Windrow Farm

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Conway, MA
Windrow Farm

We are a 50 acre direct-market hay farm, providing feed for the local livestock and food-producing community.

Windrow Farm is owned and operated by Jason Silverman, with the gracious help of family and many close friends. We currently grow hay on 45 acres in Conway, MA, and sell it to several local customers, including small Sheep Fiber Farms, Dairy Goat Farms, family homesteads, and Horse farms. We strive for responsible nutrient management and focus on soil health, with attention to reducing our carbon

footprint wherever possible. Sustainably minded farming practices and ethical animal husbandry are at the forefront of Windrow Farm's mission. We believe in working with natural systems wherever possible to produce food and feed. We likewise believe that humans can treat animals raised for meat with respect and provide them with natural, happy, and fulfilling lives.

12/31/2025

Well, we missed an "end of season 2025" post in the autumn chaos, so maybe NYE is the last reasonable chance! 😆

2025 wrapped our 14th hay season, and was a "miraculously mediocre" year - one of the wettest Mays on record, rampant humidity and pop-up storms throughout first cut, then finally a dry-turned-drought end to the summer with ever decreasing second cut yields. A total of 7066 bales (of hay) landed us roughly 600 short of last year, on nearly 10 more acres. Still, it felt like a miracle to have second cut at all, so counting ourselves beyond lucky!

We kicked off the season hunting for dry ground on 5/24. First cut had more small risky batches of 30-hour hay than I think we've ever pulled off in a season, desperately trying to move the needle on the 60 acres we had lined up this year. Dumb luck and some careful strategery (iykyk) saw an overall "decent" first cut after two months of slogging through, as well as some collaborative straw baling with .

With first cut finally done, we swung right into second cut, and with the trend turning dry (something that would have sounded *crazy* in May/June), we watched as second cut yields slipped lower and lower. Suddenly dry and with more settled forecasts (though still some risky rain-dodging miracles), August had 26 hay days, and we marathoned through second cut (and one field of beautifully miraculous third cut) by mid September. With the drought catching up to any other possible third cut regrowth, we called it a season on 9/18 - arguably pretty early!

As always and forever, thank you to EVERYONE who helped to make 2025 a success despite the myriad of challenges! I couldn’t do it without friends and family in my logistical and emotional support networks, amazing customers, wonderful fellow farmers, and generous land/barn owners 😊

Fun 2025 stats:

First Cut: 4836
Second Cut: 2176
(Bonus 2nd: 101)
Third Cut: 54
Straw: 233

Total Hay: 7167
(Total Bales: 7402)

Total Hay Days: 80 (a record!)

06/17/2025

The 2025 hay season has been off to a slow, wet start. Grateful for what we’ve sneaked in, and for new ground to cover - yet still a *long* ways off from wrapping up first cut 🫠. (By acreage, we’re about 25% done. By hoped bale count, much less than that…)

Looks like it’ll be another year of taking risks, donning the ole galoshes, and the mantra of “forget efficiency - what’s *possible*?” Though the summer is still young, so we’ll see!

🎵🤘🏻Balermetal Phatty Windrow Groove Tuneage:
.band

09/25/2024

Sunday saw a wrap on Haying Season 2024! This year was a wild one - amazing yields for both cuttings, and finally a year without extreme rainfall or dryness (this fall notwithstanding). A total of 7654 bales of hay this year, beating our all-time record (last year) by over 1100 bales!. Adding in the straw we baled for , the 2024 bale total is 7948. (Am I allowed to round up to 8000?)

However, it wasn’t an “easy” hay year. So much of this year seemed to oscillate between excessive humidity or constant threat of pop-up showers. I swear I slammed out more risky batches of 30-hour hay during first cut than any other season on record. Still, we managed to dodge any mulch batches, which feels like a huge win.

This year saw our upgrade to the Rotary Rake, thanks to a grant from the . The switch to fluffy, aerated windrows felt like perfect timing with the humidity and quick turnarounds of this year. A mid-season issue with our old tedder saw another upgrade to a newer (bigger) hydraulic-folding tedder as well.

Late August through mid-September had a nearly 28-day-straight second cut marathon (I’m coming to call it “The Second Cut Speed-Run of 2024”.) In the span of a month I went from feeling behind, to wrapping up second cut by September 16th.

A final, risky batch of miracle Third Cut finished out the season on 9/22 - turning out more beautifully than I ever could have imagined. And without any more significant grass to mow (the dryness finally catching up on third cut regrowth), it’s time to call it a year!

As always, thank you to EVERYONE who helped to make this year a success! I couldn’t do it without friends and family in my logistical and emotional support networks, amazing customers, and generous land/barn owners 😊

Fun 2024 stats:

First Cut: 5000 (*exactly!*)
Second Cut: 2550
Third Cut: 104
Straw: 294

Total Hay: 7654
(Total Bales: 7948)

Total Hay Days: 79

08/14/2024

With a return to the second cut marathon, today I hit the 50,000 bale mark with this trust Massey Ferguson 124 baler. To say I’m impressed is an understatement!

