With decades of hands-on experience working the fields of Dorset, Hartcliff Farm offers a complete hay making service tailored to suit your needs. Whether you require the full process from start to finish or just a single stage to complement your own work, we take genuine pride in our craft, paying close attention to weather windows, crop condition and timing to help you produce the best possible forage.
Our team can handle mowing, tedding, raking and baling, working alongside you as much or as little as required. From smallholdings to larger acreages, we bring the same care, expertise and reliability to every job.
Mowing
Mowing is the foundation of quality hay, and we deliver a clean, even cut that promotes fast, uniform drying across your fields. We work to your schedule and the weather, cutting at the optimal stage to preserve leaf, nutrition and yield.
Whether you're a working farm or an equestrian smallholding needing just a few acres laid down, we'll get the job done efficiently and with minimal disruption to your sward.
Tedding / Turning
Good tedding can be the difference between average hay and excellent hay. Our tedders spread and aerate the crop to speed up drying time, helping you make the most of every dry spell in the unpredictable Dorset weather!
We handle the crop with care to protect leaf quality and reduce losses, essential for producing the sweet, dust-free hay that horse owners and livestock keepers rely on.
Raking
Timely, careful raking brings the crop together into clean, well-formed rows ready for the baler. Our equipment is set up to gather hay without dragging in soil or stones, protecting both the quality of your forage and the longevity of your machinery.
From paddocks to large meadowst, we rake to suit the field, the crop and the conditions on the day.
Baling
We offer reliable baling to suit farms and smallholdings of all sizes, producing tight, well-shaped bales that store well and handle easily. Whether you need small conventional bales perfect for stables and equestrian yards, or larger bales for livestock and commercial use, we'll match the finish to your needs.
Years of experience across Dorset mean we know how to judge the crop and deliver hay you can be proud to feed or sell.
Below you'll find some of the questions we get asked about our hay making services. If you need any additional information, please get in touch with us and we'll be happy to help.
We provide hay making services across Dorset, including Blandford Forum, Dorchester, Sherborne, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury, Wimborne and the surrounding villages.
We're also happy to travel to neighbouring parts of Somerset and Wiltshire for larger jobs. Just get in touch and we'll let you know if we can help.
Yes, absolutely. We regularly help equestrian yards, smallholders and hobby farmers with just a few acres, as well as commercial farms with much larger fields.
No job is too small, and we bring the same care and attention regardless of acreage.
Of course. Many of our clients already own some of their own machinery and only need help with specific stages, for example: baling after they've cut and rowed up themselves.
We're flexible and happy to slot in wherever you need an extra pair of hands or a specific piece of kit.
We'd recommend getting in touch as early in the season as possible, ideally in spring, so we can pencil you into our schedule.
That said, we always try to accommodate last-minute requests when the weather window allows, so it's worth asking even at short notice.
We can produce both small conventional bales, which are ideal for stables, equestrian use and easy handling, and larger bales suited to livestock farms and bulk storage.
Let us know what works best for your setup and we'll match the finish to your needs.
We monitor the weather forecast closely and assess each crop on its own merits, looking at maturity, leaf content and ground conditions.
Cutting at the right moment is one of the most important factors in producing quality hay, and our years of experience in the Dorset climate help us make the right call.
Hay making in the UK always carries some weather risk, but we plan carefully around the forecast and adapt as conditions change.
If rain threatens mid-process, we'll work with you to make the best decision, whether that's tedding again to speed up drying, baling sooner, or holding off until the next window.
Yes, we arrive with all the equipment and skilled operators needed for the job, whether that's mowers, tedders, rakes or balers. You don't need to supply anything other than access to the field and any specific instructions for your land.
When done correctly, hay making is part of healthy grassland management and actually benefits your sward over time. We take care to work the ground sympathetically, avoid unnecessary passes, and protect the soil structure, which is especially important for equestrian paddocks and longer-term pasture.
Yes, in most cases. The majority of Countryside Stewardship and SFI options that apply to grassland allow for cutting and grazing, but they typically specify when those operations can take place.
The timing matters because these schemes are designed to let grasses and wildflowers set seed naturally, supporting long-lived, species-rich swards. The good news is that well-managed cutting and grazing is exactly what these grasslands need to thrive. Done properly, hay making complements your scheme rather than working against it.
If you let us know which options your land is entered into, we can plan the timing of mowing and baling to fit within your scheme's requirements.