Update on Hay Making Equipment and Technology

Precision agriculture has focused on optimizing efficiency. For crop production, yields can be obtained from the combine and integrated with soil nutrient data to characterize the response to changes in management strategies (spraying, harvesting, nutrient application, irrigation, etc). Currently the highest resolution for yield, for the majority of farms raising alfalfa in Kentucky, is based upon the field level of data. Specifically, most farmers could specify the bales per field. From this and a dry matter (DM) analysis, we can derive the following: bales per acre, tons per acre, total tons of DM, and nutrients removed. Soil characteristics can be assessed in an alfalfa field; while, site specific yield within a field cannot. As a farmer, difference in the potential of some areas of the field can be observed qualitatively but not quantified