As far as hay crops go, this will be one of the best years in a long time.

Volumes are expected to be very large and it'll give producers a chance to replenish tapped reserves.

Paul Jefferson, Vice President of Operations with the Western Beef Development Centre, says most producers are building more hay than required for this winter's feeding, saying, "With the long, cold winters and the drought we've had in the previous few years, we've had a draw down in the reserves, and I think a lot of producers are going to use this year to take that extra hay yield and stockpile some hay to go forward and be ready for the next drought."

Farmers need to avoid cutting and rolling up fox-tail barley, which has become a common weed in areas with excess moisture. Farmers should also use tillage or herbicides to terminate old hay fields and re-seed them with a tame forage mix or an annual crop rotation.