Plan Ahead for Hay This Winter

than others. In some areas where there was isolated flooding the first cut was late so hay quality was down and the yields were low. And some were not able to get a second cut. He has also heard of a lot of colic at the beginning of the season perhaps from the switch from last years crop to this years.
According to Walter Brown with Quality Crop Care Inc. in Collina New Brunswick the provinces hay problem started in 2016 with a very open winter from Woodstock south which resulted in substantial losses in the first cut. An open winter is one with either a lack of snow cover or rain and abovefreezing temperatures.
The dry weather reduced the second cut to the point that both first and second cuts did not meet a normal first cut says Brown. This resulted in most of the local dairy producers being heavy into the silage and hay market by July when these are usually where you would look to purchase hay. From Woodstock to the Quebec border it was better with most of the hay producers having a normal to slightly lower forage yield. In New Brunswick there is an area at the head of the Bay of Fundy around Sackville that also had lower than normal rainfall. However we experienced many nights with low 5 to 10 C degrees temperatures which resulted in morning fog and which did supply some moisture. This area normally produces forage for the market and is filling some of the losses again this year.
In British Columbia horse owners experienced one of the hottest driest summers and the worst wildfire season on record. In Chilliwack precipitation was 80 4 percent below normal in July and 94 6 percent below normal in August. Once Fraser Valley hay farmers had