rain on alfalfa, again!

[walter]

Hi, I can't find another room that might discuss alfalfa - so I thought I'd post this question here. If I'm in the wrong place, please let me know. Q: We cut the alfalfa 3 weeks ago & got most of it baled and half of it stacked before it rained - but now it's had 1.5 inches of rain on them (small squares. They were about 16% moisture - now they range from 14 to 48 with about the average being in the low 30s - is there any hope for it, especially since they're calling for rain again (!) on Wednesday. Does it make a difference that the moisture is rain on cured hay? Any help would be appreciated.

[buss]

I would post this in the Beef forum. I expect that they often deal with forage issues. Also I would suggest sending email to some forage specialists in our department. Two you can try are Ross Hutchison in our Wainwright office at ross.hutchison@agric.gov.ab.ca (ph. 780-842-7540)or Harvey Yoder in our Lac la Biche office at harvey.yoder@agric.gov.ab.ca (ph. 780-623-5218). I'm sure they would be happy to help you.