Fordson Tractor Pulling Hay Wagon at Henry Ford Farms, 1917

Hay is a mixture of cut grasses or crops like alfalfa or clover that keeps farm animals well fed during winter months. Making hay is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process--farmers cut, dry, and store hay all summer long. It is also a race against time--rain damages the crop drying in the fields. Mechanical innovations have reduced the time and labor--but not the urgency--required to complete this essential chore.

Farming is strenuous, tedious, and repetitive, and chronic labor shortages intensify the demands of farm work. Throughout history, farmers have looked for ways to get the job done with less manpower. By the nineteenth century, animals working in many capacities provided most of the power on American farms.