I feel like this is a dumb question I should know the answer to but I dont.Ok,here's the deal.There is a lady down the road w/ 100 acre pasture she said I could use for free just to keep it down.1/2 is decent fescue and coastal.Thats fine.The other half was panted in wheat I presume in the fall for food plots for hunting.The hunter is out of the picture come June 1st and I can move what I want over there.Ok ,I have never planted wheat or used it as a forage.It's not common to see wheat around here.It's prolly about thigh high now and has a head.What kinda condition is this wheat gonna be in come June 1st when its 90 degrees.Will it be decent forage still?I realize it would prolly be harvested by then in normal circumstances but I have no time ,desire or equipment to do so.I'm in central Ga. and it will be hot here soon.So I assume it will brown up by June .
A dumb question
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m&kCattle
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Any local guys willing to take it off?
Nah.Not much wheat grown here for harvest.Are you saying it will not be suitable for forage by then.I would get someone to cut it for hay but I cant touch it until June 1st due to legal issues(long story).I think it would be past the stage you cut wheat for hay by then.Am I gonna have basically wheat straw by then or will the cows still eat it?If so I'll just bushhog it and plant grass or millett.
I'm not an expert on wheat, but as far south as you are it out to be pretty well past the usable stage by June 1. I think the heads would all shatter as you tried to mow/bale it and the stems by then would probably not have much nutrional value. The cattle might eat quite a few of the heads off of it standing though and I would be suprised if there was not quite a bit of grass coming up in it by then.
Angus Cowman
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I would let the cows on it and eat what they will then mow it or burn it and plant more in the fall makes great winter and early spring pasture or pull the cows off the end of Feb and bale it
Thanks Ya'll.Keep them coming if you have suugestions.My man Joggephus should have some reigonal advice for me.He has planted everything that will grow ,I think.Although it seems my only option is gonna be turn em out on it and see what happens.If the grass dont come back after its gone ,I'll look at options then.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Straw is worth more than hay in much of the south because not much is grown there. See if you can get someone to cut and bale it on shares and sell them your part if you don't want it. Will more than pay for the reseeding.
larryshoat
Well-known member
Wheat makes good hay/pasture/silage if you get it before the stem is hollow . If it is thigh high now by June 1 you're gonna have grain in the heads and the plant will be straw .
Larry
Larry
SRBeef
Well-known member
Advice from a northerner - use with caution.
IF the wheat is thigh high or will be, there is a lot of straw out there. There is also a lot of grain out there, most likely.
I think the best use of it would be to leave it stand until after 6/1. The heads will mature and grain will fall down reseeding itself.
After most of the grain heads have opened and the seed fallen to the ground, have someone cut andbale the straw for you and stack it by the road. Someone will want to buy it for bedding, mulch, etc and you might want to keep some bales for yourself for miscellaneous use. Highway crews love wheat straw to blow onto new seedings of grass after road work.
Put a small ad in the paper or call the local highway dept and ask for names of who they or contractors use to reseed road work. They will pay a good price for nice clean, low-weed seed content wheat straw.
Mean while the grain/seed will reseed itself and as mentioned above you will hav some very nice fall wheat to graze. In the fall after grazing the wheat down, no-till drill a pasture mix of locally adapted perennial grasses hopefully with a good percent of clover. I'm not sure of the best timing for drilling in the fall in the south. Maybe others here can fill in on timing.
Wheat does reseed itself and make good grazing. I would NOT burn it off nor use a herbicide. I would get much of that heavy straw off of there by baling so the reseed wheat and the no till drilled grass seed can emerge.
I would either rent a drill or have a neighbor with a no till drill seed the grasses. The reason to drill rather than work the ground is so that you don't lose the reseeded wheat. The grasses/clover can emerge nicely thru the baled wheat stubble.
Sounds like you have a very nice arrangement there. Best of luck to you!
IF the wheat is thigh high or will be, there is a lot of straw out there. There is also a lot of grain out there, most likely.
I think the best use of it would be to leave it stand until after 6/1. The heads will mature and grain will fall down reseeding itself.
After most of the grain heads have opened and the seed fallen to the ground, have someone cut andbale the straw for you and stack it by the road. Someone will want to buy it for bedding, mulch, etc and you might want to keep some bales for yourself for miscellaneous use. Highway crews love wheat straw to blow onto new seedings of grass after road work.
Put a small ad in the paper or call the local highway dept and ask for names of who they or contractors use to reseed road work. They will pay a good price for nice clean, low-weed seed content wheat straw.
Mean while the grain/seed will reseed itself and as mentioned above you will hav some very nice fall wheat to graze. In the fall after grazing the wheat down, no-till drill a pasture mix of locally adapted perennial grasses hopefully with a good percent of clover. I'm not sure of the best timing for drilling in the fall in the south. Maybe others here can fill in on timing.
Wheat does reseed itself and make good grazing. I would NOT burn it off nor use a herbicide. I would get much of that heavy straw off of there by baling so the reseed wheat and the no till drilled grass seed can emerge.
I would either rent a drill or have a neighbor with a no till drill seed the grasses. The reason to drill rather than work the ground is so that you don't lose the reseeded wheat. The grasses/clover can emerge nicely thru the baled wheat stubble.
Sounds like you have a very nice arrangement there. Best of luck to you!
Jogeephus
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There has got to be a good story here cause I can't believe someone would plant 50 acres of wheat without any intention of harvesting it but some hunters definitely have more money than sense. If this is the case and it didn't get me shot, I'd try my best to harvest the wheat if at all possible. After that, I'd ask some of the highway construction guys who they are getting to do their erosion control work and find out who is supplying the straw. We got two people here that will buy all you can bale for $50/ton. This will add up quick. (Probably a good person to ask would be the extension agent too. He should be able to give you names of contract folks for harvesting and straw sales)
Once I've gotten every penny out of it I can, I'd just notill and plant something like millet.
Sounds like a sweet deal.
Once I've gotten every penny out of it I can, I'd just notill and plant something like millet.
Sounds like a sweet deal.
Thanks for all the good advice.It is a great deal.The hunter did have more money than sense and he ruined some great coastal pastures to boot to plant"food plots".He was also the lady's son in law and there is a big "D" involved.Thats why its a legal deal.I'll try not to get shot.
bigbull338
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come june you get in there an BALE that wheat for hay.its still good for the cows to eat an it wont hurt them 1 bit.even that late its still good hay.heck just combine run straw runs 8%.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
I figured there had to be something out of the ordinary here. You got yourself a good deal. Good luck with it.
