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May 23, 2025
The Missouri University Extension Office is encouraging farmers to make hay early in the season
The Missouri University Extension Office is encouraging farmers to make hay early in the season, rather than waiting. Many grasses such as tall fescue, orchard grass and Kentucky bluegrass are already flowering across the state, and forage specialist with the Extension Office Harley Naumann says farmers should cut those grasses now, before they go to seed. Once they pass into seed, he explains "fiber content increases and there is an overall decline in nutritive value".
An earlier initial harvest will also set farmers up for success later in the season, Naumann says, as it resets the field for hotter season grasses to take over, ensuring productive fields and more nutritous harvest through the fall. He also encourages cutting high. By leaving behind about 4 inches at the base of the grass, farmers encourage the grass to regrow vigorously and outcompete weeds.
