The first mowing
"The first cut is something very special." Such sentences are heard from hay milk farmers when they talk about the hay cut. But why? What's it all about?
In May, when the meadows in Salzburg's Flachgau and Mondseerland are in full bloom, the hay milk farmers try to find the right time to prune. The first cut is the most important because the grasses have had a lot of time to grow after the winter lots of nutrients and energy bear in themselves. The hay from this mowing, the fodder for hay milk cows in winter, is therefore particularly rich in nutrients and valuable - more valuable than that of the following mowing, which takes place later. The time of harvest therefore determines how much milk the cow can produce from the forage. The higher the nutrient and energy concentration, the more milk she can produce from the forage.
“The optimal cutting time is the prerequisite for achieving the best possible forage quality. The first mowing usually takes place between the middle and the end of May.”
Wolfgang Eibl, Woerle hay milk farmer
biodiversity
If the hay milk farmer chooses a later point in time for the first mowing than many conventional farmers, then stragglers among the plant species that flower and mature later also get a chance. For this reason and because the meadows are only slightly fertilized, the hay contains a great variety of species. The cows like it. However, if the grass from the first mowing becomes "overgrown", i.e. too long, it loses its nutritional value and the cow may no longer like it.
Poker with the weather
But how do you determine the right time? The most important thing is stable, dry, sunny weather. It becomes difficult, for example, when the weather changes constantly in spring. After all, the hay from the hay milk farmer has to be cut after it has been cut dry for at least three daysbefore it is brought in. If the hay is stored too moist, its quality will not be as good as sun-dried hay.
So why doesn't every farmer do it like the hay milk farmer?
Because it time consuming, depends on the weather and causes more work. A hay milk farmer has to allow at least three days for haymaking: on the first day he mows, then he turns the grass twice a day with the Kreisler, and only on the third day in the evening does he fetch it into the "hayloft" as hay. Assuming he's lucky and the sun shines. If it rains in between, it takes even longer.
But the work of the hay milk farmer pays off: cows that are fed such high-quality feed also produce milk of the very highest quality. That's the only way Cheese of the highest quality getting produced.
