Haying or lack of

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Here, near Regina where conditions are good for haying, we have very little. The swath is so thin that it dries out in a day. Which scenario would you rather have? Guess both suck, eh?

That is my biggest complaint about growing hay. We can either grow a crop big enough to make it economic, but then there is no way to get it up in good shape, sometimes even becoming worthless, or we can grow a poor crop, which gets up in great shape easily, but still doesn't pay the bills.

And the years when you need to hot sunny windy weather to dry a heavy crop, we don't get it, the same moisture that grew the crop never quits, and on the years when the crop is really light, the same hot dry weather continues on even though it isn't required to dry such a light crop.

I would rather have a great crop and great haying weather, but the two rarely seem to occur on the same year.

[woodland]

That is my biggest complaint about growing hay. We can either grow a crop big enough to make it economic, but then there is no way to get it up in good shape, sometimes even becoming worthless, or we can grow a poor crop, which gets up in great shape easily, but still doesn't pay the bills.

And the years when you need to hot sunny windy weather to dry a heavy crop, we don't get it, the same moisture that grew the crop never quits, and on the years when the crop is really light, the same hot dry weather continues on even though it isn't required to dry such a light crop.

I would rather have a great crop and great haying weather, but the two rarely seem to occur on the same year.

I’ll second that.
I wish the last 6+ inches I could bottle up and save for the next dry spell whenever that is. I’m glad we put everything into barley instead of canola and wheat since the season is dragging on in slow motion with this cold wet weather. Everything is 2-4 weeks behind and we’re only 6 weeks away from when it snowed last year.

[ajl]

Here, near Regina where conditions are good for haying, we have very little. The swath is so thin that it dries out in a day. Which scenario would you rather have? Guess both suck, eh?

We had that last year but did have bales of good quality. The only thing in a bale so far this year is fit only for bedding and poor quality bedding at that. Which would you rather have? Did get to see a tractor and baler stuck in a hay field this year for the first time in my life. Haying terrible here east of Edmonton as well.