ABSTRACT
Hay harvesting as a means of conserving forages can be traced back over 2000 years. In the past century, hay harvesting systems have developed from harvesting by hand to ultramodern round and square bales, densified bales and pelleting systems. With the current move towards larger farming units, hay harvesting equipment has become larger and more expensive. However, in some parts of the world, hay is still harvested by hand. Extensive research on the development and evaluation of hay harvesting equipment occurred in the 1970s and 1980s in North America and Europe. Today, there is very little active hay harvesting research. In those areas of the world where weather permits, hay harvesting ranges from the traditional hand methods to the fully mechanized large round and square bale systems. If large volumes of feed are required, it is usually harvested as silage. With all the technical developments over the years, spoilage due to the weather is still the major limitation to forage preservation.
