Norwegian hay making. By Anne Jorunn Frøyen, Jærmuseet

Livestock played a major role in Norwegian food production. Although animals on farms along the coast might have some access to pasture all year, animals were totally dependent on forage gathered for winter. Forage materials were harvested in settled, cultivated hay fields as well as unsettled, wilderness areas. Western Norway has a rainy climate, and the whole country has a short growing season. To maximise the amount of winter forage, a technique for drying forage by hanging it up in a stand was developed over the years. Other materials besides forage can also be dried using these stands, for example, cereal grains or even peat.

In good weather hay was simply dried on the ground. It was cut early in the morning while there was still dew and spread out, turned with a rake in the middle of the day and placed in haycocks (small piles) in the evening. The next day it was spread out again with a rake or by hand. The hay could be dry within a few days if the weather was good. The haycocks could vary in size.

Often, the weather was not good, and then the hay stands were used. The stands are made up of poles, 2.5-3 m. high, set up in rows and tied together by horizontal poles, ropes or galvanized steel wire. The hay is draped over these horizontal rows, starting with the lowest level. If a wooden pole was used, it could be tied to the upright pole with willow or twigs, or it could be set on a peg set into the upright pole.

The poles were made of local wood, preferably young trees. Tarred hemp rope began to replace the transverse poles from the 1890s. Galvanized steel wire came from around 1900. ¹ The distance between the poles had to be shorter when they started using rope or steel wire, 1.5 to 2 m. was the recommended length.²

The haystands were set up after the grass had been mowed. With a spike or crowbar, they located holes from previous years, and enlarged them if necessary, then placed the poles in the holes. When steel wire was used as the horizontal part, it was wrapped around each pole so as to secure it and prevent it from loosening. The end poles were supported by guy wires or poles, as shown in the sketch below.

Drying hay on the ground was dependent on good weather. The advantage of haystands was that the hay could dry without being spoiled by unstable weather. Beyond the 19th century, more high-yielding forages were available. The plants became denser and taller, and some species, such as clover, were especially slow to dry on the ground. These forages were more valuable nutritionally if dried on haystands but the disadvantage of the haystands was the extra materials and labor that were needed.³

It is uncertain when the practice of drying forage in haystands developed. The first accounts of hesjer are from the middle of the 18th century, and it is pointed to as a solution in bad weather. The method was also originally used in the western parts of Norway where the weather could be more unstable in the haying season. ⁴ But in areas where there were no suitable trees to make poles from, drying hay on the ground was the only option. ⁵

There were different types of haystands. The photo below illustrates the type where the pole and the transverse wooden bars were tied together. The haystands could be left outside all year, or taken down when the hay season was over. They were also used in uncultivated areas to harvest naturally growing forages.

When the haystand was set up, the cut grass was raked into position next to the stand. Before it could be hung on the haystack, the forage had to be shaken out, or raked or combed to an even consistency that would allow airflow and also decrease the tendency to fall off the haystand. The goal was for the grass to dry uniformly, so it could not be laid on too thick, and the grass on the bottom stand or layer could not touch the ground.

The haystands could be long or short. The amount of grass, the terrain, wind direction, sun and shade all had to be taken into account during the building of the stands. ⁶

It was hard work to rake the hay up to the haystands, and to heap the hay. But it was also a job in which everyone could participate. Photo: Jon Bjordal / Romsdalsmuseet 1962.

The transition from horses and horse-drawn vehicles to tractors and tractor-drawn vehicles in Norway took place in the 1960s. At the same time, new farm equipment came from the Kverneland Factory. They even made a drill to make holes for the hay poles and to transport the hay pole on, the hay carriage was to collect the dry hay.

From the 1970s, there were fewer haystands, the grass was put in silos and ensiled. The work could be done by fewer people and the community that came with haymaking ended.

Notes:

1^ Audun Dybdahl, For, fe og melkestell i eldre tid: arbeidsmåter og redskaper i Steinkjer-regionen (Steinkjer museum, 1985), 41–42.

2^ Knut Vik, Åker- og engdyrking, Bokmålsutg., Jordbrukslære 2 (Aschehoug, 1937), 75.

3^ Vik, Åker- og engdyrking, 77.

4^ Kristoffer Visted og Hilmar Stigum, Vår gamle bondekultur. 1 (Cappelen, 1971), 274.

5^ M. Irgens, Jæderen: Forsøg til en Landbrugsbeskrivelse (Selskabet for folkeopplysningens fremme, 1872), 58.

6^ Høyberging og hesjing – Arkiv i Nordland Read 17.12.2025.

Author: Anne Jorunn Frøyen, Jærmuseet