Hay Crops being ruined here due to storms

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Marty

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Just when we thought we'd get four cuttings this year.....

Word from the local farmers today say once again hay will be scarce this year due to the storms.

My hay man has only one cutting done and it's not good. Never liked the first cutting anyhow but I had to have some and bought a few bails and nope, it's not good. Very stemmy, weedy. yuk.

He's been trying to cut a second cutting for the longest time, now of course it's overly mature and sitting in 2 to 3 feet of water in the valley.

I like to start stocking up for winter by September but there may not be anymore.

I also heard today on the weather channel that this is going to be a terrible year for tropical storms, more hurricanes etc.

This does not sound good!
 
Join the club. First cut here is nearly all ruined--the earliest hay to get cut here laid in the fields for about 2 weeks, was plumb black by the time the farmers got to bale it & get it off the fields...the stuff that was left standing a bit longer didn't lay out quite as long, it was just grey, not quite black by the time it got baled. The later-still stuff, well, some did get baled without rain on it, but I have to wonder how much of it was baled tough just so it could get baled before the next storm hit.

There's a lot more hay (still 1st cut) down right now--fields have water sitting in them in places....those that were cut first just about have 2nd cut ready to knock down, aand everyone is sure hoping 2nd cut will fare better than first....

We actually like 1st cut--that's the cut that gives us our grass hay; 2nd cut is almost pure alfalfa...we don't too often see a 3rd cut around here. We have a couple horses that can't have alfalfa, so I sure hope there's some grass hay around somewhere for us this year. Even if it's grass hay that is cut late & so is overripe, we'll take it--have no choice if we want those horses to eat.
 
Just when we thought we'd get four cuttings this year
Good heaven's!!!
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We're lucky if we have good enough weather and a long enough season for two!!

Just a week ago, we had a 10 minute hailstorm that has pretty well completely decimated our Annapolis Valley's apple crop... Considering it is the "Apple growing Capital" of Eastern Canada...that's NOT a good thing.
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That's too bad Marty - I always use first cutting here and it is nice fluffy grass hay - horses LOVE it!

You are just having a heck of a time up there on that mountain aren't you. Hang in there, Holly is about to give you the best gift of all very soon.
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Sorry MArty, that's a shame!

Just bought 25 bales first cutting from a new source and I must say I like it..mine get fat so easily and we stay with that..

this is nice and green and fresh/sweet smelling and nice heavy bales for $1.50 off the wagon, $2.00 from their barn.

We get it off the wagon right away as i'ts nice and fresh and dry and we store off the ground to keep air circulationg around it..So we plan to go right back next week and get 50 more bales, and 25 more end of August.

Hopefully that will last the Winter for just our two. We hear here that hay will be going up due to our near draught conditions here..so get it while you can
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Maxine
 
Marty,

We are having same problem here, except we have NO rain. I know a farmer that grows over 100 acres of coastal hay, says he wish he had saved last years left overs, he sells the old hay in the spring, because he is hoping just for a second cutting. We usually get 3 cuttings, last year we got 4. So far this year we have had 1, and the grass is no where near ready for a second. Everything is dry, dry dry.
 
Lucky for me I found a new hay source last year and the lady has been WONDERFUL. The farm raises the New World Feeder Bermuda and they have 160 acres of it. It took over 5 years to get the fields really established and they have the soil tested every spring and adjust the fertilizer and nutrients accordingly.

When I got my first batch from them out of the field last year they had only laid down a small area (18 acres) I have never seen bales so close together and rows only wide enough to get a truck through. They baled 2000 bales off that 18 acres.

They have already cut their first crop and what is so nice is their property is right along a river and this New World is draught resistant and send down very long virgious roots. Even though we are about 6-7 inches behind in rain they will have another cutting this summer and maybe one in late fall.

I already have my 400 bales on reserve. She delivers it and stacks in my barn of $5.00/bale which is a great deal for me.
 
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Man do I feel lucky, my small bales of grass hay are here and stacked in the barn. My husband is still cutting and baling the big rounds for the cattle, but last week my FIL brought me 65 bales of good grass hay and I also ended up with 35 bales of good alfalfa bales (was supposed to be 100 of grass - but when someone brings it to your door and stacks it, you can't complain too much at 60 cents per bale). I may need to find a few more grass bales, but overall I'm very happy to have what I do. It's all dryland around here, so we are lucky to get one cutting per year. If I have to I can stretch it by adding 12% pellets to their diet.
 
We started out wet here in MN so 1st cutting was late but no rain on it. Second cutting is now all down and being baled - no rain. Third cutting will be short because of the lack of rain this month but we should get a good 3 cuttings and both 1st and 2nd are heavier and higher quality than they were last year. (We have dairy cattle so raise primarily alfalfa and I have one alfalfa/timothy/clover mix field for my horses).
 

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