THIS is little bluestem. It actually is only about 50% of the soil’s population of grasses, the big thing is that it grows after the other grass chokes out from drought. It thrives on very little rain.
The tall yellow stuff?
yes. It is January in this photo… I let it go to seed before whacking it down so that it re-seeds itself. How it got this thick has been all a matter of strategic brushhogging/haying. As of right now, there are many many ironweed plants in this field. Once i let the sheep in (July 1) they’ll eat down ALLLL everything with a broadleaf (like goats do y’know) and what is left…well, that will be this little bluestem.
O.K that makes sense. I was going to say it should be called something other than bluestem 
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Anyone have an idea as to when second cutting from Canada might be available? That’s where my supplier sources it from but they are always very grumpy when I ask questions like this and I really just don’t know how long it generally is between first and second cut. But I am getting low on my stock from last year and just want to know if I might need a stop gap delivery of last year’s crop.
It depends on where in Canada. Some parts have had plenty of rain, others not so much.
Meanwhile, for the past few weeks my mare has been eating absolutely lovely first cut hay from The General Field in the town where she is boarded, just a mile or so away. We’ve had to cut back of her hay and her grazing time because she’s getting fat.
ETA: we had basically no rain from May 1 to May 20, but it was wet enough before and since to get a very nice hay crop. I think hers was cut in early June.
The hay in my``10 acre field was cut. The farmer’s baler broke down before he could bale it. So yesterday it rained and rained etc. and there is more rain in the forecast. Now I wonder what will happen to this hay Is there any way it can be salvaged? The field has to be cleared so that I can put my horses out there this fall.
Any advice or suggestions?
Well… all you can do IMO is “wait”. Wait for it to stop raining, and dry out. Then bale it. If you can get it dry, it may still be functional as feed. Or as bedding. If you normally do have a low humidity environment, it is amazing how it will dry. Just don’t turn it until it is DRY ENOUGH. Let it dry as it has fallen. When the row is 3/4 dry, and only still damp underneath… THEN turn it. Good luck. It happens to all of us… the rain at the worst time ever.
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oh mannnn…that hurts! It has happened to all of us though. Nutritional value plummets when it gets rained upon. If you have cattle, you could have it bagged and silaged…add some sugar juice…that makes it lovely for them. If only horse(s) you just have to wait til it dries. Make sure it is verrrrrrry dry! If he has a tedder that would help, but you can’t ted until the surrounding ground has dried or it will just re-wet the top dry stuff that lands face-down (if that makes sense…sorry if it doens’t). Don’t let the guy bale it damp… Horses can’t take mold even in bedding, because they WILL eat bedding!
Oh, and i’d roundbale it and stack and tarp… Just because why waste primo hay storage space on crappy hay.
Luckily I don’t need that hay. I allow the farmer that works my back 20 to take it off. He does rounds which I don’t use. I just feel so badly for him. He has had so much bad luck lately I was just hoping that somehow he can still use it. I was also wondering if it can used for bedding… For my benefit I want it off the field rather than sit there and rot.
I am afraid to ask him personally. Luckily I purchased my small squares a couple of weeks ago. Nicely stored in the mow. I don’t use round bales for several reasons and have always been very particular and careful about the hay for my horses.
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I was right, it didn’t look like as much. Only 11 rounds, they got 34 last year. Jesus.
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Whoa. That is awful.
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We are thinking about getting ready to cut hay here. We’ve had quite a bit of rain, and a warm spring, so we are “early” (for us). We still only have ONE functional irrigation gun, the other one is STILL waiting for parts from France to arrive. But fortunately, with the rain we have received, we are doing fine. Will be a smaller irrigation electricity bill this year (so far), so that’s a good thing. We’ve got about 46 acres to cut, which will be done sequentially. We don’t lay everything down all at once… just in case the weather goes to shit.
But apparently the thundershowers we’ve been getting are gonna stop, and the hot and dry weather is gonna start, which is what we’ve been waiting for. Looks like a bumper crop too! Our main fields are alfalfa/grass, our little fields are meadow grass (a mix of grasses native to this area). Looks like we will also be cutting our winter pasture again this year, it’s grown up pretty well since the horses moved off it this spring. It’s only a small area, but we got a couple tons off it last year.
