Field work is almost done and forage crops are in. It’s time to measure your forage inventories and estimate forage needs to figure out where you stand. Droughty conditions limited yield of all forages all across the North Country and many farms are reporting tight or inadequate supplies for this winter. The longer you wait to find hay or silage to buy, the higher the price is likely to be and the slimmer the quality choices may be. This will work to your advantage if you have forages to sell, however. We recently shared an article by Betsy Hicks on how to measure inventories and estimate forage needs. Click here for a refresher. Accurate estimates of both need and inventory are crucial to a good winter.
If you find you need hay or silage, or if you’ve got extra to sell, the NYS Forage Exchange website is available to help buyers and sellers connect anywhere across NYS. This forage exchange system is free to use and provides an easy way to match potential sellers and buyers of forage within New York State. Sellers can easily register within the system and then post the forage they have available to sell. Farms in need of forages may register and post ads in the same way. Potential purchasers can browse the advertisements, and then contact the seller through email for additional information or to complete purchase arrangements. Buyers and sellers both can communicate without sharing email addresses and phone numbers with the world wide internet.
A screencast on how to use the NYS Forage Exchange can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNPjSIPLrxM&feature=youtu.be. The video is also available on the Forage Exchange website.
NYS Forage Exchange is a moderated website, so all ad submissions are reviewed for appropriateness before publication on the forage exchange website. The information provided is general and educational in nature. Employees of Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension do not endorse or recommend any specific product or seller listed on this site.