Best to plant for premium horse hay?

[ohiosteve]

Neighbor and I are getting ready to plant a field that is currently in melons as soon as the melons come off.We have a really good market for small bales of horse quality hay so we want to cater to that market. Any suggestions on what to plant this fall in our northern climate? This is an excellent drained field with sandy loam soil. What do the horse folks look for? Thanks, Steve.

 

[Bigfoot]

I will be the only one to give you this response--------Fescue cut before it makes a stem. I can't maintain a stand of orchard grass, Timothy, or alfalfa for some reason. Keep the weeds out cut it early, and find buyers that will keep coming back. I am assuming its for profit. You will have more profit this way. Or atleast I do.

 

[ohiosteve]

Thanks Bigfoot, what type of fescue do you use, I'm afraid most of the horse folks around here would be scared of it, seems like they like some mixture of alfalfa and clover with the grass too but I'm open to suggestions and yes profit is our goal.

 

[Bigfoot]

KY 31. Not the endophyte free. A stand of it will die out as bad as Timothy does. You will have to build a base of people that wannt it. By cutting it early the quality is as good as the other grasses, but not alfalfa. You will also get more cuttings. I like it for horse hay. Most people would prefer something else. They have probably only fed it when it's cut late. Because of the longevity of the grass, and easy weed control, I think it's the most profitable to sell as horse hay. Think about all the expense of seeding, and reseeding the other choices.

 

[ohiosteve]

Bigfoot how long do you think is ideal between cuttings before it stems? 30 days?

 

[chippie]

Check with your Extension Agent or ask at your feed store what is popular.
Many horse owners are afraid of fescue. It may be fine, but they get an idea stuck in their heads and they won't buy it.

http://www.aaep.org/health_articles_view.php?id=39

 

[Massey135]

Timothy

 

[cow pollinater]

Out here it's CLEAN alfalfa with alot of leaf. Cut at around ten percent bloom. Alfalfa here gets sown within the next month or so(after the silage corn gets cut) and establishes itself over the winter so we get four or five cuttings for four years starting the first spring after planting.
Good clean oat hay is #2 here but it's still a strong market.

 

[Banjo]

Bigfoot how long do you think is ideal between cuttings before it stems? 30 days?

Ky-31 Fescue only goes to seed one time a year. It may appear to head out more than that but it is only that, that hasn't seeded out to start with. Then it only grows blades for the rest of the year until next year. I have no doubt that it is good horse hay since most of the endophyte is in the seed they say, but you probably won't get a lot of volume from it like you would from alfalfa.
IMO if you are in it to make money, alfalfa is the way to go. I was told once upon a time that if you want alfalfa to last a long time you need to let bloom out completely before you cut it in the fall.

 

[Dave]

Here Orchard grass seems to have past Timothy as the prefered hay for horses. But either one will work. As much as possible preserve the green color when putting it up. It seems every horse owner thinks that green colored hay means it is good.

 

[Massey135]

Girlfriend feeds her Warmbloods 1 flake of alfalfa in morn and 1 flake Timothy in the evening. The Timothy is $15/square the Alf $12.50. It's brought in from Oregon.

 

[suzorse]

I always bought alfalfa/grass mix or oat hay for my horses,you can feed fescue to geldings but never mares, look at a horse pasture seed label, it has no fescue or clover in it, as some horses have a clover allergy, look at the picture of this filly her scars are from something in hay I had got, cost a 200 dollar vet bill ,all 4 legs and her face were involved,she still carries these scars 2 years later,
since there was no clover in the hay we think it had St Johns Wort
Suzanne

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Our horses are on fescue, and all of them are mares. However, if you have a bred mare, fescue can cause problems with a thickened placenta, no milk at foaling, and excessive bleeding. Out here, all you have is fescue, so the recommendation is to pull bred mares off fescue for the last part of gestation (the last 3 months) and dry lot them. Our first year out here we lost 3 foals because no one told us that fact. Clover can cause "slobbers" in horses; they drool excessively! Looks horrible but is painless. But that usually happens in a wet year and is actually caused by a mold that grows on the clover, or so my vet said! But, of course, that has not been a problem this year since we have had almost NO rain!!!
When we bought horse hay, we always looked for a good alfalfa grass mix to feed. Now that we have them on pasture, no need to buy hay! But with no rain, the grass is slim pickins' :yuck:

