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Make hay while the sun shines

Make hay while the sun shines goes the old saying, and we have certainly had plenty of sun this summer.

The annual hay cut is a practice that has been happening at Chancellor’s Farm for generations and is essential to the reason it is still such an incredible haven for wildlife. In the past, the reason to cut the hay was to feed livestock during the winter months, although this is still somewhat the case, now the primary reason is to preserve the amazing variety of wildflowers in the meadows. 

The hay cut removes nutrients from the fields and as the wildflowers at Chancellor’s thrive in nutrient poor soils, by removing the hay we are exporting nitrogen and phosphorous keeping soil fertility low and prevents competitive grasses from taking over.

Hay cutting at Chancellor's Farm 2026

Timing is crucial when it comes to cutting the meadows. We always cut in mid to late summer when the wildflowers have set seed and enable the flowers to rejuvenate the following year and allows ground nesting birds to nest in the fields.

The process of making hay is very simple. The fields are cut and left to dry for as many days as is necessary. The hay is often turned at least once to ensure the hay dries evenly and serves the purpose of shaking the seed from the drying grass. Once it is sufficiently dry (this is extremely important to prevent barn fires), the hay is rowed up and baled. At Chancellor’s we do a combination of small and large bales. The small bales are useful as they can be moved by hand without large machinery when feeding to the cattle in during the winter months. It is impractical to make small bales on all 14 fields at Chancellors due to the sheer quantity of hay so we also produce big bales that can be moved using our tractor.

Hay cutting at Chancellor's Farm 2026

Haymaking on Chancellors farm is very different from intensive grassland management. While we are still providing feed for the livestock in the winter we prioritise wildlife over hay production.

While it’s a busy time of year and can be hard work getting the hay cut and baled hay in the barns, we are proud to play our part in preserving the traditional methods that allow the wildflowers to thrive and all the wildlife that depend on them.

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