High Imput Costs May Hamper Forage, Hay Gains
Patti Drapala, MSU Ag Communications
Cattle Today
Mississippi State — Weather has been kind to Mississippi’s hay and forage producers, but the economy has not. An unusually cool spring, buffered by adequate rainfall, has increased growth in cool-season forages. Spring is the optimum period for nutrient and sugar content to develop in forages grown for hay, and Mother Nature’s timing was good.
“This set of circumstances has given producers an opportunity to cut some hay at its highest point of quality,” said David Lang, associate professor of agronomy at Mississippi State University.
Cooperative temperatures and rainfall have allowed producers in the state to obtain extra annual ryegrass for hay. Producers in south Mississippi were fortunate to experience good growth in bermudagrass, which added to their hay supplies.
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