Using stockpiled forage to combat fuel prices

Most all the first cutting hay and even waterway grass across Iowa has been rolled up or stacked in a hay loft. Yields and hay quality were quite variable depending on your zip code; that’s nothing new. What is new is the fuel cost it took to harvest the crop, or the fertilizer it took to generate the yield. In visiting with producers, I’ve heard costs as high as $15 per bale in fuel costs alone! Keep in mind, sometimes in Iowa we put several miles on equipment just to get to the hayfield, then burn fuel to cut it, burn…