Weather impacts hay quality

COLUMBIA BASIN — The first cutting is in for alfalfa hay in the Basin, and it’s not all it should be, according to Mark Anderson of Anderson Hay & Grain.

“We were hoping to get a lot more high-test supreme and premium alfalfa for dairies,” Anderson said. “We struggled a little bit with weather that interrupted the perfect harvest window. So there's there's been a fair amount of inventory that's just under that supreme and premium testing.”

The USDA grades hay at five levels, according to its website: Supreme, premium, good, fair and utility. Anderson’s customers are primarily concerned with premium- or supreme-grade hay, he said.

The strange weather patterns this year have put a damper on the hay cutting, so to speak. Hay’s moisture content prior to baling is critical to its quality, according to a publication from the Washington State University Extension, and rainy weather and other atmospheric conditions can make or break a crop.

Oregon and Idaho had similar difficulties with the weather, according to the USDA NASS report.

“Most of the buyers right now are looking for the supreme and premium,” he said, “so they're busy trying to find that hay in other parts of the west coast.”

“We even had some of that early smoke from Canada, which hasn't helped. We're hoping (with) second cutting we'll see more of the supreme- and premium-testing hay, because that's kind of where most of the demand is right now.”

First cutting is still underway for timothy, Anderson said, and the second cutting for alfalfa is just beginning in the Tri-Cities area.

“We're hoping that we get some high-testing hay from that,” he said. “No rain and decent curing conditions. It'll be nice to get through this current cold weather cycle we have. It looks like it's supposed to warm up quite a bit by the end of the week, so that'll be good.”

Joel Martin can be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.