Harvest & Storage

There can be a lot of value just waiting to be harvested from alfalfa fields during the fall. Unfortunately, fall-harvesting of alfalfa isn’t a “free lunch,” and sometimes the return isn’t worth the costs.

It has been difficult to make good hay across a large geographic area this spring and summer. Repeated rains, high humidity and reduced sunshine have prevented many growers from finding long enough dry spells to get hay dry, or even to dare cut their hay.

Fermentation of whole plants or plant parts has been around for thousands of years, but there is still this mystical fog among most people about the whole process.

In Texas, corn silage harvest begins early. By late June, when corn is rather green and dry matter hovers around 28 percent, tractors and choppers head out to the fields to start cutting down stalks.

Ensiled forage crops can vary considerably in composition from season to season, within a harvest season and also with time of storage.

In humid climates there can be severe penalties associated with storing hay outside without protection from the elements.