# 1st year 5th cut Alfalfa??



## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

Admittedly I am new to buying hay but, I've heard of 1st & 2nd cuts but never had anyone put the year in the ad & I've never heard of 5th cut... 

Does that mean, same field, grown & cut 5 times?? Would that be good??

Thanks!
Kim


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Yep it sure does mean that field has been cut five times so far that year. My hay supplier gets up to twelve(rarely but sometimes up to 20) cuttings on their fields. The later the cuttings the less nutritional value. If it's not stemmy or anything its good stuff. 5th cutting is fine. I'm currently useing 8th cutting.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Also the year means its probably a bit weedey since its a new feild and the alfalfa has not compleatly established itself yet. However that's not always a bad thing. Goats like allot of weeds.


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

So at $10 bale as opposed to the dry crap we've been getting that's $18/bale might be worth a try.......


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## IrishRoots (Jan 7, 2013)

Wow, I thought hay prices here were high!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

IrishRoots said:


> Wow, I thought hay prices here were high!


 *Snort* I'm paying $18.99 for first cut or grass hay. :hammer:


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I won't complain about our hay prices! They are NOTHING compared to your guyses!


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## LamanchaAcres (Jan 11, 2013)

Ours are 13 a bale for first cut alfalfa and oat.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Ugh we were paying through the nose until we settled for giving our goats the horse hay. They don't like it as much but it's fine for them and it gets eaten. Saves us at least $6 a bale.


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## Jodi_berg (Oct 29, 2012)

I won't even talk, hay here is dirt cheap,$3-4 per square of mixed grass 1st or 2nd, but you can only get compressed bales of alfalfa at TSC for like 18.99. It looks awful so I feed a mix of timothy/alfalfa pellets instead along with my uncles 2nd cut mixed grass. Which I get for free  in the big round bales. Guess how long a bale that size last me and my 2 Nigerians? I don't know cause their 6 months old and were still on our first bale  I keep it inside and it's still beautiful. I buy big round bales for $25.00 of 1st cut for my bedding I got 2 in November and I'm just about to break into the 2nd one today,and it does my goats stall 8x10 twice a week and my chicken coop which is about the same size once per week.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

We complain about 5-6 $ bales... And will not buy the 8-9 $ bales.. We go and get it out of the field for 3-4 $ a bale. I buy alfalfa pellets to go with the grass mix hay. I can't afford 20$ a bale!


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

Feed stores here charge 16/bale. Even if they are cutting all year it seems weird to me to get that many cuttings. Maybe they are cutting earlier vs letting it grow longer.Granted our growers start first cutting around May and last (usuallly 3rd) is around October. The rancher we worked for several years ago went by the time the irrigation water was turned on, which was April then it was turned of around mid oct to mid nov. We usually had 3 cuts. Mind don't like first cut because it's so stemmy but if that's all I can get I do and just plan on more waste.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

> Admittedly I am new to buying hay but, I've heard of 1st & 2nd cuts but never had anyone put the year in the ad & I've never heard of 5th cut...
> 
> Does that mean, same field, grown & cut 5 times?? Would that be good??


5th cutting is fine, you just want to make sure it was done correctly. If it didn't get wet or wasn't baled too wet...or too dry depending on where you're located, it's good hay. It's less stemmy than first or sometimes second cutting. We usually get four cuttings per year on our alfalfa. When I store hay over winter, I like to keep back 3rd cut usually. If it's baby hay, second or first cutting is usually pretty nice though. But for established fields...3rd is usually ideal...at least up north.

And yep, 5th cutting would be the same field, fifth time being cut for the year.



xymenah said:


> Yep it sure does mean that field has been cut five times so far that year. My hay supplier gets up to twelve(rarely but sometimes up to 20) cuttings on their fields.


That is extremely high. Ten cuttings might be possible down south, but 15-20...there is just no way the hay can grow that fast.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I pay $14-$14.50 a bale if I pay with cash and buy by the ton for #1 quality Alfalfa. Its been tested at 20% protein. The reason we get so many cuttings here in the AZ, Southern CA and NM is because there is nearly always sunshine, its hot and they irrigate it well to get maximum yield. You can cut most of the year. I don't understand why the hay is so expensive when you get average twelve cuttings a year and with every cutting the yield goes up. According to google my hay supplier make 1-2 million in revenue a year.


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

The other crazy thing about our area is NO STRAW! The cheapest we can find actual straw is $19 a 3 string bale. We almost bought a large round of peanut 
/oat for $165 but it was horrid looking & smelling! We switched to Chaffhaye but like to give a nice flake as a treat once a week.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Depends on your area. Last year was great for hay in Wisconsin! We got 4th crop. The Amish down the road got an 8th crop (they cut at 4 inches). 

I prefer to feed a 3rd crop to lactating does, and a 2nd crop to everything else. 1st crop doesn't have enough nutritional value, and it's too stemy! I personally don't buy anything past 3rd crop late season hay. I'll buy a couple ton of 4th crop haylage though. Just not dried hay.


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