The little grass fields, the DH cuts, and I do the rest. The big fields, he cuts, I rake, and he round bales most of it. We pick up the round bales 17 at a time on the flat deck trailer we have, and they go into the hay barn. He loads and unloads, I drive the truck. One small difficult corner of the alfalfa field, I usually small square bale it, for about 60 bales, because it usually gets done last, and he’s about spent by that point, and has lost interest. The small square bales, I pick those up by hand, into the tractor bucket six at a time, and put them in the corner of the barn. We don’t usually sell any of those, I have that one horse who can’t have alfalfa, and so she is catered to with this hay.
It’s looking like a good crop of hay, tall and thick grass everywhere! Just need the weather to hold. Time to get busy.
I bought hay for many years before we moved to this farm 14 years ago. I love having our own hay, knowing what goes into to every bale, and what doesn’t. I love watching it grow, and watching it get cut, raked, dried and baled. I love seeing a barn full of our hay. I love not being dependent on a hay dealer. We sell locally, we are a small time producer. We are far enough away from large population centers that our clients are also only local, and small scale horse owners.
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Second cutting here in the PNW (if you mean hay from Alberta/western prairies-- will be similar) comes in late July and early August. This means the irrigated orchard hay. The early alfalfa from WA is so-so this year, due to rain messing with cutting schedules/falling on cut hay. Saw an article in the paper about how much of the export first cut alfalfa is not going to be graded premium. They often get 3-4 cuts of alfalfa off the big irrigated farms in central and eastern WA.
I’m going to be picking up a couple tons of “tide me over” hay from my broker next week, so I’ll get a report on the Central Oregon hay situation from him. There’s lots of irrigation water this summer, which is great news. The sporadic thunderstorms they’ve been getting is not good news, however. I usually buy his first cut-- it’s beautiful hay, not stemmy or full of seed heads, a mix of orchard and some other grasses-- I don’t look too closely because my horses gobble it down, and it tests low NSC which is a glorious side effect! (I have retired horses at home, who are Cushings/IR).
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must have been some good alfalfa produced never here as the feed store near us has reduced their cost on three string bales of alfalfa by $5 a bale
the Teff we us from another feed store did come down $1 per bale
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Severe drought conditions continue here in central MO. This is the first year I have had to feed hay this far into summer (partially because I have had to separate the herd because of my foal). Grass is pretty much dead and the horses are mostly munching on weeds when out at night. I’m starting to get very nervous that I’m going to have to dip into my hay supply for next year if we don’t get rain to help the grass grow. I’ve started being a bit more careful with how much I feed and opting to feed mostly in nets so there is less wastage (my old men are particularly awful about wasting hay). Thankfully I can afford to buy more if we really need to, but I’m worried about being able to source it. The farm that I normally buy alfalfa from has already warned people they might not be able to fulfill all their pre orders if the weather does not change.
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The rain continues to go around us too @FromTheGalaxy. I have no grass to speak of in my pasture. It is short and brown/ tinged green but I still have to muzzle 2 of mine overnight and the one I don’t muzzle is about to pop.
The only hay I feed is 1 heaping wheelbarrow full each morning when we clean out the goats feeders. The horses are plump and shiny and I have no idea how but for once I am happy I have easy keepers.
I just keep being hopeful that one of the hit and miss storms will hit us for once.
We got the last of the first cut done and the yields were unbelievably bad. Our customer is going to have to find an additional source this year unless the heavens open over us and a second cut is good.
Hay prices here are starting to get crazy…
Could you post about what you hear about eastern Oregon hay after you talk to your broker, please. I am eagerly awaiting getting my hay in for the year in the Willamette Valley…Thank you for the report on Washington hay…
i was training dogs over in Columbia (MO) this morning and saw my hay guys had cut their large alfalfa field across the highway. It looked good. Then coming back home around noon the sky opened up and rained just as i was passing back home. Good news is they’d already raked…but still. I just really do hope i don’t end up with any of that…
The guy that delivers to me has become a friend, i think he’ll take care of me…? I hope so. We are expecting rains Fri and Sat. Fingers crossed!!! 
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I’m supposed to be going to a show on Saturday, but I will gladly eat the entry fee if it gets rained out! Crossing my fingers too!
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