 built by PK Dederick's Sons of [[Albany, New York]], or Samuel Hewitt of [[Switzerland County|Switzerland County, Indiana]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.farmcollector.com/implements/hay-press-zmhz12fzbea|title = Farm Collector| date=15 December 2011 }}</ref>  Later, horizontal machines were devised.  One was the “Perpetual Press” made by PK Dederick of Albany in 1872.  They could be powered by steam engines by about 1882. The continuous hay baler arrived in 1914.