By Dominik Lobkowicz
A Cunningham Farm hand rakes hay in Jefferson on Sunday. |
Though it can vary by geography, the resounding theme the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry has heard from hay producers this year is the volume of the first hay crop is down, according to Matthew Randall, agricultural compliance supervisor for the department.
“In some cases it’s a quarter, and some instances it’s down a half, but there’s definitely been reports to us about the decreased volume of hay being made in Maine fields this year,” Randall told The Lincoln County News.
“May was a dry month, which was hard on the hay crops,” Randall said. “There’s an old expression that a wet May makes for a barn full of hay.”
Those areas that did receive copious amounts of rain, although the timing of the rain was still not ideal, performed better than those that were extremely dry, he said.
A second or third cut of hay later this year could be better if the conditions are right, but that will be based both on weather and fertility, Randall said.
“Volume wise, the first crop is the crop that gives you the highest volume, so if that is down, even if a second crop or a third crop is up, it’s still quite difficult to make up that deficiency,” he said.
Weeds can also impact yield and quality of hay, Randall said.
When grass is stressed due to an imbalance of rain and sun, “it does increase the weeds’ ability to thrive,” he said. “Once they get a foothold, obviously that can have an impact on this year and years to come.”
How the poor first crop will affect local farmers remains to be seen.
Wayne Cunningham, owner of Cunningham Farm in Waldoboro, is expecting he’ll have to cut some of his dairy herd.
Cunningham’s herd is usually around 150 head, he said.
“I’m going to have to (cut it); it doesn’t make economic sense to buy feed for that many cattle,” Cunningham said.
At some of the places Cunningham hays, the hay is not even 25 percent of normal, he said.
Cunningham said he will not know how many head he will need to cut until the end of the haying season – the second crop of hay could be better – but he could cut as much as 25 to 50 percent of his herd.
Dick Spear, a co-owner of Spear’s Farm in Nobleboro, said the first crop was down quite a bit this year but “the second crop is coming back real good.”
Spear also raises cattle, but is not worried about having enough feed for them.
“I have 120 bred heifers that I raise for another farm, then we have about 50 beef critters of our own,” he said.
The farm cuts enough hay to feed their animals and still sell more. If the crop is off, it just means they will not have as much to sell, Spear said.
According to Randall, last year’s hay crop was pretty good overall and that might soften the blow this year.
“If there is feed left over from last year, that might be able to help carry folks through,” he said.
