However, during drying, the leaf (being more brittle) will tend to shatter.

Leaves are more nutritious than the stems, and so when cutting forage, it is important that it is cut with as much leaf and as little stem as possible.

This helps storage and requires less space.

The dried hay should ideally be stored in form of bales when the moisture content is low, ideally less than 15%.

Hay should not be over dried as it may start to ferment and also become a fire hazard.

The drying process may take between 2 to 3 days.

Chopping forage into small pieces after drying will hasten the dying process.

The cut forage is laid out in the sun in as thin a layer as possible, and raked a few times and turned regularly to hasten drying.

These can be extremely harmful to livestock and to people handling it.

Do not leave cut forage to dry in a moist environment, as this will encourage the growth of moulds.

Leaves are more nutritious than the stems, and so when cutting forage, it is important that it is cut with as much leaf and as little stem as possible.

Although cutting hay early will result in lower total volume, the increase in nutritive value will more than compensate for reduced yields.

Forage is cut before it is fully mature (long before it has seeded) to maximize its nutritive value.

Grass hay (left) and lucerne hay (right) made by a smallholder dairy farmer in Kenya

In order to make the process of curing easier, the fodder should preferably be harvested when air humidity is low. After flowering and seeding, grasses contain fewer nutrients. At this stage, the crop has maximum nutrients and green matter. Grasses and similar fodder crops should be harvested at the pre-flowering stage. Cow pea, Lucerne, etc) should be harvested at the flower initiation stage or when crown buds start to grow. Crops with thin stems and more leaves are better suited for haymaking as they dry faster than those with thick, pity stem and small leaves.

One piece holdem is fodder