Last night we finished our first cutting of hay, one of the biggest jobs of the year. The yields were very good and we hope the quality will be as well.
Usually when the yields are high, the quality is a bit lower, and when the yields are low, the quality is higher. We get high-quality baleage when the protein and sugar levels in the grass are high, which makes the forage very digestible to a ruminant. Generally as the grass gets older, the digestibility goes down. It is a bit of a race to get the hay cut as early as possible. Thankfully, the dry weather we had last week allowed us to get the hay done at the right time. This week we will spread chicken manure on the hay fields to replace the nutrients we just removed in each bale.
All the ewes have lambed and are out to pasture. We are a little over halfway through calving, which is going well.
Thanks for reading,
Leith, Mary Kate & Norah MacKenzie
Comments