The Grass Also Rises

[twilightpony]

I went for a morning stroll in the Ponyville Commons and grazed a bit in the pasture while leafing through Effective Haying Equipment and Practices for Temperate Equestria and the Lower Mountainous Regions. The grass is growing well (it's also quite tasty!) and soon there will be another Hay Board meeting, some time before First Cut.

Comments

[algernon97]

Is this First Cut anything like, say, Zoning Laws? In that it's a regulation on how tall the grass can grow, that sort of thing?

[twilightpony]

'First Cut' is not a zoning regulation, it's literally the first hay harvest. Hay is dried grass (and legumes) and grass keeps growing from the bottom after you cut the top. Thus, grass can be 'cut' three, sometimes four, times a growing season and the dried clippings (hay) will be long enough to be baled and stored. The quality of the grass clippings change during the growing season.

The first harvest tends to be of grass that has had time to grow tall and to have a lot of other plants mixed in with it. It tends to be lower in protein and higher in fiber and starch. This makes a good winter-food hay since it takes a little longer to ferment in the equine gut, slowly releasing energy and providing more heat during digestion.

Second cut and third cut hay is leafier, greener in color and usually higher in protein. That makes it a better fast-energy food for ponies that need a burst of energy, like Fleetfoot in a pegasus race. Since those cuts come from later in the growing season, and after the first cut, the 'weedy' plants racing the grass for a spot in the sunlight have been both cut back during the first harvest and shaded out by the grasses since then. Thus, second and third cut hays are mostly just grass.

Second and later cuts can be made less rich and more 'stem-y' (coarse) by waiting for the grass to mature more before making a cut. Ponies can get gassy eating grass that's too rich, so the hay board has to weigh the needs of the export market with the needs of the local population and recommend a balance. The Hay Board also has field agents that act as liaisons between the farmers and the weather ponies, ensuring that the fields don't get wet while the cut grass is drying.

Does that answer your question?

[algernon97]

Yes. Sorry for sounding like an idiot.

[twilightpony]

You did not sound like an idiot! It was a fine question. I hope you find the subtleties of hay making interesting. If you have pony friends over for supper, you'll have a better idea what to serve!

[flareblitzfury]

Oooo, nice!