Make your own hay
Make hay when the sun shines’ is perhaps not a common expression amongst Ugandan livestock keepers. However, as weather patterns change for the worse, it is high time Uganda’s livestock farmers adopted better ways of preparing for the dry season.
BY JOSHUA KATO
Make hay when the sun shines’ is perhaps not a common expression amongst Ugandan livestock keepers. However, as weather patterns change for the worse, it is high time Uganda’s livestock farmers adopted better ways of preparing for the dry season.
While farmers in areas which experience long cold winters make hay to prepare for the cold season, Ugandan farmers should do the opposite since the country is equally ravaged by long dry spells.
In most cases, the average Ugandan farmer is helpless and has no solutions whenever there is a shortage of pasture in the fields or when faced with a crisis like drought or famine or a dry season.
Making hay is a method where green foliage is turned into a product that can be easily stored, while retaining nutrients. This green foliage is mainly made up of grass, for instance, elephant grass that is normally consumed by animals when fresh.
The process involves reducing the moisture levels in the leaves from between 70% and 90% to 15% or even less.
A mixture of grass, for example elephant grass and legumes like leaves from beans and similar crops, is the best for making hay.
Making hay will also help farmers save some of the normally abundant pasture for another day.
Steps to take when making hay
-The foliage should be cut when 50% of the plants have flowered, probably during the rainy season. This is the time when plants have the highest levels of nutrients like proteins.
-The foliage should be cut in the morning and allowed to dry as quickly as possible. To do this, you have to keep turning it around in the sun. Drying may take two to three days. Make sure that the foliage is not fermented because this leads to loss of nutrients and energy.
-Once dry, the hay is heaped in a stack and covered with tarpaulin or a similar material. It can be tied up in bundles and then stored. Farmers need to make sure that the bundles are stored in a dry place.
-The hay will then be given to the animals when there is no more green pasture to feed on. That is how simple the process is.
Make hay when the sun shines’ is perhaps not a common expression amongst Ugandan livestock keepers. However, as weather patterns change for the worse, it is high time Uganda’s livestock farmers adopted better ways of preparing for the dry season.
While farmers in areas which experience long cold winters make hay to prepare for the cold season, Ugandan farmers should do the opposite since the country is equally ravaged by long dry spells.
In most cases, the average Ugandan farmer is helpless and has no solutions whenever there is a shortage of pasture in the fields or when faced with a crisis like drought or famine or a dry season.
Making hay is a method where green foliage is turned into a product that can be easily stored, while retaining nutrients. This green foliage is mainly made up of grass, for instance, elephant grass that is normally consumed by animals when fresh.
The process involves reducing the moisture levels in the leaves from between 70% and 90% to 15% or even less.
A mixture of grass, for example elephant grass and legumes like leaves from beans and similar crops, is the best for making hay.
Making hay will also help farmers save some of the normally abundant pasture for another day.
Steps to take when making hay
-The foliage should be cut when 50% of the plants have flowered, probably during the rainy season. This is the time when plants have the highest levels of nutrients like proteins.
-The foliage should be cut in the morning and allowed to dry as quickly as possible. To do this, you have to keep turning it around in the sun. Drying may take two to three days. Make sure that the foliage is not fermented because this leads to loss of nutrients and energy.
-Once dry, the hay is heaped in a stack and covered with tarpaulin or a similar material. It can be tied up in bundles and then stored. Farmers need to make sure that the bundles are stored in a dry place.
-The hay will then be given to the animals when there is no more green pasture to feed on. That is how simple the process is.