Plan Ahead for Hay This Winter

as it means good production and harvesting conditions in general for hay and forage crops says Jim Hutt who owns Cascade Hay Sales in Chilliwack BC. All of our Interior growers are 10 percent irrigated. I fully expect shortages in the Fraser Valley due to the dry summer. The Valley is for the most part not irrigated and therefore with the lack of rainfall local grass hay fields stopped growing. Additional cuts after first cut second and third this year are almost nonexistent in the Valley.
Yield for the most part is normal with the growers he depends on says Hutt. However one of them is down in quantity due to spring runoff that caused issues with their irrigation system. That resulted in a lack of enough ground moisture early in the growing season.
There may however be issues with beef cattle producers in the Interior being affected by fire says Hutt. Summer rangeland was definitely affected by many of these fires. The result may be earlier than normal hay feed requirements for large cattle herds as they will be off summer range sooner than they would be in normal years. This too will increase demand on hay overall that could reduce what is left available to horse owners. They should be prepared for shortages especially if they typically rely on local grass hay as their primary feed and this would include owners on Vancouver Island. I would highly recommend buying now if they can manage the financial outlay.