Pulaski farmers facing hay shortage

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A record freeze in early April followed by two months of drought shortened the early cutting of hay and wiped out summer hay. Recent rains have raised hopes for a better fall cutting. This photograph was taken looking east from Ky. 761 across a hayfield in western Pulaski County. Bill Mardis photo

August 2, 2007

Extension agent: Crop looks ‘optimistic’ for the fall

By BILL MARDIS Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Thu Aug 02, 2007, 09:43 AM EDT

“A hay shortage is reality. It’s real.”

Richard Whitis, extension agent for agriculture in Pulaski County, made the observation, sizing up the current situation for dairy and beef farmers.

“Some farmers have had to liquidate their cattle. ... There is very little hay for sale,” Whitis said. He explained that the problem was caused by a record freeze in April and a severe drought through most of May and June.

Temperatures the first part of April dropped into the teens on a couple of nights, stunting pastures at the onset of the growing season. The Arctic cold moved in April 5 and low temperatures dropped to 19 degrees on April 7; 18 on April 8; and 20 on April 9. On four of five days during the cold spell, maximum readings didn’t get out of the 40s. The ground froze solid and a skift of snow whitened the landscape.

Trees, mostly leafed after a warmer-than-normal March, turned brown. Many plants still show the effects of the record freeze. What normally would be an early cutting of hay was nearly wiped out by the cold.

Before pastures could recover, the rains stopped and most areas of Pulaski County slipped into severe drought conditions that continued through May and June.

June is normally when the dairy industry is celebrated nationally. Very little was said this year because pastures were so dry that fields would have burned over. Farmers had to start feeding cattle with whatever hay they could find. Some animals were sold because of a lack of feed.

“We only got about two-thirds of a crop during the first cutting of hay,” Whitis said. “And, there was no second cutting, or summer hay.”

Whitis believes there is some light at the end of the tunnel. “The hay crop does look optimistic this fall,” he said. Recent rains have greened pastures and grasses are growing.

“If the rains continue, we should have a fairly decent (fall cutting of hay),” Whitis predicted.

Richard Sewell, a dairy farmer in the eastern part of the county for more than 60 years, calls the hay situation “critical.” However, Sewell has recently sold his cows and retired from the dairy business.

“I didn’t sell because of the hay situation,” Sewell said. “I just thought it was time.” He has been operating a dairy farm in the Shopville community for 51 years and was in the dairy business before he moved to his current place on Oscar Carter Road.

“I’ve got plenty of hay,” said Sewell. “I’ve got hay in the barn that’s been there six or eight years. I anticipate dry years like this.” He said somebody is coming to get the hay now that his cows are gone.

Sewell has 30 acres in corn.

“I’ve got 16 acres of beautiful corn that should make a reasonable yield,” said Sewell. His early corn hit the dry weather and “that’s only about a 50 percent stand.”

If worse comes to worse, farmers could get some hay out West, where there reportedly is a bumper crop, Whitis said.

Other alternatives include commodity feeds, including distillery grain, corn gluten and soy hulls. These are by-products of other uses of corn and are cheaper than corn, Whitis said.

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