LET’S TALK ABOUT HAY

LET’S TALK ABOUT HAY  Overheard in the feed store recently: “I only feed first crop hay. Horses should never have second crop, that’s for cows.” “My horses only eat second crop hay. Supplements? Nope, I don’t believe in them. Just second crop hay. It’s all they need.” Which statement is correct? Neither, although each has some interesting points to consider. Today we’re going to look at the haying season, the differences in first and second crop, and why your horse needs more than just hay. We’ll talk about the economics of hay and some alternatives you can use when hay is poor quality or in short supply, as it was this past year. Here in Maine, we hope to have two cuttings, or crops, of hay. In an ideal summer, the first would happen in June and the second would likely happen in August. It might even be possible to have a third cutting, but it’s never a sure thing. That’s because haying is dependent on the weather. If spring is cold and wet, then the grass is slow-growing, and the ground is muddy, and farmers can’t get out in the fields to cut. If we have a hot, dry summer like last year, the grass won’t grow much because of the lack of rain, and the fields won’t yield as much. We’ve had years when spring came early and some people were able to hay in May, we’ve had wet years when tractors couldn’t even get onto the fields to cut first crop until July because of the mud, and we’ve had years when some people were able to cut a third crop in late September and into early October. There are several factors to consider before the farmer heads out to the field. The condition of the ground matters, as no one wants to cause damage by getting stuck in a muddy field, and you, as the customer, wouldn’t buy hay that is covered in dried mud. The weather forecast must be favorable, as hay needs on average three days to dry properly before it can be baled. The grass needs to be at the right point in its life cycle, and that is what is of the most concern to us as we feed it our horses. The farmer can’t custom order the proper weather for haying- he must take advantage of windows of opportunity as they open. And sometimes those windows don’t open until the hay is more mature than we would like. As a result, the hay may be coarser than your horse prefers, and it may look brown or be dusty. Overly mature hay is lower in protein and nutrients and not as digestible, so the horse gets less nutrition from it. On the other hand, cutting the hay too early isn’t good either because the stems may not be long enough to stay together in a bale and it may not dry properly, leading to moldy hay or hay that can cause a fire in your barn. (Never feed moldy hay. The toxins and the dust can be dangerous and even deadly for your horse. It doesn’t matter how little- or how much- you paid for it. It isn’t worth it.) Now let’s look back at the statements at the beginning of this article. Why might someone believe that horses should not eat second crop? It used to be a widely held belief that second crop was too rich in sugars and starches for horses, meaning that it would lead to laminitis, colic, and other ailments. Then that belief modified to “too rich for SOME horses.” Most of the time, second crop hay is greener and leafier than first crop and higher in nutrients…but not always. How do you tell? Have a hay analysis done on your hay and you’ll get a true picture of the calorie, protein, and carbohydrate count. You can’t tell just by looking. I put away both first and second crop one year thinking that the Morgans would get the first crop and the TB and TB crosses would have the second…and then I had the hay analyzed. It turned out that the second crop had fewer calories and a lower carb value than the first crop, so I had to switch what everyone was eating! The TBs went on to the first crop and the Morgans ate the second crop. So, what about the second statement regarding feeding only second crop, and nothing else with it? Even though the second crop hay may be lovely and green and leafy, it’s likely not supplying all your horse’s needs. While it’s true that forage should be the major component of a horse’s diet, we live in an area where hay can’t produce all the nutrients that a horse requires. It may be low in protein or calories or minerals. Our area of the country is notably deficient in selenium. It may be high in one category, such as calories, but low in protein, leading to horses with a decreased muscle mass. Again, a hay analysis will tell you. This is where a ration balancer is ideal- it fills the nutritional gap without adding carbs or many calories to the diet. Now I know it’s impractical to analyze the hay before you buy it. If you are buying out of the field, you take what you can get. If you are buying from a feed store, the hay probably comes from several sources so it’s nearly impossible to get an analysis on all the hay. I encourage you though to test any hay that you buy in large quantity so that you know what you are feeding, and then you can address any excesses or deficiencies accordingly. How do you get your hay analyzed? Ask your local feed store if they offer testing. As I’m writing this, the 2021 haying season hasn’t started yet. It will hopefully be a better year for hay production than 2020 was. In southern Maine,