Pennsylvania hay farmers have made unusually early first cuttings this year.
Dry weather gets the credit for the fast start, though farmers don’t want the skies to stay clear for too long.
In Mertztown, Keegan Adam cut 8 acres of mixed hay and 12 acres of alfalfa the week of May 17. That’s two weeks ahead of his usual cutting schedule.
Adam said low humidity drove his decision.
“It wasn’t going to grow as much, so we cut it off,” he said. “It’s drying on the stalk while standing and not sucking up a lot of moisture from the ground.”
About 30% of Pennsylvania’s first cutting had been made by Monday, though about 40% of soils are short of moisture, according to USDA.
In Schuylkill County, farmers interrupted other spring tasks to make a cutting.
“It’s a great opportunity to park the planter and make quality hay,” said Dwane Miller, a Penn State Extension educator in the county.
Many farmers can’t remember the last time they cut hay so early in May, but then again, “it’s been a long time since folks had a stretch of dry weather in May,” Miller said.
Hay fields had a stretch of 70- to 80-degree days before a cold spell swept in. That reduced moisture uptake, impeding the plant’s maturation and resulting in reduced forage height.
The slow growth also meant that the plants didn’t bulk up on the less digestible forms of fiber, and that produced good forage quality.
Hoping for Rain
Miller estimates the average yield for this year’s first cutting is about 80% of normal. With an early cut like this, the tradeoff for quality is quantity, he said.
The dry weather was a respite for farmers who don’t have equipment to make high-moisture baleage, which could be easier to produce than dry hay in a rainy May.
And hay growers have been able to apply nutrients such as nitrogen and potassium to their fields for regrowth.
But hay can’t go too long without rain. Patches of abnormal dryness have lapped into the Northeast on the U.S. Drought Monitor map.
Adam has noticed increased pest pressure, and Miller has particularly noticed problems in alfalfa that has not received insecticide.
“The weevils are causing a lot of damage,” he said.
Miller advises farmers to cut those fields before more damage happens.
The more obvious concern about dry weather, of course, is simply getting enough moisture to grow the second and third cuttings.
“Hopefully we get the rain to sprout out the stuff,” Adam said. “Everything could use the water.”
May 31, 2021 at 05:06PM
https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming/field_crops/first-hay-cutting-arrives-early-due-to-dry-spell/article_919dbcb8-79d1-5d4c-9f33-ec616a622602.html
First Hay Cutting Arrives Early Due to Dry Spell - Lancaster Farming
https://news.google.com/search?q=dry&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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