Do you really need to make second cutting hay? Is the quality of your first cutting good enough to get your livestock through the winter? Do you have enough first cutting to get through the winter months? Does it make financial sense to make second cutting?
These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself this hay season.
On my own farm, we make second cutting on about a third of our hay acres. We like to have the better quality hay to feed to the fall cows when they are at peak lactation. The spring cows at the other farm are never fed second cutting. Most of the hayfields there can be grazed, so we stockpile the grass instead of baling it.
Case for a second cutting
Quality and quantity are the two main reasons to make second cutting. If you need the quality for increased production, you will want to continue to make second and even additional cuttings. If your first cutting does not turn off good and you need additional bales to get through the winter, second cutting is a no-brainer.
Case against
When first cutting turns off good and the quality is high, do you really need to make more than one cutting? Making hay is an expensive process with high fuel and fertilizer prices, high costs to purchase and maintain equipment, cost of net wrap and twine and time it takes to do everything. If you can reduce the number of acres you actually cover to get enough hay to make it through the winter, you can save on input costs. Instead of making more hay, you can turn the livestock into the hayfields in either late summer or early fall. You are cutting all of the input costs that go along with making hay. By adding the hayfields into your grazing rotation, you can extend the grazing season and reduce the amount of hay you need for the year.
Benefits of not cutting
Besides the financial benefits of grazing instead of making second cutting, there are many benefits provided to the soil. The cattle are going to spread manure on the fields themselves, returning a large percentage of the nutrients that they consume through the forages. With the addition of the manure, the soil biology is going to improve. The organic matter percentage can increase as well. You are going to reduce the requirements of commercial fertilizer to maintain nutrient levels.
With lower than average rainfall this past month, most of the second cutting is off to a slow start. By allowing the livestock to harvest the forage themselves in the middle of summer, you allow the permanent pastures to receive additional rest to provide more grazing in the fall.
