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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Hay
behind schedule
Weather sets season back
in the Basin, but prices offset some
risk
H&N photos by Todd E. Swenson
Jerry Sayles bales
hay in a field near Spring Lake and
Old Midland roads Wednesday. Despite
a late start, the hay industry in
the Klamath Basin is working to keep
up with demand.
The long, cold winter that melted into a colder than-normal spring has set the Klamath Basin’s growing season back.
Hay production is about two weeks behind schedule, forcing local growers to change their management and cutting practices. Hay is one of the bigger agricultural commodities in the Basin, making up about 20 percent, or $62 million, of Klamath County agricultural commodities in 2007, according to the OSU Extension Service.
Steve Kandra, who grows hay on both sides of the Oregon/California border, said he’s changing from a four-cut to a three-cut year this season because the risk on the back end of the season is too great.
“That last cutting is always kind of a question mark,” said Rich Roseburg, Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center agronomist. “If all of a sudden that last cutting disappears or the yield is reduced because of short growing time, that could put a real cramp on what’s available compared to normal.”
In a normal year, Kandra cuts on a 34- to 35-day interval. This year, it will be about 39 to 40 days and instead of finishing the fourth cutting in late September, he’ll finish with a third in mid-September.
Kandra estimated that at the end of the season he’ll have about 15 to 20 percent less commodity than normal. The yield loss on the first cutting was about 20 to 25 percent lighter, he guessed, and the combination of those yields and a curtailed season means it’s hard to make up.
Typical yields, depending on management, are about six to eight tons of alfalfa per acre and four to six tons of grass hay per acre.
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expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml