Black Angus munching

Black Angus munching

on a dwindling bale of hay 

look up as I pass

Rain clouds moving west to east, but only a teasing spatter of rain. Brown strips of dead grass on mowed lawns. Farmers are supplementing sparse pasture grass with this year's hay bales. A small herd of Black Angus stand with their heads together around one of the big round bales, pulling out wads of hay, which dangles from their mouths like scraggly beards. Imagine living on grass. Ruminants like cattle are able to accomplish this feat by a complex process of rumination. First step, slowly masticate the mouthful of hay until it disappears into the rumen, the first compartment of the ruminant's four-compartment stomach. Later, regurgitate the semi-digested bolus and chew the cud again. Then swallow the cud and send it to the remaining stomach compartments. The cluster of Black Angus look up briefly as I pass, then go back to their bale. They must be hot in their black coats, but munching lunch is more important right now than keeping cool. After their rumen is full, they'll lie down for a nap in the shade.

make hay while the sun

make hay while the sun

shines – mow the tall grass, rake and

bale before it rains

Another day without rain, but now we have a heat index warning. With all the moisture in the air, it feels like 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The farmers in their air-conditioned tractors are taking the opportunity to mow their hay fields. One machine cuts the long grass, strewing it in a shining criss-cross sheet of stalks already beginning to turn golden brown. Another implement rakes the grass into sinuous  fat rows between the newly-shorn green grass. Then the baler moves along the rows, rolling the hay into giant cylinders covered with green plastic to protect from rain. Later, a gigantic pitchfork machine will lift and move the huge bales out of the field. And the grass will grow tall again until the next mowing.