July 1, 2010

Hay-making weather arrived. Finally. For most of us, last week was the first good stretch of hay making weather all year.

Who would have thought a couple months ago that we'd have to wait until  late June to take the first cutting. In some fields hay laid in the windrow for several weeks waiting to get dry.

Given this less than predictable start, let’s consider how to manage the rest of the haying season.

If you were lucky enough to get your first cutting done before all the weather delays, my only advice is to move forward just like you planned to do normally. And if you finally cut for the first time last week, my advice is much the same. However, consider taking your next harvests a bit sooner than usual to get some better quality hay and to time cuts so they occur at favorable dates in the season.

For the rest of you who had hay down earlier and were just able to bale it, you probably have strips of nice looking regrowth separated by strips of nearly bare ground where windrows were smothering your alfalfa. If that alfalfa doesn’t come back, consider planting replacement fields later this summer or next spring.

If it does regrow, be careful about when you take next cutting. Those plants are really weak. If you harvest when the good looking plants are ready, many of the weakened plants might be killed. If you want to save the field, wait until weakened plants start to bloom, even though the rest may be way too mature.

Start planning now for the rest of your hay cuttings this year. What you do this year could have a big impact for several years.

Bruce Anderson
Extension Forage Specialist