AG Weather Impacts

AG Weather Impacts

Hay growers around the inland northwest are working hard to get grass and alfalfa baled and beat expected showers this weekend. Yesterday, I talked with Brian Cortese of P and B Hay. They grow alfalfa, orchardgrass, and timothy southeast of Ellensburg in the Denmark area.

Brian described optimum baling conditions.

Brian:

For alfalfa, we have two weather stations on the farm. Usually right around 65 to 70 percent humidity; that's kind of the start of our baling on alfalfa and we usually go until it gets about 85 percent and then it gets a little too wet. Usually for orchardgrass, we like to be baling anything below 35 percent humidity. That tends to make a pretty good bale.

Rain on Hay can devalue hay drastically, especially right before baling

Brian:

It mostly damages the color. Color is really our biggest selling point. Customers, they tend to be attracted more to green hay than yellow hay, so we really do our best to try to put it up as nice as possible. It's pretty drastic. It probably reduces the value anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent depending on how hard the hay was hit with weather.

Good luck to Brian and all the hay growers in getting their crop gathered without significant rain damage.

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