In this neck of the woods. (East central Alberta) I would say most are done or very near it. And although we haven't had any rain yet, the first seeded crops are up and on their way.



We had good soil moisture left from winter and a late snowfall.

That is one big field.

Way behind here with a small percentage of spring planting completed. We are about 3 weeks behind in our planting and about 7-10 days behind in our hay growth and maturity.
What soil type are those fields? Spring moisture got you going well. How well drained or drouthy are the soils? How much rain do you need to get to raise a corn or grain crop there? On average what are the GDU's in your area?
Thank you for posting, need some positive photos to keep pushing forward.

Bryce

Thanks for the thread, Bushmaster.

We are way behind here in Ontario, only 30-40 percent of our corn is planted , the rain just won’t stop

Hope you get your needed rain

air seeders?

I am in same approx area, this surprised me, my fields that are grass are just about knee high right now.

What determines when to cut for hay?

Yes, I think the whole area is done with air seeders. And I think the area soil is classified as dark brown....but I think it can vary greatly in a not too large area. I don't know what the GDU's are.....but if the rains are timely we don't require all that much moisture. Maybe 2-3 inches. Keep in mind, our ground is snow covered during the winter so we get a good start when the snow melts. Corn has only been grown in this area for about 10 years, when they came out with varieties suitable for shorter growing seasons. And all of the corn in this area is strictly for feed, not sweet corn.

What determines when to cut for hay?

It depends upon what you want to feed it too. For milking dairy cows most like to cut alfalfa when it is about 180 RFV. As it wilts on the field it will lose 10-15 RFV points and most like to feed 150-170 RFV alfalfa to their milking cows. That is typically late bud and very early flower stage here with a height of about 26-28 inches. RFV is a feed value formula and we have created in the field PEAK sticks by which farmers and agronomists can use to get a general idea of the value. This measurement stick was created using thousands of lab tests to help verify. For those that mix grass with alfalfa then to get high RFV most need to cut before the grass heads out and the alfalfa will be in the bud stage.
If you want to feed heifers and dry cows then feeding 110-125 RFV would be a goal and around here that would be delaying harvest of 1st cutting by about 10 days or so. Heat is the main driver for maturing alfalfa slower or faster.
If feeding beef etc. then there are different values based on what is being fed, growing steers, nursing cows, etc. The RFV is created to be more accurate for alfalfa and not grass.

With many farmers cutting alfalfa every 30-34 days after 1st cutting much of the later crops are higher than 180 RFV when cut, but those high value crops are blended with enough corn silage so they don't cause digestive issues.
Roughly a RFV of 170 as a feed is about 20-22% protein, 30% ADF and 40 NDF or about in 60s or in Total Digestible nutrients or a bit higher.

Bryce

all the cool season grasses are photo period crops and thus mature based on day length and sun light etc. Most of those reach maturity a bit before the summer solstice. Most native grasses that are cool season have good feed value when the plant is in the boot stage but mature rapidly and decline in feed value quickly once the head out. Many farmers are trying out later maturing orchard grasses etc. to try and keep quality as well as quantity in their grasses.
Alfalfa is a heat unit crop and thus that is why it is later in maturity this spring then normal where the native grasses grew well and actually do better when it is cool and more wet, but not saturated wet.
The suggested cutting dates for alfalfa this year centered around June 2nd where as in typical spring weather that would have been May 24-26 so that is why I stated we are behind.

We have some farmers who will let the hay go longer this year and sacrifice the quality on their 1st cutting, because some have no corn planted at all and corn being a heat unit crop needs a warmer than normal fall when planted after June in our area.

Bryce

Around here - we haven't have a period of 3 dry days to lay any hay down. I thought about it this week and we were over 90% humidity and would have taken multiple days to dry. Only guys getting anything done are wet baling and wrapping cereal rye.