Foxtail hay for cattle?

[nathanm]

Because of dry hot summer our hay did not do well, I have 22 acres of wheat ground and the foxtail grew well after the wheat came off. I remebered back when I was a kid and grandpa talked about it being ok to bale the stuff and referred to as poor man hay. Is it worth the time to mow it and bale it.

 

[msscamp]

I would be careful with it. I know it will make horses mouths sore, not 100% sure about cattle, but I think it can do the same to them. Dad has 0 tolerance for the stuff, so anytime foxtail is spotted it is sprayed almost immediately on our place.

 

[George]

I have a couple spots that are bad with foxtail in my alfalfa fields.I always bale them spots out seperately,and then just burn those bales.

 

[msscamp]

George, just out of curiosity, why don't you spray those spots to eliminate the foxtail?

 

[dun]

I think this is another of those regionals name things. What we called foxtail in the west is a totally differernt thing then what is called foxtail here. The foxtail here looks like millet and isn;t the segmented grass/seed that is such a curse in other places. The cows here eat the stuff just fine, the other stuff we used to just burn because of problems with it festering in the mouth, nose and eyes.

dun

 

[msscamp]

I wonder how there came to be so many different things in different places with the same name? It's confusing, but kind of interesting, too.

 

[George]

The field is about 10 miles away from home,and there is only around 2 acres of it,and it is all the way around a slough.It has rained so much this year,the slough is full of water.So if i can spray it,i want to be able to spray it all right away.

 

[msscamp]

I see. Thanks for answering.

 

[Jake]

I wonder how there came to be so many different things in different places with the same name? It's confusing, but kind of interesting, too.

people go from one place to the next and see that there's a plant similar to one where they came from. start calling it by the same name even though it is completely different and has different uses.

 

[msscamp]

Thanks, Jake. I wasn't sure if it was that, or if plants got their everyday names from something else.

 

[Sugar Creek]

I've fed a lot of foxtail hay (Giant Foxtail ), looks like Millet. Most fall hay here in our area will have some of it mixed in. Cows don't eat it much in the summer or fall but eat it pretty well in the winter as hay. The old saying here is "sure beats a snowball".