First-cutting yield keeps climbing while the feed value drops every day the crop stands. Here's how to read maturity, weather, and stubble…
Grass hay put up a few points too wet heats in the stack long after the baler shuts off. Here's how to…
Waiting for alfalfa to bloom before first cutting trades leaf and protein for tonnage of stem. Here's how to read the field…
First-cutting alfalfa carries most of its feed value in the leaves. Rake and bale at the wrong moisture and you leave the…
First cutting quality is set the day you drop the swather, not the day you feed it. Here's the tradeoff between tonnage…
Hay put up above 18 to 20 percent moisture keeps working after it leaves the field. Sometimes it just molds and loses…
Waiting an extra week to cut first-cutting alfalfa or grass hay buys you tonnage and costs you feed value. Here's how to…
First cutting sets the tone for your whole hay year. Waiting for more tonnage costs you protein, and cutting too short costs…
Wet hay doesn't just mold. Bales put up above safe moisture can heat past 150 degrees, lose feed value, and in a…
Waiting on the alfalfa to bulk up feels like the smart play, but every day past early bloom pulls protein and energy…
Waiting for the swather to fill the windrow buys you bulk, but the protein and energy are already walking out of the…
Every day you wait past the boot stage, your grass hay loses protein and gains stem. Here's how to read the crop…
First cutting is where you make or lose your protein for the year. A few days' delay and the right baling moisture…
Putting up good first-cutting hay in Montana comes down to two fights — cutting at the right maturity and getting it dry…