The harvest of 2014 started with a great looking fall in 2013 for planting new fields. Early fall rains created great stands going into the winter, it was definitely shaping up better than the previous year. Winter was another story, bringing two weeks of record breaking cold with snow and frozen soils. Seedling fields became damaged by frost heaving and stunted plant growth coming into the spring.

 

Spring weather seemed to be right on track and grass pollination looked good. Harvest timing is always difficult to predict with variation in crop heading, making it a challenge to know when to swath for optimum yields. For combining we had hot and dry weather with only a couple large thunderstorms slowing down production by about a week.

The combination of moisture and good weather definitely affected seed yields. Early crops like Annual Ryegrass, Forage Tall Fescue and Fine Fescue had excellent yields. As harvest continued, the warm and dry weather hurt the later maturing Perennial Ryegrass and Tall Fescues. This resulted in high cleanouts and light yields on fields without irrigation. Prices remained the same this year for the most part, creating a decent year overall.

This fall has been promising for ground prep and seeding so far, so we can hope for high yields and quality to come next year. Barenbrug’s diverse portfolio of forage, turf grasses and legumes offer great options for the grower. Ask how you can become part of our team today.

 

Mark Beitel
North Field Man