07/26/2024

Last Monday was a wrap on first cut! 5000 bales *exactly*, which is equal parts hilarious and record-breaking.

“Isn’t that late for first cut?”, I hear a lot. Well, yes. It’s never the plan to be doing first into later July. BUT: We tackle enough acreage (in the context of our scale and “only dry squares”) that unless we have absolutely perfect weather (this year was not 😅), there is just no way to get all 20+ fields in June. First cut is always a marathon of doing as much hay as possible any time the weather allows, risks and all - and when we do it right, we stack the higher elevation and finer-grass fields last in the rotation, meaning some good quality even in the later hay. (The latest stuff we discount, but it’s still better for business than a gap in the summer with no haymaking 😊).

Now we roll right into second cut! 😁🤓

🤘🏻🎵: - “Gila Monster”

07/07/2024

Phew! With a year both high in yield and quality of hay so far, I’m pleased to say that we have extra first cut available beyond standing orders, if anyone could benefit!

There are a few options:

Off-Wagon: $6/bale
From Barn: $7/bale
Early First Cut: $7.50/bale

We will be finishing up first cut within the next couple of weeks, on fields with finer grasses and higher elevations that maintain nice quality and color longer. Off-wagon is definitely possible, either on a baling day or shortly thereafter.

The early first cut was made the last week of May, and is by far some of the nicest from the season.

And as always, for main season first cut already in the barn, there are different grass types and field mixes, and I’m always happy to help match people up with what will work the best for their animals.

Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested, or to message with any questions. Thanks!!

(Second cut will be coming soon, and we are also taking pre-orders there as well, if helpful).

10/12/2023

Last week saw the finale of the 2023 haying season - one of the most difficult years I’ve ever had, but with the most astounding 6536 bale record. *So* many farms struggled this year, and my heart goes out to each of them. To wind up with a success feels wildly unfair yet miraculous.

May saw the earliest start (5/14!) and the most pre-June bales I’ve ever made.

Then the rain started. June and July were a game of “The floor is lava”, as I moved my hay circus all over town just trying to find dry ground. By July I was having nightmares about never finishing first cut, and even had to pivot to early second cut on drier fields.

I was resigned to a terrible year as we rolled into August, and it took a bit to realize that the weather had shifted. Still a battle to find dry ground, and remaining first cut was comically late, but with a varied acreage base and different soil types and rainfall amounts, I realized being spread out was my biggest asset, even if exhausting. I had options.

Suddenly I had unprecedented second cut yields, and an 8-day stretch into September saw 19 acres and 1360 bales knocked out in a single muti-batch go, finally finishing first cut and making a huge dent in second.

Final second & third cut gleanings finished out the year on fields that had only been regrowing since early August. (By then the second cut was third growth, which solidified that this year was “a haying version of ‘Who’s on First’”.)

Through it all, I somehow broke my all-time record by 850 bales (my July self would have perished from shock). A total of 6536 bales this year (4139 first cut, 2164 second , 233 third). 50 acres. 75 hay days. 5/14 through 10/4.

2023 was emotional whiplash. I feel beyond lucky, though also proud that I leveraged a lot of elbow grease and never took “it’s too wet” for an answer. Every possible weather window I was out the door early to “don the ole galoshes” and walk fields until I found something dry enough to try.

Thank you to EVERYONE who was so helpful this year - bale helpers, the nicest and most understanding hay customers and land owners, other generous farmers, and of course the local cheering section. I’m beyond grateful.

09/07/2023

8 days, 19 acres, 1360 bales. What an absolute marathon. 2023, you confound me, but what a way to roll into September!

Pulling in some amazing second cut and finally finishing the late fields of first, while *insanely* breaking season records and surpassing the 6000 bale mark for the year. Indeed lower quality of late first, and now very light yields of what’s remaining of second (and a little third), but what a silver lining for the year.

Some restful odds/ends today, then seeing what can be gleaned from remaining fields the next chance we get.

Hope others are having good luck out there - stay hydrated!! 🥵

09/03/2023

Happy to hear from anyone and discuss the ins/outs of what we have! Always eager to make the right match for folks 😊

08/25/2023

Earlier this week we somehow managed 641 bales of second cut from nine acres, with just about the nicest weather stretch of the year. 2023 continues to be full of surprises - and while high yields were hoped for on these early fields (we knocked first cut out on these in May), an average yield of 71 bales/acre of second cut is unprecedented. (It will undoubtedly go down as we move along and start to catch up with the later first cut fields, and I’ll still feel lucky if we get second cut on half of our acreage, or even finish first cut in total, but a win is a win!)

I can only hope other folks are finding some luck and success too as we desperately try to close the gap on the hay shortage this year. New England is a net hay importer on a *good* year, so we’re very much all in this together for those who rely on it.

Summer isn’t over yet!

Address

388 Hart Road
Conway, MA
01341

Telephone

+14137689437

Website

https://windrowfarmconway.com/

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