Harvest & Storage

I remember a conversation from about 30 years ago concerning Fairfield, Idaho, hay.

The topic was which hay growers had and used hay rakes and which did not.

When harvesting your alfalfa hay the goal is to optimize nutrient content and maximize tonnage. Harvest timing is critical to striking this balance.

With record-setting early spring weather, parts of southern Michigan are seeing alfalfa fields with above-average growth.

Some of these fields may have been slated to be planted to corn and along with the early growth, the question is whether producers should consider taking the first cutting off these fields before planting to corn?

Just when hay stocks are at a low, and haylage inventories are dwindling at the end of another season, Mother Nature is giving us a gift in the form of an early spring. Throughout much of the country most hay is three to four weeks ahead of normal.

The use of baleage, also known as round bale silage, continues to grow across the upper Midwest on dairy and livestock farms.

Excellent-quality hay has a high nutritive value and animal intake. Hay quality can differ widely within a single species grown in the same location due to management.