Fall Hay

[Crowderfarms]

Just wondering how those of you that do Hay feel about the Fall Cutting? Our's will be finished early next week.It's been some of the best fall hay I've seen, being it was like a desert here until Katrina brought us rain.Now a couple of fields were'nt very good, but overall it was a good cut, and some fields produced more than the First cut. How was Your's?

 

[Vicky the vet]

Well, fall cutting is only done here if the field isn't going to be hay the next year. Hay is done by August in my area most years, though some was done in September this year. We need time for the plant to regenerate so that it survives winter. We've had some frosts here, and snow is just around the corner, since it always seems to snow October or early November at the latest...and I'm a lot further south than some of the other Canadians on this board...

 

[dun]

We're stockpiling a lot for this winter, but we're going to be cutting a couple of hundred acres for neighbors starting next week. Don;t know about the nutritional value, but this is some of the best looking gras, spring or fall, that we've seen in years. Maybe no rain for 4 months then 5 inches in a couple of days is what we need to do every year. The only problem I've seen is in places were the grass was thin or died from the droughty weather, the weeds have gone nuts. Fields that hav never had weeds have a good deal of spiny pigweed.

dun

 

[Crowderfarms]

We're stockpiling a lot for this winter, but we're going to be cutting a couple of hundred acres for neighbors starting next week. Don;t know about the nutritional value, but this is some of the best looking gras, spring or fall, that we've seen in years. Maybe no rain for 4 months then 5 inches in a couple of days is what we need to do every year. The only problem I've seen is in places were the grass was thin or died from the droughty weather, the weeds have gone nuts. Fields that hav never had weeds have a good deal of spiny pigweed.

dun

Same scenario here, with the exception of Pig weed. They have come up only where we fed rolls last year. And I mean have come up. Thanks for the input Dun and Vicky.

 

[dun]

We're stockpiling a lot for this winter, but we're going to be cutting a couple of hundred acres for neighbors starting next week. Don;t know about the nutritional value, but this is some of the best looking gras, spring or fall, that we've seen in years. Maybe no rain for 4 months then 5 inches in a couple of days is what we need to do every year. The only problem I've seen is in places were the grass was thin or died from the droughty weather, the weeds have gone nuts. Fields that hav never had weeds have a good deal of spiny pigweed.

dun

Same scenario here, with the exception of Pig weed. They have come up only where we fed rolls last year. And I mean have come up. Thanks for the input Dun and Vicky.

It's kind of funny that this year it's pigweed that's so dominant in the weed category. Normally it's ragweed, but this year there is hardly any, even in the areas we've set aside as quail habitat that is usually covered with it.

dun

 

[sidney411]

We still haven't been able to get a 2nd cutting on our field. It's all dryed out. I don't think it would even be worth the diesel to drive over the field. We're going to be short on hay this winter. Will it hurt next years grown to not top off the field before winter?

 

[dun]

We still haven't been able to get a 2nd cutting on our field. It's all dryed out. I don't think it would even be worth the diesel to drive over the field. We're going to be short on hay this winter. Will it hurt next years grown to not top off the field before winter?

All it will probably do by not cutting it now is have more dead grasses in the first cutting next year. You could alwasy graze it this fall/winter and have the excess removed that way

dun

 

[HatCreekFan]

Our fall cutting is looking great. Knee high orchardgrass-- it will be nice. The horse people we sell to will love it.

It seems like hay cut late in the year (Oct/Nov.) smells sweeter...is it better somehow? Just wondering.

 

[dj]

Put up right it all makes good hay.
We didn't get as much moisture as Dun, but the fall growth sure is alot better than this springs. Since some of the spring growth is just now getting grazed weeds weren't problem in the hay field.

 

[J&T Farm]

I cut today. I had to wear long johns and my carhart coat but the hay looks good. The last of the bermuda grass.

 

[certherfbeef]

Grandpa always told me that in our area if you cut hay after the 15th of September, you were cutting next year's crop.

We don't normally make fall hay. Only got one cutting this year and all the fall pasture has already been grazed. Shipped half the herd so we could feed the other half thru the winter. Spent the past 3 weeks on the fenceline making 30 more acres of pasture out of a sorry hay field. Will probably send the cows out there till they start calving, then plow the field in the spring and put in oats. Then probably just pasture it when it gets 6 inches or so tall.

Good to hear you are getting some good hay Crowder.

 

[flaboy+]

Fall cut? fall cut? I still don't have all my first cut done yet. It looks like the weather may clear next week though. So that means I need 5 dry days for the field to dry and 4-5 days more to harvest the rest of my first cut. :shock:

Can't cut hay with two inches of water up the tires.