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Moving a round hay bale without a tractor made simple with right equipment.

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist

March 12, 2015

1 Min Read

No tractor? No problem.

We are minimalist livestock producers. I am not sure if it is because of lack of funds, lack of time or just my husband's desire to get "crafty" with our operation. His view is to use whatever is laying around the farm to build or rig the right tool for the job.

We do not own a tractor. Our go-to farm vehicle is a truck. The only way to store large, round hay bales at our home is on large, grey, heavy-duty, plastic tarps.To pull the bale, my husband uses tie straps on both corners of the tarp. He grabs one corner and gathers it into his hand. He then wraps the tie strap around it several times, repeating the process on the other side. The goal is to secure the straps to the truck's bumper hitch and pull.

It is a pretty slick trick. Farmer ingenuity at its best.

About the Author(s)

Mindy Ward

Editor, Missouri Ruralist

Mindy resides on a small farm just outside of Holstein, Mo, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, she worked briefly at a public relations firm in Kansas City. Her husband’s career led the couple north to Minnesota.

There, she reported on large-scale production of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and dairy, as well as, biofuels for The Land. After 10 years, the couple returned to Missouri and she began covering agriculture in the Show-Me State.

“In all my 15 years of writing about agriculture, I have found some of the most progressive thinkers are farmers,” she says. “They are constantly searching for ways to do more with less, improve their land and leave their legacy to the next generation.”

Mindy and her husband, Stacy, together with their daughters, Elisa and Cassidy, operate Showtime Farms in southern Warren County. The family spends a great deal of time caring for and showing Dorset, Oxford and crossbred sheep.

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