A hay farmer in the Steinbach area says if we go through another month with little to no rain, there may not be a third cut this year.

Tyrone Laing of Laingspring Farm says they started their second cut on Monday of this week. He says surprisingly, yields were down only marginally.

"I would say first cut was a little bit better," says Laing. "I thought second cut would be worse."

He notes yields for the second cut are below average. Back in June, their first cut netted above average quality but average to below average yields.

According to Laing, their land has received only about three-quarters of an inch of rain since the first cut five weeks ago. He says if that trend continues, they will have to decide whether it makes any sense to attempt a third cut.

"If it's not going to rain, or if it rains about as much as it did between first cut and second cut, there might not be a third cut," he suggests. "Because then we're going to sacrifice the health of the field and we might be better off just to let it stand."

Laing says it is very dry out there and the ground is starting to use up all of its reserves. He notes though there have been dry periods in recent years, this is the driest he has seen it over the last three years and notes some farmers are saying how it reminds them of the '80s.

Meanwhile, Laing says they will have enough feed for their dairy farm, but notes he is hearing in the beef industry that pastures are drying up and there are cow/calf pairs for sale.

"I mean you got to have feed for winter," says Laing. "And if you don't then you have to mitigate problems and mitigate risk to be able to get through it."