Contractors scramble to cut hay amid rain as quality dips depending on location

The Invergordon contractor works for his son Luke's companies, LKF Contracting and Horse Hay, but says recent summer rainfall has diminished the quality of hay in northern Victoria.

"Like everyone, these summer rains have played havoc with our quality so we've probably done a bit more cow hay than what we'd like," he said.

"A lot of that hay hasn't been up to scratch for the premium market, for instance the racing industry around Sydney and Melbourne, who really want that high-quality vetch and hay.

"Over Christmas eve we had a thunderstorm with 50mm in it, then over new year's we had a follow-up storm of 70mm and that has played havoc with our cutting times."

In summer, Mr Felmingham grows lucerne and teff hay, a low-sugar variety, and has worked as a contractor for the past 20 years.

He said hay prices had softened in recent months due to the abundance of ordinary-quality bales.

"The nutritional value doesn't change a lot, but obviously the more mature it is, the more you start losing metabolised energy and protein so it's not as palatable for horses or cattle," he said.

"We're actually starting to make some really nice hay now which will go into the shed for winter.

"As hay contractors, we'd much rather have a dry summer because we can control everything like our irrigation and our cutting times which is very important."

However, the grass is greener in other parts of Victoria, including in the south-west where Purnim dairy farmers Ed and Lisa Dwyer produced one of their best-quality silage crops in memory.

The dry spring allowed the pair to harvest their crop earlier than usual, and at a higher quality.

"We were probably 50 per cent down on silage volumes, but the quality was just extraordinarily high," Mr Dwyer said.

"We had a dry period early which enabled us to get onto the paddock early and harvest it.

"Usually in south-west Victoria, the ground gets sodden so it's hard to get machinery onto the paddocks when the silage is at its optimum."

The Dwyers produced about 1000 bales of pasture silage, down from 2000-odd bales in a good season.

"Because we had a relatively dry time in mid-spring, we were able to get the machinery onto the paddocks and get the good stuff off for the dairy, mainly for our lactating cows," Mrs Dwyer said.

"Even though the yield was 50pc down on what it usually is, because of the rain we've got an abundance of green feed and as a consequence, we've got more silage than what we normally would have."

Meanwhile, Gippsland contractor Adrian Nethercote, Nethercote Contracting, Flynn, is flat out between the wet days which has provided many challenges for farmers in eastern Victoria.

The company produces between 15,000-20,000 round bales a year for clients from Morwell to the NSW border.

"As far as making hay goes, it has been a pretty tough season with the fact the paddocks are carrying a lot of moisture, along with the humidity and the frequent rains," Mr Nethercote said.

"It's been very hard to get the hay dry to bale."

The company employs 14 staff and is close to a month behind with its hay harvesting compared to previous years.

"You're not looking to get silage as dry, but with hay you want it around 12 per cent dry matter and that has been quite challenging to get the hay to dry down that far," Mr Nethercote said.

"We've probably done over half our hay and in comparison with a normal, dry summer, we'd be virtually finished our hay by Christmas time."