Hauling Hay

[NCL4701]

First time I was involved in getting up hay I remember mostly because it was kind of an odd experience. My Dad had friends in the community but mostly kept to himself. We had a neighbor that was elderly and having some sort of financial problem. My Dad had about 30 acres of hay that was ready for cutting but didn’t have much money at the time. He let the old man get the hay off of it to help him out, so the old man came over with a rough looking Farmall M with a sickle bar and cut it. Came back the next day and raked it. Couple days later it was time to bale and a two day rain was coming that would have wasted all of it. Dad told me and my brother to get the trailer hooked up to the 9N while he made a couple of phone calls. I was maybe 8 or 9 so all I was good for was driving. The old man started baling and I drove my Dad’s 9N while he and my brother loaded the trailer. Not long after we got started, guys started showing up from all over the community with trucks, tractors, balers, wagons. Ended up with three or four balers, about 30 workers, and a bunch of trucks and wagons. Got the old man’s hay in his barn with time to spare.

The things that really stuck with me were several guys said something to my Dad about me being too young to be driving. He told them to shut up and get back to work; I could drive as good as anyone out there. Definitely hyperbole but made me feel pretty proud. Also never saw the community come together on a moment’s notice like that before or since.

There’s a big business development there now. Whole community is history. That kind of farming is history, too.