Timothy hay harvest in full swing
Posted on Tue, Jul 03, 2012
The 1st cutting Timothy hay harvest is going strong. 
Growers have been watching the weather carefully. Intermittent showers are causing harvesting delays across Kittitas Valley and the Columbia Basin. Both areas had rain fall during the last two weekends. We estimate that a quarter of the Timothy harvested in the Kittitas Valley received rain. The Timothy that was rained on was moderately to severely damaged. The showers weren't quite as problematic in the Columbia Basin as harvest started a little earlier. Many fields had already been baled and stored before the showers hit. In addition, many growers were able to stop cutting once the forecast called for rain. We estimate that only 15% of the Columbia Basin Timothy was damaged by rain.
Though showers moved through the region this week, harvest continued in Washington. So far the yields are good. The forecast looks promising in the next week and there is plenty of nice hay left to harvest throughout the Kittitas Valley and Columbia Basin. We may see a shower or two fall in the area today.
The 2nd cutting Alfalfa harvest is experiencing much of the same rain delays as Timothy. Harvesting is beginning to pick up as the sunshine moves in. Washington has about a quarter of the 2nd cutting fields cut while Utah has about 10%. Baling hasn’t yet started as the hay is curing.
We expect straw harvest to remain on schedule with the earliest fields beginning to cut next week.
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