Tedding is the agricultural process of spreading material in a field. The materials which are typically tedded include

manure Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nut ...

, which is spread to fertilize the land, and crops such as

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

and

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

, which are spread to dry them before they are collected. Originally, this task would have been performed manually by farm labourers using tools such as

pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

s. In the 16th century, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, in his ''Boke of Husbandry'', emphasised the importance of tedding for good hay: In the 19th century, farm machinery was introduced such as the

manure spreader A manure spreader, muck spreader, or honey wagon is an agricultural machine used to distribute manure over a field as a fertilizer. A typical (modern) manure spreader consists of a trailer towed behind a tractor with a rotating mechanism driven ...

and tedder, which would be pulled by

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any ...

s or

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s. The handling of the crop will cause loss due to breakage of the plant, especially as it becomes dry and brittle. This especially affects the leaves of hay crops such as

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

and this is significant as they are more nutritious than the stems. These losses have been found to be 4% for alfalfa with a moisture level of 60% rising to 8% when dried to a moisture level of 40%. There are different styles of tedding which vary in their emphasis on different actions: * mixing and turning – to expose the damp material when it is covered by the material which has dried * spreading – to make full use of the space * fluffing – to aerate the material

References

Agriculture {{agriculture-stub