Recent Rains A Boost To Hay Crop

Hay fields across Kansas have finally dried enough from recent rain that farmers can begin cutting overgrown alfalfa crops this week.

The Agriculture Department’s hay market reporter in Dodge City says some Kansas producers are cutting as much as 2 tons of hay per acre from the third cutting of alfalfa. That’s twice as much as normal for August across much of the state, but August in Kansas is normally hot and dry, not cool and wet as it has been in recent weeks.

While the third cutting of alfalfa is plentiful, its quality is less certain. That is because much of it has grown too mature and has a lot of weeds in it.