5 acre of timothy with some clover

A lot of people let others bale their hay just to get it cut. The trouble with this approach is that the minerals, N, K, and P are being removed each haying and not replaced. Fertilizer is expensive, and lime isn't really that cheap if you have it spread.

If you can get a 1/3 or more of the hay and sell it, or if the person who bails it will give you some money for it, put it back in fertilizer. That way you can keep the field up without it going down hill. It will also up you yield of hay. If you have equipment it might almost be better to bush-hog it once a year. If you can put animals on it, or rent it to pasture to someone who lives adjacent, that would work too. Last year, around here, people were begging for pasture.