Super Baling Man bails alfalfa hay. Whenever he goes baling, he sings his song.

It goes like this:

Baling, Baling, Baling
Get those balers baling
Through wind and rain and weather
I'll get those bales together!

One day Super Baling Man stopped and talked to me while he was waiting for the hay to cure. He taught me about baling alfalfa.

"To bale alfalfa," he said, "you need to remember these things."

--"But, what is baling?" I asked.

"Baling is a process of dehydration. This is so the grass or hay doesn't rot. You can keep it stored for a long time so that your animals can eat all year round. You can think of the bale as a kind of package."

"Oh, kind of like a raisin?" I asked.

"Yeah, kind of like a raisin," Super Baling Man said. "You need to dry the alfalfa, but not too much. This drying process is called curing. The sun dries the alfalfa. This puts Vitamin D in it. If the alfalfa gets too dry, the leaves will fall off. That is why you need to bale with a little bit of moisture in the hay. You need between 14% and 22% moisture in order to bale. If the alfalfa is too wet, it will rot in the bale!"

"Why does it matter if the leaves fall off?" I asked.

"Then, no animal will want to eat it. Most of the nutrition in alfalfa is in the leaves," Super Baling Man explained.

A few days later, Super Baling Man was sick. He told me I had to bale the alfalfa before the big storm hit. "It's all up to you, Rebecca," he pleaded.

I got everything together to get ready to bale. I got on my goggles and coat. I loaded the truck with twine and fuel. I headed out to the field. The sky was turning black. I knew I had to hurry.

When I got there, I checked if the alfalfa was cured. I picked it up and felt it with my hands. I could tell it was ready. I got on the tractor and baled a few bales. I looked in back of me and saw some bales of alfalfa.

I stopped the tractor and went back to check the bales. I first went to see how long they were with the tape measure. It was 47 inches. Perfect! I then checked the moisture with my tester. It was 20%. Perfect! I took off on the tractor again and started bailing. When I was done, it had already been an hour. The storm was almost here! I called for a harrow bed to pick up the bales and stack them in the barn. I had saved the day, just in time.

I hopped in my truck and told Super Baling Man that I had finished. He was really proud of me and told me that when he dies, I will be Super Baling Woman!