 

[tmlonghorns]

Fescue in bred mares causes late term abortions.
Being that I also am in North Central Ohio, and I operate a large horse breeding operation, I would tell you Alfafa is the way to go. Quality vs quantity is key and you want buyers who are not afraid to spend the money for the quality. What I see around here is too many people thinking just because they have a field with grass in it to bale it. There is an art to Alfafa and those that dont get it will bale it when it needs dried for another day, horse people hate mold!
Not trying to tell you how to bale but with Alfafa you need to slow your speed town when tedding and try to keep as many leaves on the stem as possible. Make sure it is fluffed good to allow for the alfafa to dry. Take it for what is worth........just my .02

 

[Bigfoot]

Bigfoot how long do you think is ideal between cuttings before it stems? 30 days?

30-40 days. When I started harvesting this way "for my horses", my family laughed at me. In the end we all came to the conclusion it's better because: it's weed free, endophyte free, stem free, seed free, and yields considerably more pounds of hay to the acre. I will agree its not practical for me to cut it this way for my cattle. It's too time consuming. For the cattle I cut it traditionally and hope for two cuttings. I was tired of trying to maintain a stand of "horse hay". I was also sick of paying the high price for "horse hay" at the auction. I do spray it with 2 4 d a couple times in the spring. It usually gets a little Johnson grass in it by mid summer. I have thought about wicking the Johnson grass, but as frequently as I cut it, it doesn't make much of a stem. I usually make and feed about 500 to 600 bales a year. On the high end I figure I have $2.50 a bale in it. Two rope horses, a barrel horse, and a mule I think more of than most people do their children. It's all blade, I've never had it tested. I bet it's better than most people would think. Ps the first and second cutting put together yield more than the first cutting for my cows. The second cutting on the horse hay hits about the time of the cow hay first cutting. Most people wouldn't run their equipment for the late July/August cutting. My early early fall cutting is usually worth running for---------when their ain't a drought on.

 

[Crazy Farmgirl]

We do alfalfa/ orchard or timothy mix (50/50) or (75 orchard/25 alfalfa)

 

[chippie]

I bought 4 tons of Orchard/Alfalfa from Montana last year. Wonderful hay!
The only thing that you need to be careful of is blister beetles. I don't know if you have them in Kentucky or not.

 

[Alan]

Here Orchard grass seems to have past Timothy as the prefered hay for horses. But either one will work. As much as possible preserve the green color when putting it up. It seems every horse owner thinks that green colored hay means it is good.

X2 :nod: . Get ready to have a client base of the craziest folks to every own livestock. As far as hay goes it depends on what you're doing with the horse. I'm one that would not buy fescue, just because it's fescue, too many choices out there. I don't like alfalfa because it's like rocket fuel to a non active horse, it's great for a working horse. I like orchard grass over Timothy because it's a little finer and less waste. Ours get the local field grass, same as I feed the cattle, give them a couple of hand fulls of grain and they do great on it. As Dave said keep your bales green and dry and all the crazy horse people will think it's worth every penny.

 

[ohiosteve]

Thanks for the replies, I'm tempted to try Ky31 but I don't think the neighbor will go for it. We'll probably go with 75% Orchard grass/25% Alfalfa. Any tips on getting a good stand this fall? We were going to broadcast it then drag it. Should we broadcast it together or do one or the other first?

 

[Banjo]

Thanks for the replies, I'm tempted to try Ky31 but I don't think the neighbor will go for it. We'll probably go with 75% Orchard grass/25% Alfalfa. Any tips on getting a good stand this fall? We were going to broadcast it then drag it. Should we broadcast it together or do one or the other first?

Here is a good OG variety that I like .....you might want to check it out.
http://www.persistorchardgrass.com/