Customer Spotlight

The Landskovs Put Up Their Own Hay for Their Highland Herd

Crawford, Texas

Out in Crawford, Texas, Leighellen and Jeff Landskov run a personal farm with a herd that turns heads everywhere they go — Highland cows. Those long horns and shaggy coats aren't just for show. Highlands are hardy, easy-keeping cattle that thrive on good grass and good hay. And that second part is exactly why the Landskovs came to see us.

Taking Hay Season Into Their Own Hands

Like a lot of small farm owners, the Landskovs knew the quality of their hay matters as much as the quantity. When you're feeding your own animals off your own land, you want to cut when the grass is right — not when someone else can finally fit you into their schedule. Cutting and baling their own hay means the Landskovs control the timing, the quality, and the cost, season after season.

They just needed the right equipment to do it. So we put together a complete cut-rake-bale system sized for their farm and their tractor.

The Equipment They Chose

DM-2555 55" Drum Mower

The first step to great hay is a clean cut. The DM-2555 needs just 25 PTO horsepower, so it's right at home behind a compact tractor. Its counter-rotating drums slice cleanly through the grass and lay it down neatly behind you — simple, dependable, and built to cut season after season without drama.

Takakita 2270 Gyro Rake

The 2270 pulls double duty as both a rake and a tedder. It fluffs and turns the cut grass so it dries faster and cures evenly, then pulls it into clean, uniform windrows sized just right for a mini round baler. It's quiet, easy to run, and Japanese-made by Takakita — a company that's been building farm implements for over a century.

MRB 855 Net Round Mini Baler

The workhorse of the operation. The Japanese-made MRB 855 mounts on the three-point hitch, runs on as little as 18 PTO horsepower, and turns those windrows into tight, net-wrapped 22" x 27" bales weighing roughly 25 to 60 pounds each. With self-contained hydraulics, automatic net binding, and eight density settings, it can roll out up to 150 bales an hour in good conditions.

Why Mini Bales Make Sense for a Highland Herd

Here's the thing about a small herd: a big 1,000-pound round bale is more hay than you need at one time, and it's more hay than one person can move without a big tractor and a spear. Mini round bales change all that. The Landskovs can pick up a bale by hand, feed exactly what the herd needs, and store the rest in the barn without heavy equipment. Less waste, less spoilage, and no more wrestling with bales that outweigh the truck.

With the mower, rake, and baler working together, Leighellen and Jeff now handle their hay from standing grass to stacked bales — all on their own schedule, all on their own land. That's exactly the kind of independence we love helping our customers build.

Congratulations to Leighellen and Jeff — we can't wait to see those Highlands enjoying hay off their own place. Welcome to the SFI family!

Phil Livengood
President, Small Farm Innovations

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