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!)
