In October 1994, I got my tractor driving licence. Then in December 1994, just two days before Christmas, my father bought a new tractor. Not brand new, but new to us. A 1986 Renault 80.14TX and boy did it feel like a hell of a Christmas present!

It was the first four-wheel drive tractor we had on the farm and the first tractor with a radio, all of which were extremely important at the time!

I can still remember myself and my brother touring around the neighbours delivering Christmas presents for my mother, thinking we were the greatest thing since sliced bread.

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Fast forward a few months to the summer of 1995 and any of you who remember it will remember it was a scorcher.

We were still cutting our own double-chop silage at the time. It was my first year being able to draw on the road and with my new four-wheel drive and radio - sure I thought I was in heaven.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to transport back to that time, where I didn’t have a care in the world, but unfortunately didn’t know it

I was mad for tractor work, every field about the place was topped with the little PZ165 and some of the toppings, as we called them, were heavy enough to make hay.

The old acrobat and haybob were pulled out, as well as the old International baler and I bounced up and down the fields for a week in August learning how to make hay.

Memories

I think I got 300 or 400 bales made by the time I was finished, but I burned plenty of diesel in the process. But I must say I have great memories of it.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to transport back to that time, where I didn’t have a care in the world, but unfortunately didn’t know it.

The reason I’m telling you all this is because that was the last time that hay was made on my farm until two weeks ago. I could hardly believe it myself when I started counting - 28 years and where did they go?

Every year after, when some of us were at home for the summer, there didn’t seem to be the weather and after my father had gone and I was at work all day, trying to turn hay was just impossible, even if you did have the weather.

Good-quality round bale silage suited my system better and if I needed a bit of hay I just went and bought it.

Hay for the horses

Myself and the family were away for the June bank holiday weekend and as we were driving to Dublin on the Friday evening, I happened to say to my wife Dawn that I had a paddock too strong for grazing and that I must get it baled when I get back. The weather looked great for the week ahead, so the intention was to mow it on Tuesday and bale it on Wednesday.

She had her eye to business straight away and said: “Why don’t you try and make some haylage for the horses?”

I thought that probably wasn’t that bad of an idea, so I rang my contractor and asked him to mow on Saturday instead of Tuesday. It then lay until Monday.

Tedding

When I got home, I decided a wee tedding would do no harm, if I could get someone to do it.

Unfortunately, the haybob and acrobat are long since gone and even if they weren’t, I doubt they would be in working condition at this stage.

Thankfully, another good neighbour was happy enough to ted it for me. After a couple of teddings, the idea of haylage had gone and it was full steam ahead for hay.

The weather definitely was very good, but as this grass was reasonably lush and was never intended for hay, it was very hard deaden.

But we eventually got there and the first hay in 28 years was made, seven days after cutting. If it’s another 28 years until the next hay is made, it might be someone else worrying about it!