As you will tell from this post I am a complete amateur. Studying up to impress a relative and may possibly get involved in the industry of beef cattle. Now to my question. Researching what type of grain, and what type of roughage is best for the cattle has led me too oats. Research has told me its best to raise them in the winter (north-east Texas) near Dallas, Texas. Is it possible to harvest a soft-medium dough oat crop to therefore have proper oat hay, and get oat grain. Is it possible to get both the hay and the oats while retaining a decent quality of feed? It seems that the oat hay is at high risk of accumulating toxic levels of nitrate when harvesting at the "proper" stage/dough for the oat.
*Amateur* Need Advice Regarding Oats and Harvesting
- Thread starter Ciro
- Start date
Jogeephus
Well-known member
No. You can't have your cake and eat it to.
fenceman
Well-known member
I've never cut a bale of hay. But i ve grown a fair amount of oats. If your. After hay with grain in it yes its done all the time. If your trying to cut hay then harvest grain no. You can graze them down during winter and have them come back quite well in spring. You could not hay them that early due to high moisture in plants and cool wet weather.i grow oats strictly for grazing, i have them tested every year, high nitrates in oats seems to be exaggerated, its actually quite rare in my experience
