What are farmers doing at the moment?

[UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername]

We moved to a very rural area last year, and having grown up in a city, I haven't a clue what the farmers do when.

In the last week or so, I've noticed a huge number of tractors driving past with big trailers full of cut grass. It happened for a week or so back in the summer as well. What are they doing? I thought when grass got cut, it got baled and wrapped or not, to make hay or silage. The moving of a loose trailer full is a mystery to me, and I'd really like to know.

I w we onset of what with the great weather we’ve had they’ve cut a load more grass to make silage.

• I wonder what

Maybe for animal feed?

Most likely cutting the Autumn flush of grass we've had to make silage- you're right it's often baled and wrapped during the summer months but cattle farmers will also pile up, squash and cover loose grass to make a silage pit or clamp that they then use a tractor to scoop out and feed to the animals when they're in the barn.
Fertiliser is going to be incredibly expensive going forward, so I'm told, so I think anyone with grass and a pit is getting in what they can so the wrapped stuff can be saved up for later.

Are you sure it’s grass not chopped up maize as this is what it could be?

silage for animal feed.

silage is a method for preserving grass or maize, similar to sausrkraut.
very nutricious but can make milk taste weird.

I love this, I have always lived semi rurally and farming has gone on in the background but I’ve never given it much thought (even though as a teen I went to a lot of Young Farmers social events). Clarksons Farm made me more aware but I’d love a regular farming thread about what farmers are doing and why. I’ve definitely not appreciated them as much as I should have.

@Matilda1981

Are you sure it’s grass not chopped up maize as this is what it could be?

That's a good point! Always forget about maize seeing as I don't keep anything that eats it 😂

Could be chopped maize, I don't know It's small green stuff, anyway. It doesn't seem to blow away as much as you'd expect as they drive, so maybe it is maize, and therefore heavier than grass?

@ineedsun, yes, I'm always curious about what's going on out there. It looks like such hard, busy work, and so many farmers drive past us all the time, I'd like to know more. I loved Clarkson's Farm. I do think we should appreciate farmers more, and value what they produce more.

Funny, I've heard the term 'silage pit' before but never really thought about it, I always thought it was just wrapped bales. The pieces of the jigsaw are coming together : )