Minnie E. Nooney, 86, taught Bible school for 30 years

By NANCY JANE KERN

THIS WAS A HOT TOPIC GROWING UP and still is. Farmers must feed livestock and can only harvest in warm weather. Unfortunately, it is the same time that birds, animals, insects, and plants grow and reproduce. My family was conservation-minded and tried to balance the conflicts. One concession was to delay mowing fields for hay until late June or early July with possibly a second mowing in August. This gave the grass nesting birds like several species of sparrows, bobolinks and meadowlarks food and time to raise their young. From the 1940s to the early 1950s, we still used draft horses which gave a more wildlife-friendly type of mowing.

My father grew up using horses and enjoyed being with them. The pace was slow, and the horses’ hoof sounds and movements warned wildlife ahead of the blade. Dry, raked hay was either hand forked up onto a wagon, or a hay loader was hitched to the wagon. This motorless, clanking machine picked up the windrow of hay then caught by several wooden slats of teeth that moved up and down and fed the hay to the top and into the wagon. One of my early jobs was to fork the hay back to even out the load and pack it down. Things like insects, fawns, rabbits, mice, snakes, and fledged birds had a chance to escape injury.  This method also left areas for them to take cover.

My father’s young family and responsibilities grew and necessitated an increased dairy herd. The bigger the herd the more hay was needed, so he bought and rented additional farm fields. Consequent upgrading to more efficient tractors and machinery meant less food and safety for wildlife.

We never used herbicides or chemicals on the fields, which can be hazardous. My mother was adamant about this and followed the writings of Rachel Carson. A recent problem has been the widespread use of Roundup. For years it was touted as a safe and short-lived spray to reduce weeds. Too often chemical companies promote a product, and then years later we find people or wildlife suffering the consequences.

I don’t harvest hay anymore and can fully support conservation. My field is left alone all season and rough cut once after August to keep it open. Now it serves as a grassland and native plant sanctuary for birds and other wildlife, a plan others might want to consider and promote.