Hay producers dealing with winter kill as they wrap up first cut

Many alfalfa growers in the southeast are wrapping up their first cut of hay for the season.

Tim Penner is with Benner Holsteins. He says because of the winter kill this year; they did not pull off as much hay as normal in their first cut.

Penner says they normally grow about 500 acres of alfalfa for their farm. This year, they are down to 350, as a result of the tough winter and spring it was for their fields. 

"We had a couple of fields we just gave up on and we had to cultivate them under and plant corn in there because the winter kill was right around 50 per cent of the field," he says. "It was pretty extreme in some spots."

Penner explains that the damage happened when puddles formed from the mild winter and then that water froze. He says in February the ice was thick enough on their fields that they went skating with their Steinbach Piston who was living with them.

"We were able to have a little bit of fun there," he says. "You know that you can have fun in February, but you know that the misery is coming in spring because there is definitely going to be no alfalfa growing underneath there."

According to Penner, the winter kill they saw on their fields was probably the worst in about 15 years. 

Skating on a frozen alfalfa field in February. (Photo credit: Tim Penner)

Meanwhile, Penner says they started with the first cut last week Monday and wrapped up just before the rain hit Saturday night. He notes a June 10th start is right on par for their farm.  

Penner notes yields were down because of the winter kill. He thinks the quality is good but says they will be doing some feed tests shortly.

Penner says the second cut of hay for the season is about 30 days after the first cut.