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Your support makes a difference
We need a tractor to harvest hay for our cows. Please help us raise £20,000 to keep them fed year-round.
We're raising £20,000 to purchase a vital tractor that will help us produce the hay our cows depend on throughout the year. With limited grazing available, we harvest around 60 acres of hay annually, often travelling up to 10 miles to cut, bale, and transport it back to the farm.
After selling one of our tractors to fund an essential barn extension, we are now struggling to keep up with the growing workload. A second tractor would dramatically increase efficiency, speed up the harvest, and help ensure we can make the most of short weather windows during haymaking season.
This investment will secure a reliable supply of feed for our cows and help to safeguard the future of the farm. Every donation, large or small, will make a lasting difference.
Some more details...
Every year, we harvest around 60 acres of hay, which provides vital winter feed for our herd. Due to limited grazing land, we also rely on this hay throughout much of the summer, making it a crucial part of caring for our animals year-round.
Most of the land we cut is not located at our farm. Some is rented, while other fields are generously offered free of charge by kind landowners who no longer keep animals. As a result, we often travel up to 10 miles to cut, bale, collect, and transport the hay back home by trailer. Harvesting this volume of hay typically takes around two months of hard work each year.
For many years, a good friend helped us with his tractor, making the workload manageable. Sadly, he can no longer assist. Until last summer, we owned two tractors ourselves, but when our barn extension project exceeded its budget, we had to make the difficult decision to sell one in order to complete the build.
Having a second tractor would make an enormous difference. It would significantly reduce the workload, speed up the harvest, and help ensure we can bring in the hay during the often-unpredictable weather windows that are so important for making quality feed.
We are also fortunate to have a dedicated young volunteer who is keen to learn and help with the tractor work. With training, she will become a valuable part of the team, but to do this effectively we need suitable equipment.
The tractor we need must be relatively powerful to cope with the demands of haymaking and transporting heavy loads. We are hoping to purchase a more modern model, as newer tractors are safer, more reliable, and much more user-friendly than older machines.
Every donation, no matter the size, will help us continue producing the feed our cows depend on and ensure we can manage the growing workload for years to come.
Thank you for supporting our cows and helping us secure the equipment needed to care for them.
Together, we can keep our hay harvest moving and our cows well fed throughout the year.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 3rd September 2026 at 4:13pm